Congregational life was initiated in 1904, when funds began to be collected for the construction of a church. In 1910 George Ponich donated some land for a church and cemetery on the crest of a hill, and logs began to be pulled to the site from the Rannock area, seven miles to the east. In the meantime, occasional services were held at the nearby Luzan school grounds, conducted by priests from the Russian Orthodox Mission. Carpenter Eli Antoniuk was hired to oversee the building project, which he did with the assistance of Demenky Kroytor, and with congregation members providing their labour on a volunteer basis. Work proceeded gradually, and the sanctuary was still only partially complete a year later. Nevertheless, as soon as a roof was put on the structure, a service was held in it, followed by a celebration to commemorate this landmark event.
Because many of the people who settled the area came from the Buvkovynian village of Toporivtsi (now in Novoseletsia raion, Chernivtsi oblast), they referred to their place of worship as the "Toporivtsi" church. However, when the Luzan School District No. 2113 was organized in the vicinity on February 8, 1910, the area became better known as Luzan (in Ukrainian, "Luzhany"), after the village that is today in Kitsman raion, Chernivtsi oblast. St. Elias was adopted as the patron saint of church with its construction, the sanctuary henceforth being identified as the Russo-Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias, Luzan-Toporivtsi.
For more than a decade, only one or two liturgies were celebrated at the church by Russian Orthodox priests. In 1926, Rev. Ambrose Chrustawka began to hold services there on a more regular basis, becoming the community's pastor for the next nineteen years. During his tenure, the interior woodwork on the church was finished by Elzear Moisin, and in 1939 a Mr. Lysakowski was commissioned to do the painting and the ornamental artwork. Icons were also ordered from Greece to adorn the walls. When Reverend Chrustawka joined the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada in 1945 his flock went with him, and thus from that time on the Luzan-Toporiwtsi church came under the jurisdiction of the Consistory in Winnipeg.
In the 1950s the St. Elias congregation experienced a high point in activity, enjoying monthly liturgies when previously services were being held only annually or a few times a year. To better meet the growing needs of their church community, in the early 1950s the members acquired the old Luzan school (which had been closed in 1948 due to centralization) and converted it to use as a parish hall. Subsequently, various improvements also had to made to the sanctuary, and thus Andrew Galichowski was contracted to re-shingle the roof and replace the stone foundation with concrete. A porch and two small rooms (sacristies) were added to the edifice, which in 1960 had its steeple replaced by two domes installed by a member, Metro Logozar. A balcony [choir loft?] was also constructed by Mr. Logozar, and the women of the church purchased and laid a rug in the altar area. Initially part of the Myrnam parochial district, the church was transferred to the Two Hills parish in 1972.
Play Memory Eternal Chant
GPS Co-ordinates: 53.755823, -111.588460
Affiliation: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
