OUR STORY

History

St. Gregory Church grew from a mission where the Divine Liturgy was celebrated on Sundays in the South Hills Knights of Columbus Hall to a parish serving families from Bethel Park, Bridgeville, Castle Shannon, Mt. Lebanon, Scott Township, Upper St. Clair, and Peters Township. Two years passed from that first Divine Liturgy celebrated on May 2, 1971, when a small nucleus of faithful petitioned Archbishop Stephen Kocisko to form a parish community in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. The first pastor assigned to St. Gregory was Rev. David Witkowski. A two-year search for suitable land resulted in the current site of 4.3 acres at 2040 Washington Road in Upper St. Clair. On August 12, 1973 ground was broken for the first phase of the parish plant. Construction of a basement-like concrete block structure was completed in 1976. This became known as the lower church. As the parish grew, construction began in the Spring of 1983 on a second floor which is the location of the current church sanctuary. This phase was completed with the solemn dedication and blessing on Sunday, September 14, 1986. In November 1995 the congregation returned to the basement of the building for services during a major renovation of the upper church. This year-long project included the replacement of the roof, installation of a new dome, new interior drywall, wiring and lighting, new pews and carpeting, and the creation of a chapel for the daily celebration of the Liturgy. At the same time, arrangements were made for the design of the altars and iconography. Later in 1996, the church interior was painted and the major icon behind the main altar was installed. Two years later in 1998, the icon screen was installed. This work was done under the direction of Rev. Bruno A. Asturi, who served until he fell asleep in the Lord on January 26, 2009. The church community has a strong Eastern Christian Formation program, an active Men’s Club, a GCU Lodge, and many volunteers for numerous parish projects. A number of parishioners are also members of the Pittsburgh Byzantine Serra Club.