A Palmerton church steeped in tradition has a new man of the cloth at the helm.

Fr. Volodymr Kozak is the new pastor/administrator at St. Vladimir Greek Catholic Church, 101 Lehigh Ave.

As of June 1, Kozak has resided in Palmerton, in the parish home behind the church.

That day, he was assigned by Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, the head of the Philadelphia archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic in America as the pastor/administrator of St. Volodymyr’s in Palmerton.

“Last summer, from July 1 to the middle of September, I served as the chaplain of St. Andrews Chapel at the Ukrainian Homestead in Lehighton,” Kozak said. “There, I had the opportunity to get to know some of the parishioners who are members of St Volodymyr parish in Palmerton.

“The previous pastor of the parish retired in August 2022, and the parishioners requested the eparchy to appoint a full-time priest to the parish. Metropolitan Borys saw fit to appoint me to this position.”

For 23 years, Kozak served as a pastor administrator in several parishes in Ukraine. For the last two years, he has served in various capacities in parishes in the Philadelphia eparchy as assigned by their Metropolitan.

Originally, Kozak was from the Lvivska Oblast (similar to a state) in western Ukraine, from the city of Sambir, in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains.

“I have been on this great country for the last two years, and I am still learning English,” he said.

He said that for the last two years, he lived in Philadelphia.

“I moved here with my wife Liliya, and my three children,” he said. “My sons are Sviatoslav and Andrew, and my daughter Solomiya.”

Kozak noted that in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic rite, priests are permitted to marry.

Based on the information provided to him by the parish secretary, he said St. Vladimir currently has about 70 parishioners registered as members of the parish who primarily come from Palmerton, Lehighton, Jim Thorpe, Walnutport, and the surrounding area.

Kozak said that masses are held at 9 a.m. on Sundays and Holidays Divine Liturgy, and added that on weekdays, they are a bit more flexible.

He said he also serves Divine Liturgy at 9 a.m., but at the request of the parishioner the Liturgy can be slightly earlier or later.

Kozak shared his goals for the church.

“They are fairly basic,” he said. “I hope to serve God, and the parishioners as best as I can, to bring God into their lives, and to bring them closer to God as well.”

Kozak said he would like to invite everyone to join them for Divine Liturgy.

“Any interested person can visit us, and we would be more than happy to answer any questions they may have about St. Volodymyr’s parish,” he said.

Kozak said they are an Eastern Rite Catholic Church, which is different from the Western Rite, or Roman Catholic Church. Currently, its daily Liturgies are entirely in English, while its Sunday Liturgy is offered in a mix of Ukrainian and English.

“There is no greater happiness than to share and live your life with God,” he said. “Many things we have in our lives are nice, but they are temporary.

“Living your life with God will provide true eternal happiness. I hope to get our parishioners to focus more on their eternal life.”