St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church

A parish with Russian roots, welcoming you to liturgy

St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church in Wilmington grew out of a Russian community that first gathered here in 1913, and it remains a living home for families of many backgrounds. Sunday liturgy, Saturday vigil, weekday services, church school and a shared meal after worship. The church stands on its own grounds, crowned by a dome with a golden cross in the Carpatho-Russian tradition, with holy relics resting in its altar.

In 1913, Orthodox immigrants from Austria-Hungary, Russia and Ukraine gathered in Wilmington to form a Russian parish. It was organized in January 1915 with twenty-five families, and that spring the community bought a two-story house in the Southbridge neighborhood. The first floor became the church, and the second held a school and the priest's apartment. The church was consecrated by Bishop Alexander, then head of the Church in the United States and Canada.

The parish grew along with the city. In 1921, when the Russian community in Pennsgrove, New Jersey closed, its church articles found a new home in Wilmington. In 1930 a residence for the priest and church school classrooms were added, and in 1950 a new church replaced the old house.

In 1962, as parishioners moved to the suburbs, the parish acquired six acres of former farmland. In 1978 the Southbridge property was sold and construction of the present church began. It was completed and dedicated in 1980. In 1990 a dome with a golden cross, recalling Carpatho-Russian churches, was added, and in 1996 the iconostasis was completed. The church was consecrated that year, with holy relics placed in the altar.

Parish life today includes:
- Sunday liturgy and Saturday vigil
- Weekday vespers and liturgy
- Church school for children and a foundations class for adults
- A youth group and a co-op for families who teach their children at home
- Bible studies and book circles for men and women
- A shared meal after Sunday liturgy

Services are in English, so the parish welcomes both those just getting to know Orthodoxy and those who want to carry the faith of their ancestors into a new country.