SS Peter and Paul Church, Syracuse

On more than a few occasions when researching the parish history of St. John the Baptist Church the name of Father Warnecke and the church he served, Saints Peter and Paul in Syracuse, has come up. Some of the posts in this blog have made reference to the fact that Fr. Warnecke and the Syracuse church stood in much the same relationship to our parish as a godparent to a godchild. Our parish benefited immeasurably from their support, and Fr. Warnecke's guidance. 

They are an older parish than ours, having been established in 1916. As is the case in our parish, many of the early members were Carpatho-Russians. The history of their church that was written in 1976 observes that:

The "new Americans" thus found either by choice or necessity a permanent home in America. And among the first considerations of these people was the establishment and upbuilding of their traditional way of worship. Great sacrifices were endured willingly and even cheerfully for the sake of the Faith which was the common heritage of these people, to which they adhered the more fervently because they knew it was provoslavniy - the True Faith.

We can be grateful indeed to those who established the Syracuse church, for their descendants generously supported our founders here in Rochester. Some of our parish have strong ties to the Syracuse church, including one of our choir, who is featured in a photo of the SS. Peter and Paul choir in 1976. Can you spot her in the photo? (This is what can happen when you lend the church blogger your books and photos!)

Father Warnecke was a priest of many talents, and a great leader of enterprises. He was born in Wilkes-Barre PA in 1923, a region that is something of a heartland for the OCA. He attended the St. Nicholas Church school where he studied church music, Curch Slavonic, Russian Language and so forth. During WWII he served in the military as a Russian language instructor and in military intelligence. After the war he enrolled in St. Vladimir's Seminary, and Columbia University, at the same time! During his student years he helped establish the Pan-Orthodox Student Christian Movement. 

After his graduation he helped start the first English language parish in the NY city area, and then he was assigned to SS. Peter & Paul Church in Syracuse in 1951. Under his leadership the church grew and flourished, and became able to support many efforts and activities beyond the local parish level. One significant effort was the initiation of St. Andrew's Orthodox Camp on Oneida Lake. Fr. Warnecke was in many leadership roles in the greater church, serving for many years for example as chancellor of the NY-NJ diocese, on the board of St. Vladimir's Seminary and many other roles as well. Father Warnecke fell asleep in the Lord in 2001. Memory eternal!