Cohoes, New York, October 16, 2026
Photo: saintnicholascohoes.org
Eight people are preparing to enter the Orthodox Church after joining the catechumenate at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Cohoes, New York, a parish of the Orthodox Church in America.
The catechumens were enrolled on Sunday, October 11, by parish rector Archpriest Terenti Wasielewski, the church reports.
The catechumens names are Edward Jr., Chelsea, Edward III, Braelyn, Davina and Grayson Williams, Dustin Hunt, and Thomas Wilkinson.
“With our prayers and God’s blessing we will welcome them into the church next year,” the parish says.
According to the parish website, it averages 35 people on a Sunday. Though this information is presumably out of date, eight new catechumens is nevertheless a high growth percentage for a community of that size.
St. Nicholas is mainly made up of second- and third-generation parishioners whose families came from Lemkovyna, a region now divided among Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia. In recent years, the church has also become the spiritual home of a smattering of immigrants from Romania, Macedonia, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Russia, as well as Americans.
“Our mission is to expand our Christian family by embracing all people who want to share a life in Christ and to be the home for people of all backgrounds,” the parish says.
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