SPRING HILL, Fla. — Holy Trinity Church in Spring Hill, Fla., celebrated its 30th anniversary Nov. 6-8, 2009 with a special weekend of faith and fellowship focused on remembering the past, thanking God for the present and looking ahead to the future.

Father Michael Shuster, presbyter of the parish, Father Michael Miklos, dean of the diocese’s Florida parishes, and members and friends of the church gathered for Vespers and an informal social hour on Fri., Nov. 6; a Thanksgiving Divine Liturgy, followed by a festive buffet luncheon at nearby Brooksville Country Club, on Sat., Nov. 7; and a special coffee hour, with a computer slide show featuring the parish’s history in digital photographs, after the Divine Liturgy on Sun., Nov. 8.

The parish’s historic milestone garnered illustrated newspaper coverage in print and online from the St. Petersburg Times, which highlighted the community’s heritage of Orthodox Christian faith and spirituality as part of this diocese. The article is available online here:

www.tampabay.com/news/religion/spring-hills-holy-trinity-...

Holy Trinity Church was formed in 1979 by Slavic-Americans in then rural Hernando County, Fla., where no Orthodox Christian churches existed at the time. Meeting at first in school rooms lent by local Episcopalians, the newborn congregation worked quickly to obtain a land grant from a real-estate development company then seeking to attract new homeowners to its fledgling residential communities in the area. Like pioneers settling a new frontier, church members cleared the acreage themselves and did all the finishing work on the shell of a church built on the property by hired contractors in 1981. By God’s grace, their labors and sacrifices planted Orthodox Christianity in new soil where it once had no roots before.

Over the next three decades, the congregation grew more diverse, drawing newcomers from Finnish, Greek, Middle Eastern and other backgrounds, both American-born and from overseas, thanks in part to worship and teaching in English — a common denominator vital for a multiethnic Orthodox Christian community in the American South. Building on these foundations, the church is now working to break new ground in outreach to the surrounding community. Recent initiatives include prayer campaigns for parish renewal and growth; a new website featuring free educational and inspirational resources; seasonal lecture series; improved advertising and public relations in area media; and year-round collection of food, clothing and other necessities for the children, women and men aided by a local domestic violence and abuse shelter.

After its first 30 years, Holy Trinity Church — “the little church with a big heart and room for everyone” — stands poised to keep its doors open wide and invite all people to share its most valuable asset: the good news and grace of Jesus Christ, “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Within its Orthodox Christian family awaits a warm welcome for anyone visiting or relocating to Florida’s “Nature Coast.” For more information on what it has to offer in the way of worship, fellowship, hospitality, philanthropy and spiritual growth, visit its website online at htoc-fl.org.