Saint Nicholas Cathedral (Washington, D.C.)
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Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Washington, D.C. was founded in 1930 as the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas. The parish was originally located on Riggs Place in Northwest Washington, and the first pastor was The Reverend John Dorosh, who lived above the chapel. In 1934, the Dormition Sisterhood and the Nation's Capital “R” Club were formed. In 1935, the parish moved to 1708 Church Street, also in Northwest Washington just a few blocks from Riggs Place.
In 1938, Father Paul Lutov replaced the retiring Reverend Dorosh. Father Lutov helped to introduce English. After World War II, Father Lutov left his post as rector although he remained active in the parish. St. Nicholas rectors from 1948 to 1951 were Monk-Priest John (Morozov) and Father Nikolai Makowelski.
The parish had grown to 100 members by about 1950. In 1951, Metropolitan Leonty blessed the newly purchased site at Massachusetts Avenue and Edmunds Street, the cathedral's current location.
In 1955, after the death of Bishop Jonah (rector), Archpriest Arkady Moiseyev became Rector of St. Nicholas Church. Fr. Moiseyev guided St. Nicholas through the building and dedication of our current facility. The edifice was completed in late 1962 and was dedicated as a National War Memorial Shrine in 1963.
With the elevation of St. Nicholas to the primatial cathedral of the Orthodox Church in America, Fr. Arkady Moiseyev became Dean and Fr. Dmitry Grigorieff became Provost. In the early 1970s, Fr. Dmitry was very active in ensuring that there were regular English liturgies. In 1986 Fr. Dmitry was elevated to Dean of the Cathedral and Fr. Constantine White became Associate Pastor. In February 1998 Fr. Dmitry became Dean Emeritus and Fr. Constantine was made Acting Dean. Later that year Father Constantine was installed as the Dean of the Cathedral. Father Valery Shemchuk joined that cathedral staff in an official capacity as Associate Pastor in early 2003.
St. Nicholas has always had a very active choir. Nicholas Borodulia was the choir director from 1955 to 1985. In 1996 Professor Serge Boldireff joined the choir and led it to a more visible role. The choir was proud to participate in Metropolitan HERMAN’s Enthronement in 2002 as well as many visits from hierarchs, such as the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, in the past several years. In 2003, the choir released its latest CD "This is the Day", available at the Cathedral Bookstore or through the Orthodox Christian Publications Center [[1]]. In June 2005, the Cathedral welcomed Ken Kasovac as the new Music Director.
In 1991, a group of iconographers arrived from Moscow. Led by Alexander Moskalionov, they wrote icons throughout the narthex in traditional style. Several new icons were created commemorating the arrival of Orthodoxy to America as well as the tragedies in Russia in the early part of the 20th century. This project was completed in the fall of 1994. A new iconostasis was made to compliment the iconography and was installed in 1995.
St. Nicholas Cathedral has had the great opportunity to minister to all Orthodox Christians since the fall of the Soviet Union. The church now includes a very active Georgian community and ministers to all people who wish to participate in the Orthodox Church. St. Nicholas has also expanded its ministries to include Sign Language interpretation of the Liturgy. Currently on the second Sunday of each month, the Liturgy is translated for the hearing impaired and additional services are translated as the interest and need increases.
