SLAVA OF THE CHURCH OF ST. KING MILUTIN IN JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville, FL - On Sunday November 14, 2004, through God's blessings, the Serbian Orthodox Church-School Congregation of the Holy King Milutin of Serbia in Jacksonville celebrated their church Slava. Fr. Ljubisa Brnjos, parish priest in Orlando and temporary administrator of this mission, officiated at the Divine Liturgy, serving his first liturgy in Jacksonville.
This young Serbian Orthodox community in Jacksonville has some 300 Serbian homes, most of which settled here within the past few years. The majority of the families arrived in this city after surviving the wars, concentration camps for Serbs on Croatian territory as well as Bosnia and Hercegovina, where they spent the most difficult moments of their lives. After a relatively short period of adapting to life in America, these families, with the help of then priest Fr. Dragan Zaric, began to build the living church, serving and praying to God, renting space in the different churches of Jacksonville. Soon after this, they purchased property where today a small church is dedicated to the holy King Milutin.
This year's kum for the Slava celebration was Mr. Stanko Precanica and his family and it was from him that Mr. Momcilo Nikolic received the honors of playing the role of kum for next year. Many guests from Chicago, Orlando and throughout Florida joined the faithful in the celebration of their Slava. After the luncheon music from Chicago entertained the gathered faithful until late that evening.
Addressing the gathered crowd were, among others, Fr. Ljubisa and the President of the Church-School congregation Mr. Cedo Zlatkovic, who expressed his hopes that this young church congregation would soon become complete with their own parish priest and become one community gathered around the true Pastor Christ our God.
The next Divine Liturgy in Jacksonville will be on Saturday November 27. Fr. Ljubisa announced that he would serve liturgies at the mission twice each month. Bishop of Eastern America, Dr. Mitrophan, has already announced his next archpastoral visit to be February 5, 2005.
May the holy King Milutin, through his intercessions before the Holy Throne of God, be the protector and guide of these honorable and Christ-loving people on their salvific path now and always.