Sts. Peter and Paul Church-School Congregation

Oakville, Ontario, Canada

This Church-School Congregation consists of one parish with the church of Sts. Peter and Paul.

   It was while his Grace, Sava (Vuković) was still Bishop of Canada that the idea of a Mississauga-Oakville parish was born, the reason for this being that the Hamilton parish served more than a thousand families spread over a very wide area, whereas the St. Sava Parish in Toronto had more than 5000 families. It became clear that it was extremely hard for the priests of these two parishes to dedicate enough time to the faithful in Oakville and Mississauga. For instance, they barely managed to bless all their parishioners' homes after Theophany.

The forming of a new parish

   As the number of Serbs in the Oakville-Mississauga area increased, so did the need for an adequate location for the construction of a church. A group of Serbs managed to collect $40,000 among themselves with the purpose of buying a house which could be adapted to serve as a church or chapel. However, the house they had in mind was sold before they had a chance to give an offer. Another attempt at purchasing church property failed when an 18-acre wooded lot on a hill was found - the majority did not approve of this purchase for many practical reasons, and so the donations were returned to the donors and the purchase was cancelled. Then, in a casual conversation between Father Stevo Stojsavljević of Hamilton, who was the parish priest for the Oakville-Mississauga area, someone suggested the idea of Father Stevo asking Bishop Christopher of Eastern America and Canada for a blessing to form a new parish that would serve the area of Oakville and Mississauga. Bishop Christopher answered Stevo's plea appeal in a latter dated April 13, 1980, suggesting that an organizing committee be formed, which would then explore all the possibilities and details of forming a new parish in Mississauga and Oakville.  

   The Diocesan board of directors of the Diocese of Eastern America and Canada passed a decision dated December 2, 1980 to form a parish in Oakville and Mississauga, stating that "according to article 10 of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church for America and Canada, a Serbian Orthodox parish for Mississauga and Oakville is to be formed as part of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America and Canada, which is an integral part of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its Patriarchate in Belgrade."

   In order to more effectively handle the administrative side of the newly formed missionary parish, it was decided to elect the officers of a temporary board of trustees: Vojislav Ananić, president, Milan Vučak, vice-president, Savo Đurđević, secretary, Milan Nikolić, treasurer, Nikola Bilbija, vestyman, as well as its members: Milan Dragičević (the younger) and Damjan Bilbija.

   According to mutual agreement, Oakville was chosen to be the temporary parish centre. The subject of the permanent parish centre and the limits of the new parish were to be discussed later, "with the approval of the Diocesan authorities and compliance of neighboring parishes." The Diocesan board of directors authorized the temporary board of trustees to register the new parish under the name of "Serbian Orthodox Parish for Oakville and Mississauga."

A priest-administrator is appointed

   In his official document no. 1117 dated December 2, 1980, His Grace Christopher, Bishop of Eastern America and Canada appointed the temporary priest from the Kitchener parish as the administrator of the Serbian Orthodox Parish in Oakville and Mississauga, beginning December 10, 1980.

   Immediately upon being appointed the administrator of the new parish, Presbyter Bogdan Zjalić began to work actively on it. Together with his closest associates Vojislav Ananić, Živko Dončić, Milan Vučko and Sava Đurđević, he visited Paul Jackson, an Anglican minister in the St. Cuthbert’s Anglican church in Oakville. The visit was a brief one, yet it transpired in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect. Reverent Jackson showed them the church, hall, chapel and offices and told them that it was all at their disposal, free of charge. The parishioners were very impressed with Reverend Jackson's noble gesture, which encouraged them to attend the services in greater numbers and took a tremendous load off the shoulders of the Temporary Board of Trustees.

The purchase of a new location

   At their semi-annual assembly on June 7, 1981, the parishioners agreed to take the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul as their church Slava. Father Bogdan moved to Oakville in 1981. From then on, he was the parish priest in Oakville and Mississauga, while continuing with his administrative duties in the Kitchener parish.

   After a brief interruption in their work, at a regular meeting held on April 14, 1983, the board of trustees decided to purchase a 10-acre lot on Dundas Street (Highway 5) in Oakville. The priest appealed to all the faithful during the broadcasting of the "Šumadija" program on the radio, asking for their financial and moral support. The response exceeded everyone's expectations by far. The purchase agreement was signed on June 30 with members of the board of trustees Father Bogdan Zjalić, Vojislav Ananić, Savo Đurđević, Milan Nikolić and Pilip Đaković as guarantors.

   At an assembly held on March 11, 1984, it was decided that the remainder of the loan, $59,000 should be paid off in full. This was carried out thanks to the generous help of Danilo Šuka, who loaned $15,000 to the parish and Slobodan Lakić (the elder), who gave a loan of $30,000. This encouraged the other parishioners to also give generously and the loan was successfully paid off.

  His Grace Georgije, the first Bishop of the new Canadian Diocese, consecrated the lot on November 17, 1984. This was the first ceremony of consecration for the newly enthroned Bishop. It was a joyful day for all parishioners and for all the participants in the celebration. The ceremony of the burning of the mortgage as a symbolic act represented the paying off the loan on the property and took place on Saturday March 15, 1986 in the Serbian Centre in Mississauga. Besides Bishop Georgije, the guests of honour at the ceremony were the mayors of Oakville and Mississauga and Mr. Tony Ruprecht, a minister of the government of Ontario.

   In the middle of 1987, the parish was left without a priest as Father Bogdan Zjalić left Oakville and priests from neighbouring parishes helped with the parish duties. On November 15, 1987, Father Miloš Milovanović was appointed to serve in the Oakville parish. As part of his missionary work, Father Miloš started a parish bulletin called "The Seed of the Resurrection," which was interesting and soul-profiting reading matter. However, Father Miloš was transferred to the Niagara parish on May 29, 1990 and the Oakville parish was once again left without a priest. Hieromonk Milutin (Knežević) from the Kaona Monastery in Serbia and Hieromonk Neofit (Avramović) served from time to time in the parish church, as well as Father Stevo Stojsavljević from Hamilton and, whenever his many responsibilities permitted, Bishop Georgije himself.

The forming of the Church-School Congregation and the construction of the church

   After nearly a decade since the birth of the new parish, on February 8, 1990, the Diocesan Executive Board approved the forming of a Church-School Congregation of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Oakville. Although at the time the parish was without a priest, it was Bishop Georgije's wish to motivate the faithful of Oakville to finally initiate the construction of a new church.

   The desire to build a church had existed among Orthodox Serbs for a long time, but there had always been many obstacles, mainly legal ones, which made the realization of this idea difficult. However, thanks to the efforts and work of our parishioners and the Executive Board, as well as with the support of the Carica Jelena Circle of Serbian Sisters, the building of the little church dedicated to Sts Peter and Paul began in earnest in 1991, which was when the foundations of the future church were built. The construction work ceased for a year because of the war in former Yugoslavia, but resumed in August of the following year. The church was finished in 1993, with Bishop Georgije officiating and a great number of parishioners and guests attending the service.

   That year, the Oakville parish finally got a priest. On August 7, 1993, a young priest, Father Ljubomir Rajić, was appointed to the Oakville parish. Father Ljubo immediately began conducting the divine services and organizing catechism classes for children. On May 1, 1999, he was transferred to the fourth Toronto Parish, and once more, the church in Oakville was left without a priest.

   Father Radiša Ninković from Detroit then began to temporarily administer the Oakville parish. He traveled from Detroit every Saturday and Sunday to conduct the divine services and to give support and encouragement to the faithful. Together with the energetic President of the administrative board, Dragan Prostran, Father Radiša initiated the construction of a new church hall.

Building the new church hall

  November 20, 1999 the lot on which the new church hall was to be constructed was consecrated. The foundations were built at the beginning of December and in mid-December, the structure had already surfaced. The construction work ceased for a brief time during the winter but the planning went on.

   The Executive Board decided, at its January 25, February 2, and March 2, 2000 meetings, that the foundations of the church hall be consecrated on Sunday March 12, 2000. Once more, Bishop Georgije officiated in the rite of consecration. The "kumovi" were all parishioners who were willing and able to give a donation of $1000 or more. The response was great, and this event was a very successful and memorable one.

   The church hall was completed by the end of 2000, save for the finishing touches. 

     At the end of the year 2000, Father Radiša Ninković had to leave Oakville as he was assigned to a new parish in California and once again, priests from neighboring parishes came to serve in the Oakville church. On February 21, 2001, Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Mirko Skrobonja, who had until then served in a parish in Johannesburg, South Africa, was appointed as the parish priest for the Oakville congregation. For the past thirteen years, from 2004 until January 1, 2018 protopresbyter Zlatibor Djurasević have faithfully and devotedly served at the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul Parish in Oakville. Since then, protopresbyter-stavrofor Milojko Dimitrić has been entrusted to a parish priest for the Oakville congregation. 

   The work on the new church hall was finally completed and was consecrated on September 16, 2001 in the presence of numerous parishioners from Oakville and other parishes. Bishop Georgije and Bishop Longin of the New Gračanica Metropolitanate served the Hierarchical Liturgy. Anyone who donated over $1000 was invited to act as "kum". Forty-three Serbs pledged their donations at this time.

The church school

   The church school was started on September 23 1973, before the actual parish was formed, as a part of the school on Nash Road in Hamilton. The first teachers in the Oakville branch were Deacon Stevo Stojsavljević and his wife Mira and Desa Dragičević. Deacon Stevo taugh catechism, his wife Mira was the folk dancing instructor and Desa Dragičević was the Serbian language teacher. All classes were held at Pinegrove Public School.

After the first school year, the classes were held at the St. Hilda Anglican church hall on Rebecca Street. Although the conditions were not ideal at this location, still classes were held there for several  years. The long awaited financial help from the Board of Education and a normal school environment coincided with the arrival of Savo Đurđević as the Serbian language teacher in 1977. When Father Stevo was appointed  as the parish priest in Hamilton, Miodrag Živić, a graduate theologian, replaced him in the church school.

   The Oakville church school took part in many events. It is through the church school that the idea of an Oakville parish was born. With Father Bogdan Zjalić as the administrator of the Oakville parish, the church school teacher Miodrag Živić left. From the year 1980, the Oakville school became part of the Missionary Parish of Oakville and Mississauga. Savo Đurđević left the school in 1984 and was replaced by Jelena Novakov. Susequent Serbian teachers were Dragica Lukajić and Jelena Marić. Željko Rodić taught Serbian in 1994 and 1995, and was followed bz Ilija Štetić and, from 2001, Sanja Prostran. Current parochial school  teacher is Mrs. Ljubica Stojadinović.

The Kosovski Božuri youth club and folk-dancing group

   With the consent of the Board of trustees and the committee for education Father Bogdan Zjalić organized the Kosovksi Božuri youth club. Later, a folk-dancing group was formed under the same name. Today, this Oakville folk-dancing group performs at many recitals  and events.

The Carica Jelena Circle of Serbian Sisters

   A group of women, mostly mothers of the children who attended the church-school, often got together to prepare banquets, even before the Oakville-Mississauga parish. The Circle of Serbian Sisters was formed on February 27, 1982. Its president was Radmila Đurđević. At their annual assembly on December 11, 1983, the sisters chose the Holy Empress Helen, whose feast is celebrated on June 3, as their Slava. Thus, they were now formally part of the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish.

   Throughout its many years of work, the Carica Jelena of the Serbian Sisters participated in the life of the Oakville parish. With their wholehearted moral and financial support and hard work, they contributed a great deal towards the building of the church and the church hall.

Source: Schematism of the Canadian Diocese, 2003

Chronicle  - courtesy of Mr. Savo Đurđević