Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church pastor, the Rev. Yurii Bobko, and member Karen Sheptak, who organized the art show, pause during an open house event Saturday, Sept. 7. Paula Grubbs/Butler Eagle

BUTLER TWP — Orthodoxy was on display — along with 93 pieces of art — at the Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 7.

The church, which overlooks Pullman Plaza from its perch on Evergreen Road to the west of Hansen Avenue, held its first open house to introduce visitors to the orthodox style of Christianity, and to faith in general, said the Rev. Yurii Bobko, church pastor.

“Orthodoxy is more about a way of life than anything else,” Bobko said. “We are a community that works together and supports each other while supporting the community.”

The ornate church was open for the public to enter, and the afternoon sun highlighted the sanctuary’s two huge stained glass windows and plethora of smaller versions depicting various Christian events.

A handful of church members sang hymns and other selections from the choir loft in the rear of the church, and Bobko gave a short presentation on the church and held a question-and-answer session afterward.

An art show also was part of the open house. The show was held in Ukrainian Hall just to the southeast of the church building.

Organized by church member Karen Sheptak, the impressive art show boasted watercolor, pen and ink, etchings, oil on canvas, ceramics, cloth art, textile art, iconography and other pieces.

Sheptak brought many works completed by her husband, Stephen, as well as some created by her daughter, Charissa.

A program available to those visiting the free show detailed each art piece, which were numbered for the viewers’ convenience.

None of the art was for sale, with the exception of pieces painted and sculpted by the displaced and grieving 5- to 17-year-old Ukrainian children who lost family members and/or their homes as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022.

The Ukrainian Cultural & Humanitarian Institute, which was founded in 2002 by Stephen Haluszczak, initiated the Warm Hands art therapy camp project.

Haluszczak sold the Warm Hands pieces at the art show on Saturday.

He said the 10-day Warm Hands art therapy camps are held in Western Ukraine near the Polish border, where the children who participate are safe.

“Psychologists, medical staff and master artists help the children deal with the trauma they’ve suffered through intensive art therapy, rehabilitation and skills development,” Haluszczak said.

Tetiana Mialkovska runs the art camps and sends Haluszczak the items the children create, he said. The pieces range from $5 up to $100 for a roof shingle painted by one of the art teachers.

Melissa Fransko, of Gibsonia, was out looking for estate sales with a friend on Saturday. The pair planned to check out the bargains at the regular monthly rummage sale held at the Ukrainian Hall.

“It was a pleasant surprise to find more than a flea market,” Fransko said.

She purchased a roof tile adorned with small red flowers and a large angel, and she was happy to pay $100 for it.

“It’s just a little part that I can do,” she said of the suffering among the Ukrainian people. “I pray for them all the time. I can’t imagine being a child and living in constant fear.”

Bobko said he and leaders in the congregation are planning more public events for the church and hall.

“We are here to glorify God,” he said.

Stephen Haluszczak and Oxsana Byczkalo, of the Ukrainian Cultural and Humanitarian Institute, sell art created by traumatized Ukrainian children in the Warm Hands art therapy program at an open house and art show Saturday, Sept. 7 at Sts. Peter and Paul Ukranian Orthodox Church and Hall. Paula Grubbs/Butler Eagle