People from all over the eastern United States and Europe traveled Saturday to Camp Nazareth in Delaware Township to witness the consecrating of a new church.

The new Wooden Church, Saints Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Church, is located northwest of Mercer on Pew Road at Camp Nazareth, a youth camp of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of Johnstown.

The $1.4 million church's authentic design is based on existing structures in the Carpathian Mountains of northeast Slovakia.

Hundreds of people witnessed the ceremony, including the Slovakian Ambassador, many church groups, families and individuals.

Marge Medvick and Michelle Berry joined 30 others from their church, St. Mary's Russia Orthodox Church in Morgantown, W. Va., to mark the blessing.

"I've never been to a consecration before," Mrs. Berry said. "The singing is very pretty and it's nice to see many priests and several bishops together in one place. There's a lot of tradition."

Following ancient rites, three processions of laity and major contributors circled around the exterior of the church, the appointed bishop sprinkled the outside of the church with holy water. They sang hymns and read scriptures.

After the outdoor consecration, the faithful entered the church and the altar table, representing the center of holy rites, was consecrated by the bishop, Metropolitan Nicholas, who asked for God's assistance.

The bishop also anointed the four walls of the church.

St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church, 725 Cedar Ave., Sharon, is one of 14 western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio parishes in the diocese in attendance. The diocese numbers 76 churches and 11,000 members in all.

After the service, a dinner was held at the Reynolds VFW where awards were given to about 30 people who made major contributions. A six-member family of entertainers, the Reviljak's, provided entertainment.

About 20 tents were set up at the Camp Nazareth grounds as several worshippers camped out overnight, keeping with a centuries-old tradition of a pilgrimage to the site of a new church.

The church, which is larger than most village churches built 300 or 400 years ago in Eastern Europe, has been a dream ever since the camp was built, said Michael Ristvey, who has served for more than 30 years as attorney for the diocese.

Motivation to build started when a young lady drew a picture of one of the traditional village churches looked like. Brainstorming began about four years ago when Ristvey and architect Joseph P. Parimucha of Alexandria, Va., went to Slovakia to study the wooden churches.

"Everybody said 'We need something like this at the camp to save traditions and to show the children,' " Ristvey said.

Construction began last year in April and everything fell into place. The church is built to hold about 160 people. It has a large open front-porch, which can accommodate people for services, will be used for an instructional area for the children's religious classes during the summer.

"They can feel like they're in church," Ristvey said.

The church is outlined in gold trimmings, stemming from an ancient tradition that everything at the church should be beautiful. Poor villagers were impressed with gold. The handmade pine shingles on the church roof were shipped by boat from Tichy Potok in Slovakia. A chandelier was brought from Greece and installed two months ago. The Heritage Center Library and Museum, located in the church basement, will house religious keepsake artifacts and historical books.

"When you get inside it's magnificent," Ristvey said of the church. "The contractor (Hudson Construction Inc., Hermitage) did a super job. I'm very satisfied with his work."

The first Hierarchical Divine Liturgy is set for 10 a.m. today in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church.