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) 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.
Ukrainian Orthodox Sobor (Church Council) in Newark, 1922
Front page of an issue of the newspaper ‘Dnipro’
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.
Listing of current and historical places of worship
It would be far beyond the scope of this project to give full historical accounts of all of the Ukrainian parishes and congregations that have existed in New Jersey. However, as part of his nearly life-long project to catalog and document all Ukrainian places of worship in North America (and beyond), New Jersey resident Bohdan Polansky created a two-volume hand-produced “New Jersey Churches and Congregations of Ukrainian Heritage Past and Present”.These undated plastic-sleeved presentation books contain basic available information about each church, along with original photographs or reproduction images of each church structure if they exist. They were produced by the author in an extremely limited number. One set is available for researcher use at the UHEC. In it, he lists the following (in alphabetical order by location):
Ukrainian Catholic
- Bayonne, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Bridgeton, SS. Peter and Paul
- Camden, St. Michael
- Carteret, St. Mary
- Cherry Hill, St. Michael
- Cream Ridge, Cherche Village Chapel
- Elizabeth, St. Vladimir
- Great Meadows, St. Nicholas
- Hillsborough, St. Michael
- Hillside, Immaculate Conception
- Jersey City, SS. Peter and Paul
- Manville, St. Michael
- Marlboro, St. Volodymyr
- Millville, St. Nicholas
- Newark, St. John the Baptist
- New Brunswick, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Oxford Furnace, St. Nicholas
- Toms River, St. Stephen
- Trenton, St. Josaphat
- Whippany, St. John the Baptist
- Williamstown, SS. Peter and Paul
- Woodbine, St. Nicholas
- Passaic, St. Nicholas
- Perth Amboy, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Ramsey, St. Paul
- Rutheford, Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ukrainian Orthodox
- Bayonne, St. Sophia
- Carteret, St. Demetrius
- Clifton, St. Mary Protectress
- Clifton, Holy Ascension
- Irvington, Holy Trinity
- Jersey City, St. Vladimir
- Maplewood, Holy Ascension
- Millville, SS. Peter and Paul
- Newark, Holy Trinity
- Newark, Holy Ascension
- Passaic, Holy Ascension
- Paterson, St. Mary Protectress
- South Bound Brook, St. Andrew Memorial Church
- South Plainfield, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
- Trenton, Holy Trinity
- Trenton, St. George
- Yardville, St. George
Ukrainian Protestant
- Irvington, SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Presbyterian
- Newark, SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Presbyterian
- Newark, Ukrainian Evangelical Assemblies of God
- South River, Ukrainian Pentecostal
- Union, Ukrainian Evangelical Assemblies of God
- Vineland, Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist
In addition, Polansky lists a number of Byzantine Catholic parishes under the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic and Carpatho-Russian Orthodox parishes under the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America (or other historical jurisdictions). These parishes would certainly not consider themselves to be “Ukrainian”. However, it is quite likely that the older parishes that predate the 1930s could have had parishioners who identified (or would later identify) as Ukrainian, especially if there was no overtly Ukrainian parish in the vicinity.
Byzantine (“Ruthenian”) Catholic
- Bayonne, St. John the Baptist
- Carteret, St. Elias
- Dunellen, St. Nicholas
- East Brunswick, Nativity of Our Lord
- Edison, St. Nicholas
- Elizabeth, SS. Peter and Paul
- Flanders, Holy Wisdom
- Fords, St. Nicholas
- Hillsborough, St. Mary
- Jersey City, St. Mary
- Jersey City, St. John the Baptist
- Linden, St. George
- Mahwah, Holy Spirit
- Manville, St. Mary
- Newark, St. George
- Passaic, St. Michael Cathedral
- Perth Amboy, St. Nicholas
- Phillipsburg, SS. Peter and Paul
- Rahway, St. Thomas
- Robinsville, St. Mary
- Roebling, St. Nicholas
- Toms River, Our Lady of Perpetual Help
- Toms River, St. Andrew
- Trenton, St. Mary
- Vincentown, St. Jude
- West Paterson, St. Michael
Carpatho-Russian Orthodox
- Bayonne, St. Mary
- Elizabeth, St. Nicholas
- Freehold, St. Paul the Apostle
- Manville, Holy Ghost
- Perth Amboy, St. John the Baptist
- Rahway, St. John the Baptist
- Rockaway, SS. Peter and Paul