Lenexa, Kansas, June 2, 2026
Photo: newgracanica.org
A Serbian Orthodox parish in Lenexa, Kansas marked four significant anniversaries simultaneously over the weekend of May 2–3, 2026, drawing more than 300 faithful from across the region for a series of liturgical services, memorial prayers, and cultural festivities.
St. George the Great Martyr Serbian Orthodox Church used the occasion of the Sunday of the Paralytic to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the parish’s founding in 1906, the 100th anniversary of a canonical visit by St. Mardarije of Libertyville to Kansas City, the 20th anniversary of the consecration of its current church, and the annual parish feast day, or Slava, of St. George, reports the Serbian Eastern American Diocese.
His Grace Bishop Serafim of Chicago presided over the weekend’s events.
The weekend opened Saturday morning with a pilgrimage to the community’s former building in Kansas City, Kansas, which was sold to the local Ethiopian congregation in 2006 when the parish relocated to Lenexa. The parish was first established in 1906 in the West Bottoms rail yard district before moving to that location in 1925 after repeated river flooding.
Photo: newgracanica.org
Bp. Serafim led a Thanksgiving Moleben and an Akathist to St. Mardarije beside the original cornerstone, which St. Mardarije himself had blessed in 1925. The Ethiopian community hosted a fellowship meal in the old parish hall afterward.
That evening, Festal Vespers was served, followed by a memorial service for departed founders, benefactors, and parishioners, with more than 200 faithful in attendance. The evening concluded with a dinner accompanied by traditional Serbian tamburica music.
On Sunday, Bp. Serafim celebrated the Divine Liturgy alongside six concelebrating clergy. A cross procession encircled the church following the Liturgy, concluding with the traditional cutting of the Slava Kolach inside the church. Pilgrims attended from several other communities, including two monastic communities in Missouri.
Photo: newgracanica.org
At a banquet prepared by the Circle of Serbian Sisters, Bp. Serafim presented Episcopal Gramotas—certificates of appreciation—to ten individuals recognized for long-standing service to the church. The bishop noted that those formally honored represented only a portion of the parish’s many dedicated members.
Before returning to the diocesan see in Chicago, Bp. Serafim offered a final blessing, calling on the faithful to preserve and build upon the spiritual inheritance passed down by previous generations.
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