ROCOR to build new church in U.S
MOSCOW. Nov 27 (Interfax) - The English-language Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which is part of the Eastern American diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), plans to build a new church in 2020 due to an increase in the number of pilgrims.
"Unexpectedly for the brothers, the number of pilgrims and monastery workers started increasing every year, as well as the number of brothers, which now reaches 30. On big holy days, dozens of people stand outside because the church cannot take more than 50 people and this situation, which at first sight appears to be a problem, indicates the flourishing of Orthodoxy among English-speaking Americans, a considerable number of whom are people who previously belonged to other religious denominations. To resolve the problem, the monastery will begin building a new church as soon as winter ends and as soon as it gets warm, in 2020," father superior of the monastery Archimandrite Seraphim (Vopel) told Interfax on Wednesday.
The church was designed by architect Andrew Gould, who converted to Orthodox Christianity in 2004 and has experience of building churches in the United States.
"This church will have columns of plastered concrete, modelled on the elegant columns at Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. They can be painted with icons, and will give a Russian flavor to the grand interior spaces," Gould said.