Tis the season for faith, fellowship and fun, as St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church continued its decades long tradition of a Christmas Bazaar Fundraiser Dec. 13 at the church at 980 Bridle Path Road.

St. Nicholas is a parish of the Orthodox Church of America.

The daylong event featured ethnic foods including halupki, pierogi, potato pancakes, halushki, borscht, pelmeni and home baked goods, plus a basket raffle and holiday shopping.

“We do all this to sustain the church, continue the faith,” Father Nickolai Breckenridge, pastor, said.

“This is a major fundraiser for our parish. A lot of people in the community anticipate it and enjoy it,” Father Breckenridge, who will mark four years as pastor in January, said.

Father Breckenridge said hundreds attend the bazaar, noting “nearly 1,000 people come and get something.” Many vendors selling their handicrafts return year after year.

After enjoying Slavic food and baked goods at the bazaar, people were welcome to return the next afternoon when the church’s A Cappella Choir presented “Orthodox Hymns and Christmas carols,” the annual Christmas concert “which features music from our tradition,” Father Breckenridge said.

“It’s a big weekend for us to be at St. Nicholas,” Father Breckenridge said. The Christmas season is in full swing at the parish with the bazaar and concert, leading up to their services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“It’s a great event for community outreach,” Alyssa Weaver, one of the volunteers frying potato pancakes in an outdoor tent just outside the church, said. “I love to connect with people around us, and it gives us a sense of doing good for others. It shows them our commitment to our traditions, the food we grew up with and crafts.”

Nicholas Lezinsky, the church choir director, makes the batter for the potato pancakes inside, then volunteers fry the delicious treats outside.

Weaver added the concert the next day would feature traditional songs, Orthodox Christmas hymns and traditional Christmas songs. “It’s a beautiful concert, sharing the joy of the Christmas season.”

Weaver was working under the tent with fellow volunteers Rebecca Volkert and William Heitzenrater.

Volkert appreciates the event offers them the chance to “share with the community and each other, giving us a chance to reconnect and bond. It’s a really great group of people.”

She also likes the opportunity to serve good, fresh and delicious food.

Volkert noted the church has services each Saturday evening and Sunday morning. “It’s a beautiful service any time of year.”

This year marked the first that Heitzenrater volunteered at the bazaar. “It’s a lot of fun. You get to know people well when you work with them. It brings joy to my heart that people enjoy this food.”

Heitzenrater said making the potato pancakes was a lot of fun, “and it’s very delicious eating them.”

Matthew Lezinsky, a lifetime member of St. Nicholas, and Elizabeth Glazman, who joined the church in the past year, were volunteering at “Treasures of Russia,” the parish bookstore that is run by parish volunteers year round and is open when the church is open.

“We sell mostly religious items for worship and praying at home,” Lezinsky said. A sampling includes prayer books, theological audiobooks and a blend of religious and Russian goods.

The Christmas Bazaar is deeply tied to the history of St. Nicholas, as Maxine Marsh, who was born into the parish, explained the tradition was started by the Senior Orthodox Club in the 1950s.

Marsh said the original red brick church was built by Russian immigrants on Sixth Street on the Southside in 1916. “A lot of our people who settled there worked for Bethlehem Steel,” Marsh said. Bethlehem Steel subsequently bought the houses in their neighborhood – known as Northampton Heights – and built the oxygen furnace on that land.

Marsh and her husband were the last people married in the old church in 1979 before the new church opened.

“The Christmas Bazaar is popular in the parish and surrounding area,” Marsh said, noting they had 130 preorders for baked goods such as kiffels and nut rolls.

All food is made in the church’s industrial sized kitchen.

Marsh has been involved with the Christmas Bazaar for decades and ran it three years ago. “Different volunteers head up different categories,” she said. “Many people are involved.”

The church has a year round Pierogi Hotline, with volunteers cooking and preparing hand pinched pierogi Monday through Wednesday, which is pickup day. Call 610-867-0402, extension 5, before 6 p.m. on Sunday evening to order your pierogi for pickup on Wednesday between 9 and 11 a.m. For orders over 50 dozen, please give seven days notice.

Events like these support the church, still going strong as it approaches its 110th year in the Christmas City.