Archbishop Tikhon came himself to Mayfield a few months later on May 3, 1903. The parishioners of St. John's for the first time participated in a hierarchal celebration of the Divine Liturgy. (His sermon on this occasion is appended to this article.)

Since St. John's parish was established for several years, it had its own church, parish house and school (both built in 1896), and fully supported its own priest and choir director and teacher, there was a minimal concern on the part of the Archbishop for financing the new parish. There were several new brotherhoods and sisterhoods established in the parish within a few years of its entrance into the Orthodox Church. Father Arseny (Chapovetz) (pastor from 1904-1908), a monk, succeeded Father John as pastor. Under his dynamic spiritual guidance the parish accepted a leading role in the establishment of St. Tikhon's Orphanage and Monastery in near-by South Canaan, in 1905. Several of the charter supporters of the Monastery were from St. John's parish in Mayfield. The participants in the opening of the Monastery and Orphanage in 1905 came, for the most part, from Mayfield. Many made the first pilgrimage to the monastery on foot on the day of its dedication, July 31, 1905, a distance of more than ten miles. The description of the event by a contemporary reporter gives a good picture of parish life at St. John's in 1905. On Saturday, the twenty-ninth of July, Bishop Raphael was met at the station by Father Arseny and his parishioners. The parish orchestra played stirring Russian music when the train pulled into the station. Four brotherhoods in full parade dress, each one led by a captain wearing full uniform with swords at their sides, officially greeted the hierarch. The uniformed men lined both sides of the passage from the train to the carriage as an honor guard. The captains, with swords drawn, stood at the carriage and escorted Bishop Raphael, Father Arseny and Father Elias Kloptovsky, who had accompanied the bishop from Scranton. The carriage traveled from the station to the church along the main street, which was lined with Russins from Mayfield and the rest of the valley. Bishop Raphael gave his arch-pastoral blessing to the gathering continuously as the procession moved to the church. The procession was met at the church by the school children in their Sunday best, and the parishioners carrying banners and cross waited at the church entrance. It seems that the population of the entire valley had gathered at St. John's parish for an unprecedented festive occasion. The bishop was greeted by Father Alexander Bogoslavsky with the cross, and having been vested in his mantia, he entered into the church which was lavishly decorated, brightly illumined by candles and overflowing with a standing congregation which sang the Hymn to the Theotokos. After venerating the icons, Bishop Raphael listened to the official greeting of the pastor, which began: "Your Grace, fortunate is the flock in Mayfield to greet you joyously this day of your arrival in our midst. We have not yet recovered from the feelings of joy we experienced at the recent visit of our first hierarch, Archbishop Tikhon, and now the Lord has given us this opportunity to receive and greet with proper festivity Your Grace, and once again to see a hierarch and hear the celebration of the hierarchal service. You have come to us as the first hierarch of the Syro-Arabian Church in America, in order to share with the Russian people the joy of the opening of the Orphanage and the establishment of the Holy Community . . ."

Bishop Raphael's response, delivered in Russian, was full of gratitude and joy for the opportunity granted him so soon in his Episcopal rank, to the representative of Archbishop Tikhon at such a great moment in the life of the Orthodox Church in America, to "bless the ground on which shall be built a holy monastery, which land was acquired by your efforts, which deserve the greatest praise, and the generous donations of your devout parishioners." The next day, Sunday, the bishop celebrated Divine Liturgy, with Father Arseny assisting. Father Arseny preached on the theme of the Paralytic, and spoke of the great Christian spirit of charity, which prompted the organization of the new orphanage and monastery.

St. John's parish has continued to this day to play an important role in the life of the Church in the anthracite region. Its special relationship to St. Tikhon's Monastery, Orphanage and Seminary has continued to the present. Father Michael Skibinsky (pastor from 1908-1911) followed Father Arseny. He organized a society for temperance, and worked with the youth, encouraging them to continue their studies in higher schools of education. Father Vasily Vasiliev (pastor from 1911-1912), Father V. Oranovsky (1912-1914) and Father Jonah Milasevich continued the pastoral work. Father Jonah (1914-1917) was pastor during the First World War, when the parish participated actively in Red Cross and other wartime charities. The next pastor was Father Joseph Fedoronko (1917-1920), who worked zealously for the freedom of Carpatho-Russia, and encouraged the parish to send money and clothing to help the devastated homeland and its people. Father Michael Repella was pastor from 1920 to 1936, which was an especially difficult period in the life of the parish. A new generation was taking over the leadership, and despite the economic depression, a new church was built to replace a structure that was too small for the needs of the growing community. The church that stands today is this structure.

The next pastor was Father Philip Pechinsky, who was pastor during World War II, when the parish sent hundreds of its young men into the armed forces, and participated actively in all aspects of the patriotic war effort. Fathers Andrew Vanyush, Hilary Madison, Daniel Geeza, Vasily Stroyan, Dimitri Ressetar and Daniel Osolinsky were pastors in the period from 1948 through 1971. The present pastor is Father John Sorochka.

St. John's parish was host to the Seventh Convention of the Russian Orthodox Catholic Mutual Aid Society, held on February 18, 1907 in the presence of Archbishop Tikhon. From February 20th to the 23rd of the same year, the First Sobor of the North American Orthodox Church was held again under the presidency of Archbishop Tikhon. The chairman of this historical first Sobor was Father Leonid Turkevich, the Rector of the Seminary in Minneapolis. The major theme of the Sobor was presented by Archbishop Tikhon: "How to Expand the Mission." He called not only for an increase in the missionary work of the Church, but also for more independence in her financial life from the Mother Church in Russia. The proposal for the incorporation of the Church in North America was set aside, because it was felt it would limit the rapid growth of the Church in the United States, Canada and in the other American countries. However, it was decided, at the insistence of the Russins that the official title of the Mission in America be: "The Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America" under the jurisdiction and spiritual leadership of the Church in Russia. The ever-important task of finding the financial resources to increase the mission was turned over to a special committee of clergy and laity. It was decided that frequent Sobors should be held to discuss all aspects of Church life in America. The problem of variation in ritual and liturgical forms was discussed. It was decided that proper education of the laity about the form of ritual differences was the first essential, so that they could understand why they existed and the reason they were permitted to exist. The final act of the Sobor was an address by the chairman, Father Leonid Turkevich. He called for a proper recognition of the eight years of labor in the American Mission of Archbishop Tikhon on the occasion, and announced his impending transfer to the Diocese of Yaroslav in Russia. The Sobor ended with an expression of gratitude to it by Archbishop Tikhon, after which the assembly sang "Many Years" to the Archbishop in both the Galician and Russian melodies. A final decision was that a suitable memorial be erected in the church to commemorate this historical event.

St. John's parish in Mayfield played an important role, not only in its community, but also in the whole Church. Its choir has from the inception of the parish remained one of the better choirs in the Church. In the 1940's, it was featured on several occasions on the CBS broadcast, "Church of the Air." It has had outstanding choir directors with such names as John Lampert, Constantine Leontovich, Alexander Kibalchich, Peter Mondratenko-Ianchuk, Peter Didenko, Victorin Pavlov and George Roth.

The Russin community has always provided the leaders of Mayfield from the earliest days. Alexis Shlanta was probably the first Russin pastor in the United States. The parish organized its own fire company, called the "Russian Hose Company." The children of the parish were encouraged by their parents to continue their schooling - the parents discouraged their children from going into the mines. Indeed, most Russins considered the mines a necessary evil, and left them as soon as possible, long before the mines themselves disappeared.

The number of individuals of St. John's parish in Mayfield that have gone to college and received advanced education is very high. At the time of the fiftieth anniversary of the parish, an incomplete listing of more than one hundred college graduates was compiled. The administration of Mayfield Borough and School District has several members of St. John's parish every year.

The Mayfield parish has a number of chapters of brotherhoods and sisterhoods, in both the R.O.C.M.A.S. and the R.B.O. In the past years, it has had such auxiliary groups as an Altar Guild, Quilting Club, Good Will Club and Choir Club. Besides parochial societies, the members of St. John's parish have played an important role in the national organizations of the R.B.O., the R.O.C.M.A.S., and the F.R.O.C., as well as in the Church Councils.

There has always been a highly developed sense of Orthodox Christian social consciousness in her membership. As early as 1917, we read that a young schoolteacher, John Gregory Dzvonchik from Mayfield, and Gregory Dorosh from Old Forge, went to Canada to teach school in the Russin colonies in Canada. These young men were bilingual, and thus, were able to make a valuable contribution to the Russin immigrants to Canada. This was an earlier example of the Peace Corps principle, employed by young, idealistic first-generation Russins, intent on establishing themselves in a strange new land.

Virtually every major profession is represented by St. John's. Dr. Vladimir Shlanta, son of Alexis Shlanta, one of the founders, practiced medicine in Olyphant until his death. Paul Dutko and Vladimir Hopyak entered government service. Paul served in the diplomatic service for more than thirty years in Harbin, Marchuria, Riga, Leipzig, and Vienna and in Washington, D.C. Paul Hunchak was a well-known lawyer for years in Washington. Peter Senyo was a Federal Inspector of Mines. John Tarpak, Olympic weight lifter, and Paul "Lefty" Wargo, a baseball pitcher in the minor leagues, were two of many outstanding sports figures from St. John's.

From their inception, Mayfield has had many members in the various fraternal organizations: R.B.O., R.O.C.M.A.S. and L'ubov, and several St. John members have reached the highest levels of administration - Paul Lzvonchik, President, and Peter Yurkovsky, Secretary of the R.O.C.M.A.S.; Michael Senyo, Treasurer, Peter Smey, Recording secretary, John Bzvonchik, Editor and Michael Kusmiak, Comptroller in the R.S.O.; Peter Lyalus, Financial Secretary, and Stephan Telep, editor of L'ubov - to name a few.

The successor of Alexisi Shlanta as Postmaster was Stephan Michael Telep. He was also the owner of a print shop, which at one time published the Russian paper L'ubov, and he also published the Mayfield News, which was edited by his son, Andrew Telep.

The public schools of the valley in the past had many teachers from St. John's. Before the 40's there were Paul Pawliak, Michael Kulik, John Iwanik, Justina Smey, Peter Hubiak and Bohdan Shlanta. In the past thirty years, the number of teachers is far greater.

The young people of St. John's have always had the advantage of a rich parish life with outstanding pastoral leadership, a good religious education program and the inspiring example of devout and zealous parents and elders. The young people were lead to participate in the life of the parish, and in the work of the church.