The History of St Andrew's Ukrainian Catholic Church

The 1980's saw the first ukrainians - primarily retirees from the north making their homes in the Spring Hill visinity. As there was no Ukrainian church north of St. Petersburg in west central Florida, they traveled to St. Petersburg regularly (a round trip exceeding 110 miles) to fulfill their Sunday and holy day obligations. Although our pioneers perioically petitioned Bishop Robert Moskal, the Ukrainian Catholic Bishop in Parma, Ohio, requesting the assignment of a priest for their community, it was not feasible to do so for the number of families.

On Saturday, December 7, 1988, at 4:00 p.m., the firt Ukrainian Divine Liturgy in Spring Hill was celebrated in the First United Methodist Church by Father Peter Hronsky of Holy Protection Ukrainian Catholic Church in apopka. Shortly thereafter, in 1989, some 25 families were organized as St. Josephat's mission parish with visiting priests fromthe vicinity serving their needs on the first and third Saturdays of the month at the Spring Hill Community Center and later at the Senior Citizens Center of Hernando County. Those priests were: Fr. Jaroslav Fedyk of Epiphony parish in St. Petersburg; Fr. Leo Schlosser, O.S.B. of St. Leo's Abbey: Fr. Stephen Adamiak and Fr. Nicholas Regos of Holy Protection parish in Apopka. On certain solemn occasions, Fr. Schlosser would celebrate the Divine Liturgy at St. Anne's Ruthenian parish in New Port Richey.

In 1992 , a 2.4 acre parcel of land was purchased on Weeping Willow Street in Brooksville for a futurechurch and parish facilities. In November 1993, Father Matthew Berko was assigned as the Administrator of the parish, at which tie the Diine Liturgy was celbrated regularly every Sunday and major holy day. The official name of the parish was also changed to St. Andrew's. Since early 1994 our parishoners have gathered for liturgical celebrations and some other eventsat th Forest Oaks Community Center. In May of 1995, the parcel of land was blessed by Bishop Robert in preparation for the new construction.