Saint Dimitrije Church, Windsor

Saint Dimitrije the Great Martyr Church, Windsor

Address: 2690 Seminole St. Windsor, Ontario N8Y1X7

Phone number: 519 972 6206

Website: www.facebook.com/CrkvaSvetogDimitrija

Priest: The parish has been administered by Fr. Miroljub Todorovic (519 567 2460) since February 1, 2025.

History
written by: Fr. Jovica Cetkovic

The Saint Dimitrije the Great Martyr Church and School Congregation in Windsor was established back in 1965, when a group of Serbian Orthodox believers purchased a Ukrainian Orthodox church and adapted it to Serbian Orthodox tradition. The church was consecrated on September 18, 1966, and the act of consecration was performed by His Grace Bishop of America and Canada Dionisije (Milivojevic), together with the first priest of the newly formed parish Fr. Milan Radojevic. On that occasion, a festive banquet was held, attended by over 300 people. Among those present were representatives of almost all Serbian religious, national, cultural and humanitarian societies, as well as representatives of municipal and provincial Canadian authorities.

In the following years and decades, a period of spiritual, organizational and other progress of the Church and School Congregation began. The previously formed church societies, the Majka Jugovica Circle of Serbian Sisters and the Mlada Srbadija folklore group, with their dedication, effort, song and dance, contributed to the accession of many Serbian families and individuals to this church community. A football club was soon formed as well as several more teams for various sports events. The educational committee was also strengthened by the influx of young people to the Sunday School and the folklore group. Events became more frequent – more diverse, more interesting and with more visitors. A church choir was also founded. The church's property was expanded by purchasing two properties next to the church. A new iconostasis was made. New bells were purchased and many other useful things were done. In the 1970s, the third wave of Serb immigration followed. These were Serbs who were leaving Yugoslavia in those years, mostly in search of work. Many Serbs who came to Windsor at that time came to the Saint Dimitrije the Great Martyr Church in Windsor.

During the unfortunate wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, the Saint Dimitrije the Great Martyr Church repeatedly sent its help to its brothers and sisters in the war-ravaged Serbian lands. Help was sent to refugees expelled from their homes, to children without parents, to the war disabled and others. As a relatively small Orthodox church, the help and contribution that it sent to all who needed it was more than abundant. More than generous support was also provided for the construction of a monument to the Chetnik commander General Dragoljub Mihailovic, the construction of the New Gracanica Monastery in Third Lake, Illinois, the construction of the Children's Village on Concord Place in Windsor, etc. Most of the churches under construction in Canada were also generously supported, especially the All Serbian Saints Church in Mississauga. The Serbian monastery of Hilandar, which was damaged by fire in 2004, was also helped.

In 1992, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle visited the church and celebrated the Holy Liturgy there, together with a high delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church from Belgrade, which came to North America with the noble task of reconciling brothers and sisters, which they succeeded in doing. During that period, the fourth wave of Serb immigration to Windsor began, mainly from the war-torn areas of the former Yugoslavia. It was also the largest wave of Serb immigration to Windsor. In a short time, i.e. in the period from 1991 to the end of the 20th century, the number of parishioners at the church doubled. In July 2007, the church began to be frescoed. The frescoes were completed within four years, with the consecration of the frescoes beind held in time for the church Slava in 2011.

In the last decade, the church gate has been expanded and renovated, modern classrooms for the Serbian Church School have been built, a library has been established, the archive has been administratively and protocolically organized, the church hall has been renovated, and the old Parohijski glasnik (Parochial Gazette) has been improved. In February 2014, for the first time, this Church and School Congregation was a more than successful host of the Diocesan Assembly, which was attended by over a hundred delegates from all the Church and School Congregations in Canada. In June 2014, the church had the honor of being visited by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej, who served the Doxology in the church. In September 2016, the church celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. On that occasion, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej came as a guest, together with the newly elected bishops, Bishop Mitrofan of Canada, Bishop Longin of Midwestern America, Bishop Vasilije of Srem, and Bishop Hrizostom of Zvornik and Tuzla, who celebrated the Holy Hierarchical Liturgy with the clergy. On the same day, in the church hall, in the presence of distinguished guests and numerous believers, a special academy was held in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of its existence.

In April 2017, a large group of parishioners of the church visited the Holy Land, and in June 2019, they visited the holy places of Greece, including the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos. Humanitarian activities occupy an important link in church life in the Saint Dimitrije the Great Martyr Church. In the period from 2010 to 2020, about $150,000 was sent to the homelands of Republika Srpska, Serbia, Montenegro and other countries where Serbs live.

Today, the Saint Dimitrije the Great Martyr parish has about 200 families.