The joint committee, comprising members of the Western American Diocese (ROCOR) and the Diocese of the West (OCA), who are organizing the
Centennial Anniversary of Pilgrimage to Fort Ross on Saturday, October 4th, 2025, is announcing a fundraising drive to cover the cost of replacement windows for the chapel at Fort Ross State Historic Park.
The current chapel is a reconstruction, lovingly built in part with the help of volunteers from the Russian Orthodox community in Northern California, which replaced the former one that was destroyed by fire in 1970.
At that time, much care and research went into replicating the original chapel erected in the early 1800s, including the three windows, by using old photographs and available documents. Approximately 55 years have passed since the chapel windows were fashioned and installed. Over time, the coastal climate had taken its toll on the weather-beaten frames and broken or cracked window panes.
The joint committee, established to commemorate 100 years of pilgrimage to Fort Ross, adopted a project to replace these windows with new ones. We have commissioned a skilled craftsman who is capable of replicating antique windows. Again, research was conducted to ensure historical accuracy, and approval was obtained with permission from the State Park system to go forward with this project. Even the glass for the panes for the windows has been custom-made. There is a difference in the installation, however, as the State Park’s advisory team requested that contemporary waterproofing materials be used behind the window frames to ensure that this new investment will remain on the rugged, majestic California coast for generations to come.
We invite you to join us in this noble endeavor and “give back” to Fort Ross for all of the annual pilgrimages we have undertaken and all of the prayers pronounced in its chapel over the past one hundred years, and to help us celebrate this unique milestone in the history of Orthodoxy in Northern California.
Donations above the costs of this beautification will help us host a wonderful pilgrimage on Saturday, October 4, 2025, with a solemn Liturgy and hospitality for our Primates, hierarchs, and guests. Our modest goal for this campaign is $20,000.
If you are able, please join us in this celebration!
KYRILL Archbishop of San Francisco and Western America
VASILY Bishop of San Francisco and the West
The Members of the Joint Committee organizing the Centennial Anniversary of Pilgrimage to Fort Ross
