St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox Church in Houston was founded through charitable efforts of a small number of Russians who arrived in the U.S. primarily from Europe after World War II. Katherine M. Haugh-Chepigo, a journalist and a newspaper reporter from Belgrade, arrived in Houston from Yugoslavia in 1946. Being a religious person, she was distressed not to find a Russian Orthodox church in Houston and set herself a goal to establish one. Mrs. Haugh-Chepigo had previously helped establish Russian Orthodox parishes in Belgrade and Vienna.

Between 1949 and 1950, Mrs. Haugh-Chepigo was able to assemble 12 Russian families who were interested in meeting regularly for church services. At first, these services took place during holidays at the house of Dr. Izvekov with visiting clergy. In January 1950, the first Church Committee was formed and consisted of Basil Zavoiko, Andrew and Daria Zhitkoff, Mr. Urenev, Mr. Makarenko, Mr. Vergun, Mr. Garbet, and Dr. Izvekov. The primary task of this committee was to locate and purchase a church building and to invite a permanent priest. However, due to the scarcity of funds, it was not until 1953 that a two story house was purchased on Garrott St. Paul Raigorodsky, and oilman from Dallas put down half of the money to purchase the property. The other half of the money was donated by Mr. Zavoiko, the Jitkoff’s, Mr. Vergun and Mr. Izvekov. The first floor of the building was converted to a chapel while the second floor served as a rectory. This was was to have served as the church building for this community for the next 26 years.

Father Alexander Chernai came from Cincinnati, Ohio to assume the post of the first priest. Mr. Peter Zavarotny arrived with his wife Eugenia and assumed the post of choir director. Father Chernai served for approximately 15 years, after which he was transferred by the Synod to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Father Hicha -St. Vladimir’s ROC on Garrott St.

In 1979, the city of Houston informed the parish that the building could no longer be used as a church since it was located in a residential area. At a parish meeting, the decision was made to sell the building and purchase a piece of land on which to build the church. Mr. and Mrs. Beard graciously offered their house on Abide St. to be used as a temporary rectory, and the garage was converted in to a temporary chapel. This chapel served the parishioners of St. Vladimir until May 1988.

Pascha -St. Vladimir’s ROC on Abide St.

After much searching, land was finally purchased on Tidwell Rd. in North Houston. Following a consecration ceremony performed by Bishop Gregory on November 20th, 1983, the land was blessed and the construction of the long-awaited church began. However, all was not smooth sailing and the construction was soon halted for lack of funds. Construction did resume eight months later thanks to all of the hard work of the parishioners, the Sisterhood of the church, friends of the parish and especially the Chairman of the Building Committee, Rusty Karnauch.

Consecration of the new property – 1983

Construction on new church – circa 1986

Complete with it’s hand carved white oak iconostas, Houston became the first Southwest city to boast an authentic Russian Orthodox Church. Fr. Kiprian from the Holy Trinity Monastery was commissioned by St. Vladimir’s church to paint the icons for the iconostas. Construction of the church was finally completed and on May 22nd, 1988, the church was consecrated by three bishops, four priests and two proto-deacons. The consecration of the church coincided with the 1000 year anniversary of Orthodoxy in Russia.

Consecration of the new church -1988

The architecture of the church is in old Byzantine style. Father Kiprian oversaw the work on the Iconostas and iconography. The eight stained glass windows were designed by parishioner Walter Karakulko and he and parishioner George Obolensky hand crafted each window.

St. Vladimir’s – 1996

In 1997, St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox church was blessed with the arrival of Father Lubomir Kupecz. Because of Fr. Lubomir’s enthusiasm and hard work, St. Vladimir’s was quickly becoming more visible in the city of Houston. By the end of 2002, the church had over 200 members and over 450 people attended Pascha services. The Sisterhood organizes three annual events; Blini, St. Vladimir’s Feast Day and a Christmas party (Yolka) for the children.

St. Vladimir is enjoying a resurgence of growth and is always ready to embrace new members: The Divine Liturgy is celebrated every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. with Vespers and Matins Saturday evenings at 5:00 p.m. A calendar of events can be found here.

Father Lubomir Kupecz