History The Early Years The parish of the Church of the Nativity of Christ was originally chartered in 1916 by Russian Old Believer immigrants who had come to the United States during the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. The Old Believers who made up the founders of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Erie came from those priestless Old Believers who emigrated to the shores of the Northern Lakes, and thus became known as the pomortsi, or shore-dwellers. At some point, they then emigrated to an area now in Poland, then a part of Russia’s western outskirts known as suvalki-sezhny. Upon arriving in America, many of these Old Believer immigrants chose to move to Erie, where work on the ore and pulp docks was available. These docks were located on the Erie bayfront, directly north of the current location of the church. By 1916, scores of Old Believer families were located in the area, and the community’s leaders decided to build a church. The first church was dedicated on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God in 1919, and the first full-time nastavnik (or “teacher”), Father Nikon Pancerev, assumed the role of spiritual leader in 1923. In the parish’s early years, the Old Believer traditions remained completely intact, and the members of the community retained their Russian ways. However, the arrival of World War II led to the “Americanization” of the parish. Men shaved their beards; women cut their hair; children began to speak only English. Thus, by the time Father Vladimir Smolakov assumed the role of nastavnik in 1952, the parish had undergone serious changes. Although the arrival of the “baby boomer” generation meant that the church was packed during Saturday Vespers and religious education was at an all-time high, the Old Believers often saw their attention drawn to social activities instead of church services. When Fr. Vladimir retired in 1972, he was essentially keeping his finger in a crack, trying to prevent the floodwaters of Americanization from drowning the community. © 2011 _Church of the Nativity_ (http://www.churchofthenativity.net/) _Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha_ (http://www.aquoid.com/news/themes/suffusion/)