Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Church
An English-language parish of the Russian Church Abroad in a 1905 chapel
The parish of Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr was founded in 1998 in Somerville, New Jersey: services were held first in the priest's home, then in a chapel in a parishioner's home, and on February 18, 2004 the community bought its own building in Rocky Hill, the former Chapel of St. James, built in 1905 for the local Catholic community. It is an English-language parish of the Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, keeping the Julian calendar and the Russian order of services, where Church Slavonic, Greek and Arabic are heard alongside English.
From late May to the beginning of October 2008 the building was renovated over four months: the altar area was enlarged, a proper iconostasis was built, the choir loft improved, and a new ceiling, refinished floors, new lighting, ventilation and air conditioning installed. Since then the parish iconographer has filled the iconostasis with forty-four painted icons and panels, and the six icons of the Royal Doors came from another church.
A second project decorated the east wall of the altar with three tiers of icons. At the bottom six Liturgists flank an image of Christ the Great High Priest, in the middle three large panels show the Communion of the Apostles, and in the top tier a large panel carries the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, which the parish welcomed on a visit in December 2009.
The parish is named for Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, founder of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, who accepted a martyr's death in 1918. The patronal feast is kept on July 18.
Different traditions of Byzantine and Russian chant are used, depending on the singers. The order of services is that of the Russian Church, with some parish customs dear to people of other Orthodox backgrounds.
Services: the All-Night Vigil on Saturdays at 6:00 PM, followed by confessions; on Sundays the Third and Sixth Hours at 9:10 AM and the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 AM, followed by a shared coffee hour.