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2004, Parish of the Holy Trinity
The beginnings of the spiritual life of the Serbs in this part of Great Britain can be traced back to 1948. In December 1947 the first group of displaced Serbs arrived from a camp in Germany and settled in the area covered by the present day parish, having accepted a three-year agreement with the authorities in this country.
Camp in Germany
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They had agreed to spend this time working in mines, textile factories or farms. Those who chose farm work were sent mainly to Scotland, while those who chose to work in textile factories or the mines came to Yorkshire. All of them originated in patriarchal Serbian families and had been brought up in the Orthodox faith and the Serbian tradition. This faith they kept in their souls and guarded it like their most valuable treasure. As soon as they had begun to settle, the spark of faith started to burn ever more brightly and they soon felt the need to organise their spiritual life, finding priests who would be able to conduct holy services. They did all this very modestly with the limited means that they had at their disposal but always with strong faith in God and a firm hope for a better tomorrow that is characteristic of the Serbian people.
Once the three-year agreement had expired, the settlers were able to seek whatever employment they could find. Those who had settled in the larger towns and cities in Yorkshire begun to ask their relatives, friends and neighbours to live closer to them and they begun finding them somewhere to work and live. Thus started to be formed Serbian communities in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Halifax and Huddersfield.
Families began to be formed. The first known wedding was that of Jovan Piplica and Dara Kukić which took place on the 27 January 1951 in Silsden (near Keighley) on St Sava’s day. Hieromonk Justinian Ilkić officiated. Then in Leeds, on 24th January 1953 the first recorded wedding of this parish of the Holy Trinity was that of Milan Bjelan and Josephine Howe. Their best men were Dušan Bjelić and Uroš Matijaš. The first Christening was held in Keighley on 11 January 1953 and was that of Dušan, son of Nikola and Marija Stojanović. Hieromonk Justinian Ilkić again officiated and the Godparent was Bora Ivković. Unfortunately we also had the first funerals, those of Nikola Matić, born in 1915 and Dušan Popović, born in 1922 in the village of Mokro near Topolja in Dalmatia. Both were killed at work on 12 January 1954. The funeral service was held in Helensburgh, Scotland on 15 January 1954 by Protosingelos Valerijan Štrbac.
As the material situation began to improve, so the idea of the purchase of a church was first discussed in 1952.
Hieromonk Justinian Ilkić formed a committee for the purchase. Its chairman was the late Major Petar Vukadinović and its treasurer was the late Vlastimir Štulović. People were appointed in various places to collect funds from the local Serbian community and a decision was made to purchase a building in Halifax.
In 1953, Hieromonk Justinian Ilkić left for Canada, and in his place, on 18 December 1953, was appointed Father Valerijan Štrbac. He continued the work already in progress with the acquisition of the former Mount Carmel Methodist Chapel. This building was purchased in a dilapidated state but after much renovation was finally completed and consecrated on 26 September 1954. From thereon, this was officially the start of the Serbian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity in Halifax. His Majesty King Peter II of Yugoslavia attended the opening along with various other civil and clerical dignitaries.
On the initiative of Father Valerijan, the present church in Bradford was purchased and, led by his effort, work was commenced on its adaptation and reconstruction.
Protosingelos Valerijan Štrbac stayed in this parish up to the time of his death on 24 November 1977. He died whilst overseeing the work in the church and sacrificed himself to the very end to ensure that the task was completed. His final recorded words were: “be in unison and complete this holy task”. The consecration of the church was carried out by Bishop Lavrentije, of the Serbian Orthodox Western European Diocese on 15 October 1978.
After Father Valerijan came Hieromonk Lazar Krstić who remained for just over a year and who is now a monk in the Monastery of Tavna in the Republic of Srpska (Bosnia and Hercegovina). Following him was Hiermonk Longin Krčo who is now Bishop for America and Canada of the Metropolate of New Gračanica. Father Miroslav Lazarević was the next priest to be appointed and is currently the parish priest of the Serbian Orthodox Parish in Washington. During the entire period this parish was without a permanent priest, The Very Reverend Protopresbyter-Stavrophore Milenko Zebić from Birmingham officiated at all our parish functions.
The current priest, Father Žarko Nedić was appointed on 14 December 1985. Father Žarko was born on 29 November 1957 in the village of Osečina where he completed his basic education. He entered the Theological School of St. Sava in Belgrade in 1972 and completed this in 1979. He then studied at the Theological Faculty of the Serbian Orthodox Church and gained his degree on 19 March 1982. He was entered into the rank of deacon in the Cathedral Church in Belgrade on Palm Sunday, 1985 by the then Patriarch German. Later that year on the day of the Presentation of the Mother of God to the Temple, he was advanced into the rank of priest by Bishop Longin Krčo in the Belgrade Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Mother Of God into the Temple. Father Žarko is married to Milica and they have three children.
The first Chairman of the Parish Committee was Major Petar Vukadinović from 1952-1954. The next Chairman was Nikola Vujanić who held this position until 1963. From 1963 the parish was governed by a temporary commission at whose head was Father Valerijan Štrbac. From 1977 to 1989 the chairman of the parish council was Mile Rnić, who was succeeded by Trivun Rusić who remained in this position until 2003. The current chairman is Jovan Prica, who took over the position in May 2003.
The parish of the Holy Trinity has a Church choir, a Sunday school, a Church and Chetnik Circle of Serbian Sisters and a folk dance group Morava, together with its junior ensemble.