History
St. Andrew Eastern Orthodox Church started with a dream of the visionary, spiritual leader, the Right Reverend Vladimir Prislopsky. Under his leadership 5 3/4 acres of land was purchased in Maple Heights. On January 31, 1963, the parish of St. Michael's authorized the building of the church. In January 1964 preliminary plans were drawn up, an finally on September 10, 1967, the ground breaking was held and the building began. Rev. John Klembara, a son of St. Michael's parish was appointed rector of St. Andrew Eastern Orthodox Church on August 1, 1968. He relocated from Binghampton NY with his family. The cornerstone was blessed on August 25, 1968 by his Eminence, The Most Reverend John, Archbishop of Chicago and Minneapolis Diocese. The Right Reverend Vladimir Prislopsky assisted in the blessing as did other visiting clergy. The first Divine Liturgy was held on September 29, 1968. On October 26, 1968 the final service was held at St. Mary Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Church in Bedford, OH. Following the service of Thanksgiving, Father Klembara led a procession carrying the Holy Articles and Plaschanitza out of St. Mary to place them in St. Andrew Church. The two churches became one. Over the years various activities were organized to financially support the church. The very first organized fund raising activity was the making of pirohi. Dozens of pirohi were prepared and sold on Friday's. To this day we continue to hold regular fish fry dinners every two weeks on Fridays from September thru May. The parishoners of our church wish to acknowledge the leadership and spiritual guidance given to our parish by Rev. John Klembara who retired during the summer of 2000. He was bestowed the title of Priest Emeritus for his many years of dedicated service. After months of searching we were again blessed to find a dedicated priest to serve the faithful of our church. In early 2001 Fr. Emilian Hutnyan was appointed rector of our parish. We were extremely pleased to welcome Fr. Emil and his wonderful family, Matushka Laryssa, Natalia, Zachary, and Steffan to our church family. Since their arrival we have experienced a rebirth of activity. We wish Fr. Emil and his family many many years of good health and happiness!