About Our Church

About two centuries ago, George Fisher (Đorđe Šagić) was the very first Serb immigrant who conquered the vastness of faraway Texas using his mind, courage, and faith in God. Certainly, the originally inhabited areas were southern regions around Galveston whose glamor of a yet unexplored, beautiful and wild country-side was first discovered and where the primary foundations of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Texas and the United States were set. We will probably never find out when first Serbs started inhabiting northern parts of Texas, as we have no evidence of these activities, however some old newspapers mention a cowboy named Vukota who led ranchers and their cattle via Chisholm trail all the way north to Kansas City on the Missouri river. These pioneering Serbian cowboys, and all the others, who were inhabiting this area during the last two centuries and who were fighting all kinds of challenges of the era, passed on without proper burial service, let alone in Serbian language, and without grace of the Holy Spirit. Surely that during hot Texas nights they dreamt of a vision of the Serbian Orthodox liturgy, which they could experience only in their imagination.

Industrialization coupled with the smell of oil fields, by which this state is so well-known, has been drawing Serbian emigrants for decades. By the end of the sixties, the Karakasevic family moved here, then the Simic and Palmer families in the eighties, who later became pillars of our church established in 1999. At the outset of 1990s, there was an immense influx of our people from Serbian Krajina and central Bosnia and Herzegovina, who, carried by the flames of war, started building new nests in the Northern Texas area.

Primarily motivated by their desire and divine providence, His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher of Midwestern America, approved a formation of the "Holy Three Hierarchs" church in Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW). The official date of the church foundation was January 30, 1999 when the Metropolitan provided the name and blessed the church board directed by Rajko Simic. This took place in the Greek Orthodox Church "Holy Trinity" on Hillcrest Road in Dallas.

The first liturgies were served by the priest from the Saint Sava church in Houston, Fr. Dejan Tiosavljevic, who tried his best to bring the aroma of incense and bring closer the sounds of majestic Cherubic hymn to our thirsty Orthodox hearts. His efforts were enormous considering the distance between Houston and Dallas. As Rajko Simic had arranged several of Fr. Dejan's visits back in December 1997, the seeds of faith had already been sowed, but their growth into sound sprouts of our Orthodox faith depended on many factors. His spouse, Zagorka (Zaga) Simic, being a kind soul, took a large burden by becoming the leader of the Serbian Sisters Circle established in 1999. The Circle assembled the women of our parish during the times when we were residing on barren land without an established address.

During this period, we organized entertainment evenings in church halls around the metroplex, which represented a major source of financial support for our church activities. The majority of them were organized and designed by then vice president of the first church board Zoran Draganic. We still remember performance by the band Balkanians, who visited us from faraway New York. The first church Slava (patron Saint celebration) took place on February 12, 2000 in the Greek church "Saint George" in Euless, TX and the first kumovi were Rajko and Zagorka Simic.

Starting in the mid-year 2000, services were mostly held in the Orthodox Church of America Saint Seraphim of Sarov cathedral in Dallas. We want to emphasize brotherly ties with their priests and parishioners who did their best to provide assistance when we most needed it. In addition, the usage of the church building and church hall were entirely free. His Eminence Archbishop Dmitri from the Saint Seraphim of Sarov cathedral will always remain in our fondest memories.

On the Vidovdan in 2000 Metropolitan Christopher paid his second visit to our parish and, after the liturgy during the conversation with our church board, promised to do all he could to bring a permanent priest to our parish. Thank God, in July 2001 prota Milan and protinica Milica Zbiljic visited our parish and they confirmed their intention to move from Duluth, MN to Dallas, TX. Unsurprisingly, this news spread through the metroplex at the lightning speed, making parishioners happy as they were trying to move things along. A dream dreamt for two centuries came through and Serbians of the Holy Three Hierarchs parish finally had their permanent priest.

There was no more time to waste! Shortly after arriving, hardworking prota, without missing a beat, set up a meeting in which he reorganized The Serbian Sisters Circle, gave it a name of "The Nativity of the Theotokos", and promoted Rada Neskovic as the Circle president. He also promoted architect Dusan Karakasevic, a lovable white-bearded grandpa, as the president of an architectural committee whose assignment was to prepare a land purchase feasibility study for the future church home, which just added to the unity of our parish. Those were indeed unforgettable days! Certainly, the church board led by Rajko Simic was reorganized as prota's goal was to attract as many people as possible to the church. Brano Neskovic became the treasurer taking over the finances from Dragan Jovanovic. The honorable but thankless task of a treasurer was over the years performed by: Dragan Jovanovic 2003-2006, Brano Neskovic 2006-2012, Zeljko Draganic 2013-2014, Miljan Pandurevic 2014-2015, and Mladen Kljajic since 2015.

It almost seemed like prota didn't have enough time in a day, as he tirelessly kept visiting our parishioners throughout the metroplex, which has a radius of about one hundred miles. This obviously reflected on his delicate health. Church board meetings were typically held in his apartment in Arlington, TX and each time we had amazing cookies baked by protinica Milica. Right after church Slava in 2002, prota insisted even more seriously that land should be purchased although we did not have a precise decision what exactly we wanted to buy. He worked on this effort with a great sense of zeal, inspiration, by fully giving himself determined to leave a mark behind him. We all remember his legendary sermon by the "concrete block" when he explained to the people gathered around him.

Keeping his arms stretched as a soaring eagle, that we needed to fight for higher goals while all of us standing there half-frozen in that winter Sun simply did not believe in it. This is where a historic decision was made to introduce parochial dues payable by all the families that kept faith in their hearts. This was a good decision which became a moral obligation of our parishioners and which relatively restored our finances.

At that time we received a donation in the amount of $65,000 from Mrs. Nena Manojlovic as well as a loan from our Midwestern America Diocese, in Libertyville near Chicago, in the amount of $40,000, both of which boosted our hope to buy the land. It would be sinful to not mention what Metropolitan Christopher emphasized: "Be grateful to Mr. Steva Dobrijevic from Indiana who was a member of the Diocesan administration and who knew well the problems you are facing in Dallas, where his daughter lived. He has been a friend of many years with the husband of Mrs. Manojlovic and he advised her to donate that money to your parish. Similarly, he influenced other members of the Diocesan administration to approve the loan."

It is hard to remember everything important as the time passes unceasingly, but we had our first picnic in June 2002 at White Rock Lake in Dallas where we had tournaments in soccer, volleyball, bocce, and chess. Barbeque, augmented with a few shots of slivovitz, played an important role in improving the overall impression. The response was outstanding. That summer, prota "cruised" with Dusan Karakasevic around central areas of the metroplex hoping to find a nice and cheap land suitable for the church building. And they found it in Irving on Balleywood Road, from where the Cowboys stadium was visible. One would say, that was nothing special, but at that time, even a woodshed seemed like a castle to us the poor. A mortgage from a bank was out of question. The price of land which was $220,000. Our desires were immense and our means very limited. Until we received more than generous help and support from Dragos and Denise Belcevic, who were at the time totally unknown to our parishioners as they had just moved from New Jersey. Family Belcevic donated to our church $161,000 for the land purchase. The rest were formalities. During our 2003 church Slava celebration, Metropolitan Christopher blessed the estate in the middle of which we erected a big sanctified cross. During the following two years, the estate was a place of a constant building activity and endless willpower. Zeljko Jovanovic and Zarko Knezevic installed water pipes. Iconostasis in church hall was made by hardworking hands of our parishioners. A magnificently designed Holy Gospel was donated by Djuro and Slobodanka Milanko. The church hall was built in 2004 without much hullabaloo, and was used for all church activities. The most beautiful marble altar table was designed and manufactured by Bosko Maglov as a gift and a sign of reverence to the fatherland. Similarly, the folklore ensemble "Rastko" was founded to enable the young to learn their first Serbian dance moves.

By the mid summer of 2005 prota Milan saddened us by acknowledging that he would soon retire and that the church board should start working on finding a new priest. All farewells are sad! Inevitability of this earthly life proves that everything is temporary except the eternal Church. The married couple, prota Milan and protinica Milica Zbiljic left an indelible mark in the Holy Three Hierarchs church. It was really brave at that age to come to nearly nothing and partake in the destiny of their own people here in North Texas. Their greatest achievement was persistent faith that from the impossible you can make a possible. Despite being of fragile health, they truly tried to execute their duties honorably. By leaving to Australia they are missed by many.

At the beginning of October 2005, a new priest Fr. Ljubinko Savic from Cajnice, Republic of Srpska, arrived with his family. Being very young, with a fresh point of view and take at life, they bravely grappled numerous problems. Following in the steps of many Serbs who came into this faraway country, they also tasted a bitter immigrant bread. "We were chosen by God's will, sent to the faraway world by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and 'were crucified for the world' per Apostle Paul," were some of the words Father Ljubinko said in one of his first sermons.

At the beginning of 2006, the church board had seven members from laity and Father Ljubinko, whose president became Dragos Belcevic while his predecessor Rajko Simic remained on board. The duty of ushers were started by Jovo Zuza, Marko Zecevic, and later Cedomir Soldatovic and Zeljko Cijuk. This team worked perfectly.

Belcevic had ideas, and money thank God, which needed to be carried out and this required a lot of effort and sacrifice. It was all but easy to vote on moving from our estate on Balleywood Road, which grew in our hearts despite all its drawbacks, but the reality was pushing us to a new direction. We were set to fulfill that task with the blessing from Metropolitan Christopher. At the beginning of 2006 we purchased the current estate on South Story Road in Irving, TX where we are located today. Some 1-3 acres of land, which holds church building, church hall, and in the extension a three-bedroom house to which we moved the priest with his family, were paid a tad more than $800,000. During the following year we paid the seller (a Baptist church) the purchase price from Dragos Belcevic's funds, which he later, in subsequent years, wrote off, while we still paid him back a portion of the money we received after we sold the old estate. There is no need to emphasize that we purchased even the old estate from Belcevic's funds.

October 1, 2006 was the official move date to the new address. Of course, church had to be remodeled, just like the hall and the house. Tens of people performed these activities voluntarily thus saving a lot of money. Slobodan Zarac's company redid the house. Predrag Samardzija with assistance of his friends fixed electric installations in both the church and hall. Goran Mladenovic designed the bar and kitchen areas, while Nedjo Kukolj arranged the altar space. At a later time, Ljubinko Topalovic and his company paid and installed the ceiling fans in church hall. Robert Oswald kept the floors in impeccable shape.

Father Ljubinko did not spend a lot of time mending his homesickness, as he had to take care of many social activities in addition to regular church duties. At that time a Sunday school was opened and Daliborka Matic and Radmila Knezevic taught our children, followed by Jelena and Chris Tehlrian, Anita Pandurevic, Marija Draganic and now Ranka Mihaljcic.

We then moved to the idea to purchase iconostasis, and Dragos Belcevic signed a contract in Trstenik and the church board selected Rajko Simic and Brane Neskovic to execute the plan. It took almost two years since its inception to installation, let alone the efforts required by this job. Today, at the entrance to the church hangs a board with the names of all benefactors whose donations were used directly to pay for the iconostasis whose price tag was around $60,000. The iconostasis certainly represents a true work of art not only woodcarving (Jovan Veinovic – Heruvim Trstenik) but also painting (iconographer Dusan Minkovic – Belgrade), and as such will remain a testimony to our existence at the joy of those who will come after us.

The day which was dreamt by many generations of Serbian immigrants, adventurers, and all those to whom North Texas was a short-term home or eternal resting place was May 3, 2008 when the estate, church building, and iconostasis were consecrated. The rite of consecration of the church was served by His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher of Midwestern America, His Grace Bishop Mitrophan of Eastern America, His Grace Bishop Maxim of Western America, the Very Reverend Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Milan Zbiljic, the Reverend Father Aleksandar Bugarin, Protodeacon Stanimir Spasojevic, and Reverend Fathers Dejan Tiosavljevic, Srdjan Veselinovic, Sasa Petrovic, and Ljubinko Savic. In attendance was the Consul General of the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Desko Nikitovic. It will be hard to gather again that many wise Serbian heads in one place in sun-bathed Texas. The newly established church choir "Saint John Damascene" led by the director Jelena Tehlirian, and members her husband Christopher (Mihailo), Sasa and Daliborka Matic, Ivan Tasic, and Jovica Nikolic beautified the service. Hundreds were in attendance! Due to the limited space many stayed outside, but that day thankful parishioners kept a big smile on their faces.

After the lunch and speeches, the celebration, which started the previous day and lasted until very late the previous night, continued. The folklore troupe, dressed in folk costumes newly arrived from Serbia, performed several kolo dances from Serbia, which drew applauses and tears of joy on the faces of those in attendance.

The Serbian Sisters Circle is a beautiful and special story where our mothers, sisters, and wives set apart and made sure every event could be well organized. We would need a very thick book to describe all their endeavors. The preparation of Sunday lunch, which became a tradition, requires a lot of effort, but nothing appears hard to our sisters when it comes to our church. Collecting the money and goods intended for humanitarian causes and aimed at our disaster-stricken people in the homeland they organized many times. Zagorka Zaga Simic presided the SSC twice, and it was later led by Rada Neskovic, Milica Rakic, Dragana Soldatovic, Raduska Nikolic, Neda Radovic, Nada Zmukic, and now Nada Repaja. The SSC is the locomotive of our church and the nucleus which guarantees continued survival.

The crown of all the work, and, at the same time, a recognition to all benefactors and those who contributed to our development, is "The Order of Saint Sava of the First Degree" which the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church awarded to the family of founders Dragos and Denise Belcevic. Metropolitan Christopher gave them this highest distinction of the Serbian Orthodox Church during the 2009 church Slava. It is hard to list all the donations this family gave to churches, monasteries, their hometown, individuals. The man who first paid off the church mortgage and then his house mortgage tells a lot about his benevolence and the goodness of his heart. Certainly that Serbs of North Texas will not forget this, neither the tears of joy on prota Milan's face when Dragos wrote off the debt for the old estate.

In 2009 the restructuring of the dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada took place. On July 11, 2009 the unification of the dioceses was held at the Nova Gracanica monastery, and the Diocese of Midwestern America was merged into the New Gracanica and Midwestern America Diocese under Bishop Longin. Our parish thus came under the spiritual care of the canonical Church, after the schismatic divisions that had affected the Serbian Orthodox in the diaspora. Father Ljubinko Savic and Brano Neskovic were among those who labored for this unity. Our Holy Three Hierarchs church has been beautifying Dallas, TX while receiving its candles from the Saint Sava monastery in Libertyville, IL.

In February 2012 Bishop Longin awarded the Episcopal Gramata to a number of parishioners for their devotion to the Orthodox faith and other Christian virtues. Rajko and Zaga Simic received their second Gramata; they had received their first in 2003 together with Nena Manojlovic and Dragos and Denise Belcevic. Other recipients included Andjelko and Milica Rakic, Branislav and Zdenka Todorovic, Jovica and Raduska Nikolic, Zeljko Draganic, Radmila and Dusan Knezevic, Cedomir and Dragana Soldatovic, Christopher (Mihailo) and Jelena Tehlirian, Sasa and Daliborka Matic, Jovo and Mitra Zuza, Dragisa and Milica Tomic, Dusan and Branka Karakasevic, and Brano and Rada Neskovic.

A break from almost a decade of intense construction and reconstruction work had finally come. The parish was debt-free, and Father Ljubinko could devote more time to the church's spiritual organization.

When Marija Gluscevic-Draganic joined the church board, the parish was exposed to new cultural prospects. She helped present Serbian culture at two international festivals: Worldfest (August 20–21, 2012 in Addison, TX) and the Dallas International Festival (May 25, 2013). At one of these events Blazenka Jovanovic and Zaga Simic demonstrated how to make a homemade cheese pie (pita).

The following year, during the church Slava, the 15th anniversary of the parish was celebrated. Bishop Longin awarded the Order of Constantine to Rajko and Zagorka Simic for their dedication and many years of service.

Zagorka Simic is from Nis and Rajko Simic from Cajnice. They moved to Texas in 1983 with their three children—Tomislav, Kristina, and Nikola—after having lived in England.

Today we can wish them, from the bottom of our hearts, good health and pleasant days in the years to come.

Marija (Maja) Draganic performed a recital "The Slava Wreath," assisted by Tamara Osvald Dolas, Marina Zuza, and Jovica Nikolic.

In 2013 Dragos Belcevic passed the baton of the church board to Branislav Todorovic. The new president set out to safeguard faith and community, with tasks such as re-pavement of the parking lot, installation of a children's playground, and organizing a soccer tournament. His daughter Vera assisted with administrative tasks.

On the 2016 church Slava day, His Grace Bishop Longin of New Gracanica and Midwestern America elevated Father Ljubinko Savic to the rank of Protopresbyter. Bishop Longin asked Father Ljubinko about his impressions after ten years of service in this faraway country. Father Ljubinko reflected that the priest's role here differs from that in the homeland, and emphasized sacrifice and service.

The church and parishioners have established cooperation with other Serbian churches in Texas, visiting them for Slava—Patron Saint feast days—and other celebrations.

The church library was founded when Father Ljubinko Savic arrived; he brought about a hundred books from Bosnia. Parishioners often donate books from Serbia, and the library continues to grow.

The church school (RASTKO school) has grown steadily. Children learn about the Orthodox faith, the Serbian language, and culture. Students prepare programs for St. Sava Day—recitals, singing, and folkloric dances—and take part in the international art exhibition "Thankful World."

Our students expressed their Orthodox dimension of value and their Serbian heritage. Among the 110 artworks selected for the exhibition, all our students were noted by the critics. Liliana Parsons (granddaughter of Rajko and Zaga Simic) won within the 4-6-year-old category. Moreover, the winner of the entire exhibition was our student Emilia Plavsic (daughter of Marija and Dusan Plavsic).

For the past several years, Nenad Zbiljic and Ognjen Bjelic have provided church choir support and assisted presbyter Ljubinko at the altar. We are happy to highlight the presence of the altar boys assisting presbyter Ljubinko, who has been guiding them as well as new generations to come, whereby a greater number of children and young men acquire this blessing and knowledge while bonding with their faith and the church. Many great children have participated; we would like to emphasize the support of Stefan and Mihailo Matic, and presbyter Ljubinko's sons Adam and Aleksej Savic.

Over the 20-year history of the Holy Three Hierarchs Serbian Orthodox Church in the DFW parish, 138 parishioners have been baptized, and 27 Sacraments of Holy Matrimony have been administered.

Our parish community continues to organize soccer tournaments, dancing competitions, parties, and celebrations of the Orthodox New Year. Dragan Jovanovic as the current President of the Church Board endeavors to maintain the church and estate. We continue to do most of the work around the church and the estate ourselves. The golden hands of the handyman Goran Žabić, and the valuable work and help of friends Goran Rajić and Gromiko Repaja have made great progress and brought positive impact.

Recently, we have been welcoming new members to our parish—families who are moving to Texas from other regions of the US (e.g. California, Chicago), as well as those who are coming from Serbia due to professional advancement opportunities. There is an increasing number of Serbian entrepreneurs who successfully run their own companies and who always respond to our priest's invitation for the necessary donations to the church.

In anticipation of the 20th anniversary of our church, we thank the all-merciful God for all the blessings. We are content to have established our roots in North Texas in the name of the Orthodox Christian faith and Serbian culture. We hope and look forward to the younger generations to come, who will continue this endeavor with yet stronger and grander steps. For the mission of the Church is for the Orthodox word of God to be spread in this part of the world, as well, for the joy of Christ the Savior. Amen (Let it be so).