For 170 years, the faithful of the United Church of Christ in Palatine, Illinois, have worshiped Christ the Savior in their parish temple - offering praise, prayer, and community to generations of believers. On Sunday, August 17, 2025, this sacred space entered a new chapter of its history: it also became the spiritual home for the Holy Archangel Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Mission, a community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, now officially embraced into the family of the Western Eparchy.

Here, under the same roof that sheltered faithful Americans for nearly two centuries, a new wave of Christians - men and women, parents and grandparents, but especially children who recently arrived from war-torn Ukraine - found their home in Christ. Their voices, prayers, and tears mingled with the prayers of the saints who had worshiped there before them, reminding all present that the Church of Christ is truly one, holy, catholic, and apostolic - transcending time, space, and national borders.

The arrival of His Eminence Archbishop Daniel, spiritual father of the Western Eparchy of the UOC of the USA, was marked by deep emotion. Children of the mission, dressed in traditional Ukrainian attire, welcomed their archpastor with the gift of bread and salt and bouquets of flowers. These symbols, so deeply rooted in Ukrainian tradition, became even more profound in the hands of children.

• Bread - the gift of life, nourishment, and Christ Himself, the Bread of Heaven.
• Salt - the sign of preservation, covenant, and faithfulness to God.
• Flowers - symbols of beauty, purity, and the new life of the Church, especially when offered by the youth who represent the future.

The children’s act of welcome proclaimed silently yet powerfully: “We are here, we are alive, and our future belongs to Christ and His Church.”

At the doors of the temple, Rev. Fr. Petro Steblyna, pastor of the newly established Holy Archangel Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Mission in Palatine, stood with deep emotion to welcome his archpastor. By his side was his own brother, Rev. Fr. Wolodymyr Steblyna, pastor of the recently founded St. George Ukrainian Orthodox Mission in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. United not only by birth but by the holy priesthood of Christ, the two brothers extended their filial reverence to their spiritual father, Archbishop Daniel. Together they proclaimed with their words and presence the sacred truth that in the Eucharist and in the Church, all divisions are overcome, and true unity is found. Their welcome became a living icon of brotherhood - biological, spiritual, and ecclesial - as they stood side by side, saying in essence: “Father, welcome to your flock; Bishop, welcome to your altar; Shepherd, welcome to your people.”

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in a spirit of joy, solemnity, and hope. Archbishop Daniel, surrounded by clergy, presided over the service that sealed this mission community into the life of the Church. The nave overflowed with faithful, many of them recent refugees from Ukraine, their voices rising in the hymns of the Divine Liturgy - hymns they once sang in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Lviv, now echoing in Palatine, Illinois.

Preaching on Matthew 17:14- 23, Archbishop Daniel reminded the faithful of Christ’s teaching that even faith the size of a mustard seed has the power to move mountains.

“Our mountains today are war, fear, and uncertainty,” he said. “We face the darkness of aggression and hatred, but Christ calls us to overcome with faith, prayer, and fasting. These are our tools, our weapons, our hope. It is not enough to decorate our temples with paint and stone; we must nourish the inner temple of the soul with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

His words were not abstract theology, but pastoral guidance for a people carrying the wounds of displacement, the pain of exile, and the longing for peace. The faithful listened with tears, strengthened by the reminder that God’s power is revealed in weakness, and His victory is won through faith.

At the culmination of the service, a multitude of faithful approached the Holy Chalice, receiving the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ. In this Eucharist, they found not only forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but also the embrace of their new spiritual family in America.

Following the Eucharist, Fr. Bohdan Kalynyuk, Dean of the Chicago Deanery, spoke on behalf of the clergy of the region. With heartfelt words, he welcomed the new mission and its faithful into the loving embrace of the Western Eparchy of the UOC of the USA, assuring them that they are no longer alone, but part of a living family of faith that stretches from coast to coast.

In a moving moment of ecumenical gratitude, Archbishop Daniel met with the leadership of the United Church of Christ parish and its Board of Administration. With heartfelt words, he thanked them for opening their temple as a spiritual home for the Ukrainian Orthodox faithful, and for offering their facilities - including spaces for parish picnics and community events.

“This is what it means to live the Gospel,” Archbishop Daniel said. “To welcome the stranger, to share what is yours, and to see Christ in the face of the other. In your generosity, you have preserved not only our faith but the dignity of a people who have suffered much.”

At the conclusion of the liturgy, in keeping with tradition, Archbishop Daniel presented special awards to the parish and its supporters: the Ukrainian Tryzub, adorned with the official emblem of the UOC of the USA. These awards were given as a sign of gratitude to those who offered themselves unconditionally in service to the Ukrainian Orthodox community during a time of war and aggression unleashed by Russia.

Each Tryzub bore witness to the unbreakable spirit of Ukraine and the unity of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church across continents. To receive it was not merely an honor, but a call to continue standing with Ukraine in her hour of suffering.

Among the faithful gathered for the Divine Liturgy were wounded warriors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, men who had borne the scars of war in defense of their homeland and who are now in the United States, particularly in the Chicago area, receiving life-saving prosthetic care through the Protez Foundation, a ministry actively supported by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. With deep pastoral tenderness, Archbishop Daniel greeted the soldiers, embracing them as living icons of sacrifice and courage. He reminded the faithful that these men carry upon their bodies the marks of their nation’s suffering, yet also the unshakable dignity of those who defend truth and freedom. In a moment of humble reciprocity, the wounded warriors themselves stepped forward and presented the archpastor with a polo shirt bearing the emblem of the Protez Foundation - a token of their gratitude for the Church’s support, prayers, and unceasing advocacy. The exchange became more than a gesture: it was a sacred bond between shepherd and defenders, between the altar of the Church and the battlefield for freedom, sealed in love, thanksgiving, and faith.

At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Archbishop Daniel, in his capacity as the spiritual father of the Western Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and on behalf of the Primate of the Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Antony, presented to Very Rev. Fr. Petro Steblyna, pastor of Holy Archangel Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Mission in Palatine, Illinois, the formal Certificate of Mission Establishment. With this act, the mission community was officially united with the greater Ukrainian Orthodox Christian family across the globe and with the universal Orthodox Church, canonically bound through apostolic succession under the Council of Bishops of the UOC of the USA. In a moment of heartfelt gratitude, Fr. Petro, on behalf of the faithful, presented their archpastor with a gift - a marble-engraved “Our Father” prayer in the Ukrainian language - a symbol of their devotion and the foundation of their new life in Christ as a parish community. In return, Archbishop Daniel offered to the elder of the parish, Yuriy, a memorial commemorative certificate, marking his first archpastoral visit to the Mission and sealing his embrace of the Ukrainian Orthodox faithful of Palatine, IL into the fullness of his spiritual care.

One of the most spiritually moving moments of the entire archpastoral visit came with the presentation and explanation of the cross held in the hands of Archbishop Daniel. This was not an ordinary cross, but the very first cross of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA - the wooden cross of Metropolitan John Theodorovych, the first Metropolitan of the Church, who arrived in America in 1924 carrying with him this sacred treasure. Enshrined within the cross are particles of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, entrusted to Metropolitan John during his passage through Ireland on his journey to the New World.

With this cross, Metropolitan John once blessed the first generation of Ukrainian Orthodox faithful who had fled persecution and hardship in the 1920s. And now, in God’s providence, that same cross was raised once again to bless the faithful of Palatine, IL - Ukrainian refugees, immigrants, and their children - as the Holy Archangel Michael Mission was established. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, every person, young and old alike, approached their archpastor and venerated the cross from his hands, touching the same relic that had been brought to America by the only hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to survive the Soviet persecutions of the 1920s, Metropolitan John Theodorovych. In that moment, past and present, sacrifice and renewal, suffering and hope, were united in the mystery of the Cross of Christ - the eternal sign of victory and life.

The day concluded with a festive parish luncheon, where Ukrainian cuisine was shared in an atmosphere of joy, gratitude, and unity. Laughter and tears mingled at the tables, as stories of survival and hope were told, and plans for the mission’s future began to take shape.

Before departing, Archbishop Daniel once again gathered the faithful in prayer:

“O Lord of Peace, look upon Ukraine, Your suffering vineyard. Grant strength to her soldiers, comfort to her wounded, and eternal rest to her fallen. Bless her leaders and the leaders of the United States as they meet in Washington, D.C., that their decisions may bring justice, truth, and lasting peace. And bless this new parish, that it may grow into a beacon of faith, hope, and love for generations to come.”

Thus, on August 17, 2025, the Holy Archangel Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Mission in Palatine was not only canonically received into the UOC of the USA, but spiritually embraced as a new home for countless faithful.

From the hands of children offering bread and flowers, to the solemn prayers of their elders; from the generosity of the United Church of Christ to the Eucharistic unity in the Cup of Christ; from the Tryzub awards to the fellowship meal - the day was filled with symbols of faith, resilience, and unity.

In Palatine, Illinois, a new chapter of history has been written: one that proclaims to the world that even in exile, even in suffering, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church lives, grows, and shines with the light of Christ.