Saint Barbara in the 1920's
Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church has been the centerpiece of the Lower East Side Greek community for most of the 20th century. It saw the rise and the fall of the Greek community, and served as more than just a house of worship. Children would learn about Greek culture, and the church hosted many programs for the neighborhood’s citizens. Nowadays, since the Greek community is virtually non-existent, the church does not hold more than a Sunday mass for about 10 people, on a good day. Click on the link below to download and read the full 16 page ethnography.
The amount of people attending the church today is considered miniscule when compared to the amount of active members back in the 1960’s. Today, the church is open based on the availability of the priest, and is normally open according to the priest’s schedule. The religious services include candle lighting and visits by the priest. The best time to visit the church is during major religious holidays, especially St. Barbara’s day. The main reason why church membership and attendance has declined is due the fact of the location of the church. Many individuals have all moved out of the neighborhood, contributing to the emptiness of the church on a daily basis. Sundays are the best day of the week for the Greek Orthodox Church. On a normal basis, there are as little as five to ten people at the church.
The church looks like this today.
This church served the community well, providing visitors with shelter and food when they were struggling, and providing religious services to its people. However, as the neighborhood shifted to be predominately Chinese, the Church saw a decline on their attendance rate, and this attendance rate has continued to drop. There isn’t much that this church can do to change the community, because the Chinese have forever laid their footprint in Chinatown. Though the community that still uses this church is extremely small, it is not always about the number, but the dedication through those numbers.
St. Barbara’s Orthodox Church served a role greater than just a local sanctuary for its religious individuals. Several of the church’s programs have aided the Greek community, including its well-known afternoon school programs for Greek children. The afternoon school program ran regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4PM to 6PM. This Greek school would teach the children about the Greek religion, and would rekindle their relationship with their cultural roots. The children in attendance of these classes would learn the language, religion, and history of Greece. Thus, the program was created in order to preserve the Greek identity of these young immigrants.
The church is dedicated to the Martyr Saint Barbara, who is widely recognized as the patron saint of firefighters and the artillery.
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