Our Church
1. St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Mission Parish
The mission of St. Basil of Ostrog Church includes special emphasis on unconditional love and the spiritual and cultural needs of children and families. Everyone is welcome to St. Basil Serbian of Ostrog Orthodox Mission Parish family! St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church of Mettawa-Lake Forest, Illinois is a mission parish established in November 1997 to serve Serbian Orthodox Christians in Lake County and Northern Cook County. After a two-year search to purchase land and/or an existing church building, prayers were answered, in 1999, a ten-acre church complex was acquired. Sunday and Feast Divine Liturgies begin at 10:00 AM.
St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church is part of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gracanica and Midwestern America. Diocesan see is located at the Most Holy Mother of God Serbian Orthodox monastery at Third Lake, IL.
St. Basil Church Community is a parish that is rich in educational experiences for all ages. The church is open to all who wish to attend, participate and support a parish serving faithful of all ages. Children are born into families whose goal is to raise them to maturity. As Christians, God has placed believers in a spiritual family called the church community. Together in prayer, work, education, and fellowship we strive to live our lives and raise our children as close to God as possible and with the love and fellowship of a great church community that has only unconditional love for one another.
2. Living Faith
The Greek word “ekklesia”, which means a “calling out”, is used in the Bible to describe a gathering, meeting or congregation. It has also been translated as a “church” or “assembly”. This word is used in the New Testament to describe Christians in either a global or a local sense. This article focuses on the local church, which is comprised of believers in a particular region who meet together regularly. For example, St. Paul begins his letters “To the church of God in Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2 TNIV); “To the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Th. 1:1); “To the churches in Galatia” (Gal. 1:2).
When He was here, the Lord promised “I will build my church” (Mt. 16:18). The church began on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Christ’s resurrection, when the Holy Spirit indwelt the Lord’s followers (Acts 2). So, don’t look in the Old Testament to learn about the church, because it was unknown in those times. (Out)
One of God’s goals is to show the angels His manifold wisdom through the Church (Eph. 3:10-11). They see how a loving God triumphed over sin by offering His Only-begotten Son so that sinners of all races and nations could have a heavenly inheritance of eternal life. They see the Church as being part of God’s new creation.
So the saying “What would Jesus do?” is a good one when looking at goals for the local church. The best way to find Christ’s example is to see how the apostles wrote about this between Acts and Revelation, because these letters were written to the Church. We can also learn from the Gospels, but we need to realize that, although they were written after the day of Pentecost, they record what happened when Jesus came as Messiah to the Jews. They fill the gap between the Old Testament and the Church, describing what happened while Christ was on earth before the Church commenced.
If we imitate Christ and strengthen our faith, hope, and love, surely we will have unity. Nevertheless, we need to be reminded as a congregation of the many spiritual things that we have in common, and which are more important than our differences.
Let’s be more Christ-like, faithful, hopeful, loving and united and develop to become the congregation that God wants us to be.
St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church follows the Julian (Old) calendar and the teachings and canons of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church. Our parish services reflect the needs of a diverse parish and are served in a combination of Serbian and English. Liturgy services begin at 10:00 AM. Vespers (evening) service celebrated on Saturdays and on the eve of major Church feasts begin at 5:00 PM unless otherwise announced. For all additional information, contact the parish priest, V. Rev. Fr. Nikola Radovancevic. The church office contact information is:
Tel: (847) 247-0077
Fax: (847) 247-0088
General E-mail: office@stbasilchurch.org
3. Parish Priest
The parish priest is Fr. Nikola Radovancevic. Fr. Nikola was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to parents Pavle and Dara in December 1969. Fr. Nikola’s mother Dara suffered as a child during WWII in Yugoslavia when during the communist revolution her father, Prota Ilija Rodic, was arrested and killed. Separated from her mother from that point on for her safety she grew up in eastern Bosnia and eventually moved to Belgrade to live with family. Fr. Nikola’s father, Pavle, was born in Obrenovac and eventually moved to Belgrade where he met his future wife. When Dara’s mother and new step-father made their way through Eboli, Italy, and Osnabruck, Germany, with many of the other Chetnik refugees, they finally emigrated to the United States and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Pavle eventually escaped from communist Yugoslavia making his way to France where he sought political asylum. Eventually, he reestablished contact with Dara, and after her journey to meet him in Paris, they returned via ship to the US, to marriage, children, and life in the Serbian diaspora in midwestern America.
Baptized by Prota Milan Markovina, Fr. Nikola grew up in the Serbian community of St. Sava Church-School Congregation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, participating in Sunday School, the folklore program, and as an altar boy from an early age.
After an active and successful high school experience, Fr. Nikola attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he finished with a BA in International Relations Theory and Political Science. His desire to work in the foreign service ceased with the eruption of the war in Yugoslavia and instead began a journey to discover his identity as a Serbian Orthodox Christian living in the diaspora. He first visited Yugoslavia during the war in 1996 where he experienced the richness of the Serbian spiritual heritage of the old country for the first time.
These and many other experiences led Fr. Nikola on a path to discover his Serbian Orthodox Christian Faith – the very thing that seemed to instill a deep sense of identity wherever he went. After meeting his future spiritual father, +Fr. Thomas Hopko, while working in Witchita, Kansas, for a marketing company, Fr. Nikola went to Crestwood, New York, to attend seminary at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Fr. Nikola eventually was conferred a Master of Divinity degree. In 2001 he returned to Milwaukee to wed his fiancé Cheri (“Cherry”) van den Kieboom who had found Orthodoxy through her own journey of faith.
After seminary, Fr. Nikola had the unique opportunity to work with the many Serbian refugee children who had come to Milwaukee after the war in Yugoslavia. From 2001 to 2005 he worked in tandem with the ESL program at Alexander Hamilton High School tutoring, translating, counseling, and advocating for over 100 young Serbian students who had fled the trauma of civil war. Fr. Nikola considered this his first unofficial “parish” which offered special challenges being comprised mainly of teenagers!
On December 7, 2008, Fr. Nikola was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminence, +Metropolitan Christopher Kovacevich, at St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, IL, and assigned to St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, his home parish in Milwaukee. He continued his secular employment during this time working in project management and event production. At this time Fr. Nikola expanded his pastoral work by completing the Clinical Pastoral Education program in the Aurora Metro Hospital system eventually working as a chaplain in the Zablocki Veteran’s Administration, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Aurora Metro Hospitals, and Allay Home Care & Hospice. Fr. Nikola also helped provide education for other facilities about end-of-life care, care for veterans, and ministering to the spiritually injured.
On Savindan 2013, Fr. Nikola was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Grace, Vladika Longin Krco, at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Milwaukee. He provided coverage in the diocese as needed until he was assigned to St. Nikola Serbian Orthodox Church in Cudahy, WI, first as an assistant priest and later as the parish administrator. Fr. Nikola served the community in Cudahy from 2014 to 2022.
Fr. Nikola has worked with the Serbian Orthodox youth from his earliest days in the diocese. At St. Sava’s, while a layman, he taught Sunday School, worked with the parish SPLASH program, volunteered as a counselor in the summer camp program at St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, and was part of the school board that started the Orthodox School at St. Sava’s in Milwaukee. This work continued after his ordination with many wedding anniversaries spent at New Gracanica camp teen week (God bless Popadija!) and many birthdays spent at the Winter Youth Retreat in December.
Eventually, His Grace, Vladika Longin appointed Fr. Nikola the Director of the Diocesan Youth Department where he worked diligently to keep our diocesan youth focused on Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven. Fr. Nikola succeeded in keeping the diocesan youth engaged even in the difficult times of the pandemic, encouraging them to put their trust in Jesus Christ before all else.
Fr. Nikola and Popadija Cheri currently live in Wisconsin and are hoping to move closer to the parish soon. They love to travel, especially on annual trips to the old country with many visits to our Holy Monasteries. They love hiking, reading spiritual books, gardening, and being involved in the life of the parish.
They are honored and excited to meet and join the Saint Basil family and journey through this life of faith together.
4. Educational Programs
St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church is host to various educational experiences that include Church-School for ages preschool – 12th grade. Adult classes are held on announced Friday evenings during the regular school year. There are also featured speakers hosted through the St. Basil Guest Lecture Series.
On Friday evenings, the St. Basil Cultural School hosts folk dance instruction/practices and Serbian language classes.
Special guest speaker presentations are sponsored by the St. Basil Bookstore during the Lenten seasons. The Sv. Jelena KSS is also a sponsor for the St. Basil Guest Lecture Series.
Stewardship and Community Service are a part of the educational experiences. Church School students participate in community service that supports our church, faithful around the world, as well as, in the local surrounding communities. That community service includes military and homeless families.
Special events are hosted throughout the church-school year such as Nikola Tesla Day, that enhances the education of the faithful, especially our children.
St. Basil Church is also host to the Sv. Nikolai of Zicha Choir that responds at Divine services. The church school is host to the junior choir that sings various hymns during our Sunday liturgies.
5. Sisterhood and Brotherhood Fellowship
St. Basil Church is fortunate to also have the women’s KSS, “Sv. Jelena of Anjou, the Serbian Queen” Circle of Serbian Sisters (slava celebrated on November 12) who spend their time supporting the church and all youth activities. They also host weekly Sunday lunches, special feast celebrations and numerous fundraisers throughout the year that support the parish.
The St. Basil Brotherhood is also an organization that supports the concept of working together and supporting the church. The Brotherhood Slava is St. Confessor Varnava of Hvostno and Gary (also celebrated on November 12).
6. Stewardship
Mission statement:
To assume shared responsibility with the priest for the economic and physical well-being of St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church in concert with the teachings and traditions of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
St. Basil of Ostrog Serbian Orthodox Church is supported and maintained through the generosity of a strong core of church stewards who pledge regular, monthly, semi-annually or annual monetary support that is in addition to the support provided by faithful through special donations throughout the year, support of all fundraisers, and the generous gifts of time and talents that give St. Basil Church life.
1. Српска православна мисионарска парохија Св. Василија Острошког…
Мисија цркве Св. Василија Острошког ставља посебан нагласак на безусловну љубав и на духовне и културне потребе деце и породице. Сви су добродошли у српску православну мисионарску парохију Св. Василија Острошког! Српска православна црква Св. Василија Острошког у Метави-Лејк Форесту (Mettawa-Lake Forest), држави Илиној, је мисионарска парохија основана новембра 1997. године да служи православним хришћанима Србима у окрузима: Јужни Лејк Каунти и Северни Кук Каунти (Southern Lake County, Northern Cook County). После двогодишњег тражења да се купи погодно земљиште и(ли) постојећа црквена зграда, молитве су биле услишене када је 1999. купљен црквени комплекс на 10 јутара земље. Божанствена Литургија почиње недељом у 10 часова.
Српска православна црква Св. Василија Острошког је део српске православне Епархије Новограчаничко – Средњезападно-америчке. Епархијско седиште се налази у српском православном манастиру Пресвете Богородице у Трећем Језеру, држава Илиној (Third Lake, IL).
Црквена заједница Св. Василија је парохија која је богата образовним искуствима за сваки узраст. Црква је отворена за све оне који желе да присуствују, учествују и подржавају парохију служећи вернима свих узраста. Деца се рађају у породици чији је циљ да их васпита до зрелог доба. Нас хришћане, Бог је поставио у духовну породицу која се зове црквена заједница. Заједно у молитви, раду, образовању и дружењу, стремимо да живимо и васпитамо своју децу што је могуће ближе Богу, с љубављу и дружењем у великој црквеној заједници у којој влада безусловна међусобна љубав.
2. Жива вера
Грчка реч “еклисија”, што значи “сазвати”, користи се у Библији да опише сабор, састанак или сабрање. Такође се преводи као “црква” или “скупштина”. Ова реч се користи у Новом Завету описујући хришћане у општем или локалном смислу. Овај чланак је сконцентрисан на помесну цркву, коју чине верници са одређеног подручја који се редовно састају. На пример, Св. Павле почиње своја писма “Цркви Божијој која је у Коринту” (1. Кор. 1, 2); “Цркви Солунској” (1. Сол. 1, 1); “Црквама Галатије” (Гал. 1, 2).
Док је био овде, Господ је обећао “сазидаћу Цркву своју”. Црква је установљена на дан Педесетнице, 50 дана по Христовом васкрсењу, када се Свети Дух уселио у следбенике Господње (Дјел. 2).
Један од Божијих циљева је да покаже анђелима многоструку мудрост кроз Цркву (Еф. 3, 10-11). Они виде како је брижни Бог победио грех жртвовавши Јединородног Сина Свог да би грешници из сваке расе и сваког народа могли да имају небеско наслеђе вечног живота. Они виде Цркву као део Божије нове творевине.
Дакле, изрека “Шта би Исус учинио?” је добра када се посматрају циљеви помесне цркве. Најбољи начин да пронађемо Христов пример је да видимо како су апостоли писали о томе између Дела апостолских и Откривења, јер су ова писма (посланице) била упућена Цркви. Можемо учити и из Јеванђеља, али треба да увидимо да су, иако написана после Педесетнице, ова писма забележила шта се збивало када је Исус дошао као Месија Јеврејима. Она попуњавају празнину измеђа Старог Завета и Цркве, описујући шта се дешавало док је Христос био на земљи пре настанка Цркве.
Ако подражавамо Христа и учврстимо своју веру, наду и љубав, свакако ћемо имати јединство. Међутим, треба да се подсетимо да као народ (у цркви) имамо много више заједничких духовних ствари, које су много важније од наших разлика.
Будимо Христолики, имајмо веру, наду, љубав и будимо јединствени; развијајмо се у верни народ који ће бити по Божијој вољи.
Српска православна црква Св. Василија Острошког следи Јулијански (стари) календар и учење и каноне Jeдне Свете, Саборне, Православне Цркве. Наша парохијска богослужења одражавају потребу разнолике парохије и служе се комбиновано на српском и на енглеском језику. Литургија почиње у 10 часова. Вечерње богослужење се служи суботом и уочи великих црквених празника у 5 часова увече, осим ако није другачије најављено. За све додатне информације, контактирајте парохијског свештеника, Протојереја-ставрофора о. Ђуру Крошњара, на број 847-477-1531. Информација за контакт са црквеном канцеларијом:
Тел: (847) 247-0077
Факс: (847) 247-0088
Емаил: office@stbasilchurch.org
3. Парохијски свештеник
4. Образовни програми
Српска православна црква Св. Василија Острошког је домаћин разним образовним искуствима, укључујући и црквену школу за децу од предшколског узраста до 12. разреда. Часови за одрасле се одржавају петком увече (када је то најављено) током редовне школске године. Такође, црква Св. Василија је домаћин угледним гостима који држе предавања током Серије гостујућих предавача цркве Св. Василија.
Петком увече, Културна школа Св. Василија одржава часове (пробе) фоклора и часове српског језика.
Током вишедневних постова, књижара Св. Василија је покровитељ презентација гостујућих предавача. Такође, КСС “Св. Јелена” је покровитељ Серије гостујућих предавача цркве Св. Василија.
Старатељство и друштвено корисни рад су део образовног искуства. Ђаци црквене школе учествују у друштвено корисном раду који подржава цркву, верне широм света, као и локалну заједницу. Друштвено корисни рад обухвата и породице војних лица и бескућнике.
У току црквено-школске године, одржавају се и нарочити догађаји (као што је Дан Николе Тесле), који поспешују образовање верних а нарочито наше деце.
Црква Св. Василија је такође домаћин хора Св. Николаја Жичког који одговара на богослужењима. Црквена школа је домаћин омладинског хора који пева различите химне на недељној Литургији.
5. Сестринство и братство
Црква Св. Василија је срећна што има Коло српских сестара (КСС) “Св. Јелена, краљица српска” (слави се 12. новембра), које подржавају црквене и све омладинске активности. Такође, КСС је сваке седмице домаћин недељног ручка, посебних прослава и догађаја за прикупљање средстава током читаве године ради издржавања парохије.
И Братство Св. Василија је организација која подржава концепт заједничког рада и издржавања цркве. Слава братства је Св. Варнава Исповедник Хвостански (слави се 12. новембра).
6. Старатељство
Мисија старатељства:
Да преузме заједничку одговорност са свештеником за економско и физичко благостање српске православне цркве Св. Василија у складу са учењем и предањем Српске Православне Цркве.
Српска православна црква Св. Василија Острошког се издржава и одржава захваљујући великодушности снажног језгра црквених старатеља који се обавезују на редовну месечну, полугодишњу или годишњу подршку уз посебне прилоге верника током године, свих акција за прикупљање средстава, и великодушног даровања времена и талената – што све даје живот цркви Св. Василија.