Given the history of the places in Ukraine where many of the immigrants originated from, it is not surprising that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainian religious activity in New Jersey was Ukrainian (or Greek) Catholic. However, Ukrainian Orthodox churches have also played a major and historically significant role in the state. There have also been and continue to be Protestant churches, such as the Ukrainian Presbytarians of Newark (later in Irvington), a Ukrainian Baptist congregation in Camden, and an Assemblies of God congregation in Union.
SS. Peter and Paul Church, the first Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, was built in Jersey City in 1891 by Fr. Hryhorij Hrushka and served the tri-state area for about 20 years. Ukrainian churches were later built in Newark, Passaic, Elizabeth, Perth Amboy, Carteret and other places where Ukrainian communities grew up.
New Jersey was the site of two of the earliest Ukrainian Orthodox parishes in the United States: Holy Ascension parish in Newark (now located in Maplewood) and Holy Trinity parish in Trenton. Holy Trinity parish in Trenton was in fact the first Ukrainian Orthodox parish in the United States to be legally incorporated according to state law. Since those early days, additional Orthodox parishes have been organized across the state, including in Millville, Carteret, Bayonne, and Yardville. Trenton was also the site of the first Ukrainian Orthodox clergy conference in December 1919, as well as a second, smaller clergy conference in July 1920. The first Ukrainian Orthodox general church council took place at the Holy Ascension church hall in Newark on December 29 and 30, 1920. Among its resolutions was the establishment of “Dnipro” as the official newspaper of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America. It would be published out of Trenton through 1925, at which time the editorial offices were moved to Chicago.
By the period of the third wave and into the 1960s and ’70s, many of these churches were considered dated and new ones were built to serve the needs of growing parishes.
In some cases, an effort was made to create a contemporary Ukrainian church architecture. An example of this is the Holy Ascension Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Clifton, N.J., which was designed by the well-known architect Jaroslav Sichynsky in 1968.The Ukrainian Weekly, “On the state of contemporary Ukrainian church art and architecture”, October 11, 1981, pp. 7 and 16.
Built in a more classic style, St. Andrew Memorial Church in South Bound Brook, N.J., was designed by the Ukrainian Canadian architect George Kodak and is a notable example of Ukrainian Baroque architecture. Dedicated in 1965, it is located on the grounds of the Metropolia Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA in Somerset/South Bound Brook, NJ.
The newest addition to Ukrainian churches in the state, St. John’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Whippany (originally established in 1921), was built in traditional Carpathian style between 2004-2013 alongside the Ukrainian American Cultural Center.