GOSPEL — The Rev. Peter Wingerter, pastor of the Steubenville Melkite Catholic Community, finished proclaiming the gospel reading during divine liturgy. Members of the community approached Wingerter and stood around him during the proclamation, as is customary in some Melkite churches. -- Christopher Dacanay

Tracing its roots back to the early Christians of Antioch, the Melkite Catholic Church is one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.

The Melkite Church is an Eastern Catholic church that follows the Byzantine, or Greek, liturgical rite. Despite sharing a rite and many traditions with Eastern Orthodox churches, the Melkite Church is in full communion with the Holy See of Rome and is a self-governing church within that catholic unity, electing its own patriarch and bishops with Rome’s final approval.

With a patriarchal seat in Damascus, Syria, the Melkite Church has traditionally worshiped in Arabic or Greek, though services are largely held in the specific church community’s vernacular.

Of its dioceses, known as eparchies, the Melkite Church has only one diocese in the United States — based in Newton, Mass. — which has about 50 parishes and encompasses the entire country.

In spite of being a “small” church in the U.S., the Melkite Church still has a “very rich and beautiful history,” said the Rev. Peter Wingerter, a priest in the Eparchy of Newton, adding that to see a church with its own traditions and hierarchy be in communion with Rome and its doctrines can be surprising to people.

“Christ only established one church, but that church is much bigger than people comprehend,” he said.

Wingerter is the pastor of a small but growing community of individuals — most of them not members of the Melkite Church specifically — who gather weekly to worship with Wingerter as he presides over Melkite services in Steubenville and Toronto. Called the Steubenville Melkite Catholic Community, the group is discerning its next steps as a congregation, after seeing a rapid blossoming during its first year in existence.

Born and raised in Erie, Pa., Wingerter grew up Roman Catholic but discovered the Melkite Church over time. He eventually sought and was granted a transfer of ascription, changing his canonical church to the Melkite Church, along with his wife, who he met in college.

While serving in the Air Force, Wingerter discerned becoming a married priest, a tradition the Melkite Church allows for, provided the man is married before ordination. He was ordained Sept. 11, 2022, but was unable to serve a parish until his time in the Air Force ended.

With that ending in mind, Bishop François Beyrouti of the Eparchy of Newton talked with Wingerter. The two decided that, once Wingerter retired from the military, it would be best for him to seek an education made available to him through the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.

Wingerter retired in 2023, applied and was accepted into Franciscan University of Steubenville’s clinical mental health counseling master’s program with the aim of bolstering his pastoral abilities before being assigned to a parish.

While residing in Steubenville with his family for study, Wingerter needed a place to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Word began to spread locally that there was a Melkite priest looking for a place in town, at which point a few people took an interest.

Sam Pearson, a current member of the Steubenville Melkite community, recalled how his family and about four others heard about Wingerter’s search and expressed their interest in joining the priest for public celebrations of the Divine Liturgy. One of those individuals contacted the Bishop of Newton and asked about the possibility.

The individuals were able to find Wingerter a location — St. Joseph Byzantine Catholic Church in Toronto, which has its own active parish — and the bishop and Wingerter decided the move was right. The community members assigned themselves roles and staged everything for Wingerter so he was ready to go as soon as he arrived.

Since then, Wingerter said, the church’s attendance has boomed to an average of 60 attendees — many visitors and some regulars — per Sunday liturgies, which take place at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph. Regular prayer services are held twice each week in the Sycamore Youth Center, along with other observances for feast days.

Part of the attendance surge came from the community’s presence at Steubenville’s First Friday festivals, at which members and Wingerter staffed a table to spread awareness of the Melkite Church and invited passersby to visit the community.

The community has a number of members who are officially enrolled, meaning they’ve made the community their “spiritual home,” Wingerter said. Among those are the Pearsons, who were one of the community’s first families to transfer into the Melkite Church canonically.

In October, the community saw a visit from the Rev. François Beyrouti, bishop of Newton, who came to pray with the community during a stop in Pittsburgh, Wingerter said.

It’s the bishop who will have the final say about elevating the community to mission status, Wingerter said, but to get there has required an ongoing process of discernment among himself, the bishop, the community and the Holy Spirit to see if becoming a mission is the correct direction.

“The bishop is being judicious,” Wingerter said. “He wants to make sure, prior to making a formal decision, that the community is showing they can support (a parish) … and the eparchy can give the people spiritual support. … Both parts are needed, that’s why it’s a process of discernment.”

Other factors in that decision include ensuring the parish can financially support a priest — either Wingerter or another, if the former is sent somewhere else after his studies — as well as a mortgage on its own permanent building, which it must first locate.

Also, Wingerter said, a mission must incorporate outreach efforts for individuals without a spiritual home. Therefore, a parish would ideally be located in Steubenville where that population is the greatest, the community and the bishop have determined.

Sam Pearson’s wife and fellow community member Thehya Pearson noted that First Friday booth was an initial step toward living out that need for mission. She added that the Melkite Church can be a bridge for Orthodox Christians, allowing them to hold their Eastern traditions while being in communion with Rome.

Wingerter said of the community: “I’m happy, I support it. I’ve been surprised by how many people consistently show, not just on Sundays but for some of the other services as well. It’s a very beautiful thing for me as a priest to see others express their appreciation for our spiritual traditions.”

Sam Pearson said the community is blessed to have a “wonderful, extremely supportive priest” in Wingerter, who he said is “on fire” with the desire to offer more and help the community grow. That enthusiasm, he said, is matched by community members who are determined and constantly give of themselves through extra-liturgical means.

To interested individuals, Sam Pearson said, “Come and see. If you’re curious, come check it out at least once and experience the riches of the Christian East.”

Information about the community and a service schedule can be found at steubenvillemelkite.org.