History of Our Parish

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The 1920s were a time of troubles for Holy Transfiguration, as for the Orthodox Church in America in general. At the time, although Orthodoxy in America was united, the administration of the Church was highly reliant on missionary funds from Russia to pay the salaries of priests and all the administrative expenses of the Diocese. With the fall of Russia to the Bolsheviks in 1918, communications with Russia were cut off, as were the source of funds. To make matters worse, Bishop Evdokim, the ruling Hierarch in America, was trapped in Russia, leaving control of the North American Diocese to Bishop Alexander (Nemolovsky), who when faced with mounting debt began to mortgage parish properties held in the name of the Diocese. Sadly, Holy Transfiguration was one of these. Whatever the merits of Bishop Alexander's actions, this act was interpreted by the parishioners as "the Bishop sold our church".

Adding to the confusion was the "Living Church" schism, named after the Soviet-controlled puppet church set up by the Soviet government in opposition to the canonical Russian Orthodox Church. The Soviet government sent "Bishop" John Kedrovsky, a Living Church Bishop, to America where he presented himself as the Hierarch of the "Russian Orthodox Church in America". Matters became so confused that at one point the parishioners of Holy Transfiguration filed a lawsuit naming every "Bishop and so called Bishop" in America and asking the court to give the Parish control of the Church property.

At this point, Fr. Michael Kaymakan left the parish, and Fr. Alex Boguslavsky arrived at the parish on assignment from the canonical Russian Orthodox Bishop. A few months later, Fr. Joseph Takach arrived on assignment from "Bishop" John Kedrovsky of the Living Church. The people seemed to feel sympathy for Fr. Takach, who shared their Carpatho-Russian background and language.

A bitter split ensued in the Parish which was to endure for four years. Initially, the Fr. Boguslavsky faction retained control of the Church, while the numerically larger Fr. Takach faction held services in the Grey's Dry Good Store, formerly at 46th and Washington Sts. in Globeville. However, in the meantime the holder of the mortgage foreclosed on the Church, and the property was purchased at a Sheriff's sale by Mr. Lesko, a member of the Fr. Takach faction. Fr. Boguslavsky then withdrew, and was succeeded by Fr. Nicholas Kushevich, who retained control of the Rectory while the Fr. Takach faction remained in control of the Church building. Finally, in 1926 Fr. Kushevich was dislodged from the Rectory, leaving Fr. Takach in control of the entire Parish.

In the early 1920s, the original red brick of the Church was covered with a white, stucco veneer. Parish oral history relates that this change was made because, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the parishioners considered it inappropriate to worship in a "Red" church. However, this may also have been intended to retard damage to the brick exterior.

Despite his dubious origins, Fr. Takach managed to unite the divergent elements of the Parish. He ensured an equal place for the Serbian Orthodox community, and through his influence prominent parishioner Vaso Chucovich gave the Church $3500 to redeem the remaining mortgages on the Church property. Out of respect for this act, and "in order to promote better understanding with our Serbian Orthodox Brothers," the Church was renamed the "Russian-Serbian Church, Transfiguration of Christ."

Fr. Takach died in an automobile accident in 1930, while on a trip to serve house blessings in the Calhan area. In the final analysis, Fr. Takach managed to reunite a divided parish, eliminate the mortgage, and serve the needs of the scattered Orthodox Slavic communities throughout Colorado. Although associated with the Living Church, he never once attempted to impose any of the dubious and uncanonical "reforms" advocated by that group upon Holy Transfiguraton. His passing was sincerely mourned, and he was long remembered by the Holy Transfiguration parishioners.

The Stock Market crash of October 1929 and subsequent Great Depression caused severe difficulties for the Holy Transfiguration community. In 1929, Holy Transfiguration listed 176 contributors and an annual income of $5,407.09; by 1933, the list of contributors had fallen to 58, and the annual income had declined by almost 70% to $1,724.45. During this time, the children of impoverished parishioners found themselves leaving school for low paying jobs in the slaughter houses and pulling sugar beets, and marriage plans were delayed for years because of obligations to younger brothers and sisters or aging parents.

Fr. Takach was followed by the mercurial Fr. John Mahonchak, who served from 1931-1932. Fr. John is chiefly remembered for stating "I don't like the way this is going" and pulling a revolver on Starosta John Machuga during a rather contentious annual parish meeting. He was succeeded by Fr. Vladimir Richloff (1932-1936), who finally returned the parish to canonical regularity under the Metropolia and who served as Rector until his death.

Fr. Vladimir was succeeded by Fr. Athanasy Markowich, who served a record 23 years as Rector of Holy Transfiguration. Fr. Athanasy shepherded the parish through World War II, during which one of the parish youth, Theodore Dorak, died in naval combat. He, too, is commemorated at St. Michael the Archangel Chapel. The aftermath of World War II saw a second great wave of Orthodox immigration to the Denver area, as large numbers of Orthodox refugees and immigrants from Europe made Holy Transfiguration their spiritual home. In 1946 Metropolitan Theophilus awarded the parish a Gramota for its efforts in refugee relief, as well as its contributions towards replacing the New York Cathedral which had been lost during the Kedrovsky upheaval.

After years of service, Fr. Athanasy was deposed from the priesthood in 1959 after his arrest and prosecution for criminal offenses of a moral nature, an event causing great scandal for the Parish and community. Years later, upon his death he was allowed an Orthodox burial as a lay monk. By this time, the parish found itself facing a challenge of a different sort; the building between 1948 and 1964 of two interstate highways (I-70 and I-25) through the heart of the Globeville neighborhood, with the loss of 31 homes and most neighborhood businesses, combined with the construction of the 232 unit Stapleton Public Housing Project on the northern edge of the community. These twin projects destabilized the old ethnic neighborhoods that had stood unchanged since the 1890's, accelerated flight of the second and third generation church members to the suburbs, and threatened the Globeville neighborhood with irreversible decline.

Part 2 | Part 4