The Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church was founded by a small group of people from the Eugene area, some of whom had belonged to the Ukrainian Catholic Church or other Eastern Churches in other parts of the country.

Their efforts, which began in August 1978, brought about the Byzantine Rite Liturgy on February 12, 1979. Prior to December 1979 this parish was simply the Byzantine mission in Eugene.

In December 1981 Fr. Richard Janowicz was sent by the Ruthenian Catholic Bishop of Parma, Ohio, to become the first full-time pastor, with regular services being held at the Marist High School chapel. In January 1983 property was purchased on 704 Aspen Street in Springfield for the future site of the church.

To better serve the congregation, the parish was transferred to the care of the Ukrainian Catholic Bishop of Chicago. In 1990 the church building was completed and the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated on Christmas Day. Although most members of our church at its founding in 1979 were Ukrainian, we now reflect a wide diversity of people and cultures including converts of many backgrounds.

In this country we have four eparchies (dioceses).

• Our bishop, His Grace, Richard Seminack, resides in Chicago.
• Our Metropolitan-Archbishop, Stefan Soroka, has his See in Philadelphia.

Divine Liturgy is every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. All are welcome to attend!