In 2009, a group of Bulgarian women founded the "Bulgarian Rose" Women's Society in St. Petersburg. During the first two years of their activity, they helped the newly established church organization "Saint John the Baptist" by preparing and serving food on Orthodox and secular holidays. The goal was to collect funds for the construction (or purchasing) of a building that would host a Bulgarian Orthodox Church to serve the needs of the Bulgarian community in the Tampa Bay area. It is important to mention both the food purchase, food preparation, and the work during the events were volunteered by the members of “Bulgarian Rose.”  By 2012, the money collected from these efforts and the donations people contributed during the events had reached $50,000.

Over time, however, problems and contradictions arose between the Women’s Society and the "Saint John the Baptist" church board, and in 2012 the women of "Bulgarian Rose" were forced to withdraw. However, all funds earned by their gratuitous efforts and help remained in the account of "Saint John the Baptist."

This did not discourage the members of “Bulgarian Rose,” and in the same year, they became involved in the activities of the new Community Center "Rodina." This Center had the same goal—collecting funds for the construction of a Bulgarian Orthodox church in the Tampa Bay area. Together with the Community Center, they organized picnics, events, and concerts of visiting Bulgarian artists and participated every year in the international SPIFFS festival to promote our culture and collect funds for the goal.

In April 2012, the "Bulgarian Rose" Women's Society was officially registered under the laws of the state of Florida as the "Bulgarian Rose Women's Cultural Club" with a non-profit purpose.

By the end of August 2016, with common efforts and work, an amount of $33,000 dollars has been collected. Then the leaders of the Community Center and the Women's Society decided to purchase a small building or a house for the future church. They turned to Svetlana Sapundzhieva, a real estate agent, for help. However, the collected funds were not enough to fund something suitable for a church. In an effort to collect enough funds, “Bulgarian Rose” sent a request to the church organization of "St. John the Baptist" with a request to pull together funds and efforts for the benefit of the Bulgarian community, but a response was never received.

Svetlana continued her search and decided to check the for-sale listings of public buildings, which is how she came across a small building that used to be a Baptist church. This building was constructed in 1931 and has been declared a historic property; it is located in the heart of St. Petersburg. The price was $70,000 for an area of about 1,600 square feet.

Then miracles begin to happen!

An offer of $50,000 (much lower than the listing price) was made, and it was accepted! Further arrangements followed, and as the building was in very poor condition, the price was reduced to $45,000.

 On October 14, 2016, the first inspection of the building was held by the members of the two organizations (the “Bulgarian Rose” and the Community Center “Rodina”), and everyone was unanimous that this was an incredible opportunity to have our much-dreamed Bulgarian church. In the evening of the same day, the women gathered in front of the building and prayed to our Lord Jesus Christ for support, promising Him that they would consecrate the future temple to Saint Petka Bulgarska because October 14 is Petkovden - the saint's day of Saint Petka.

However, another problem arose: according to Florida state law, a church building can only be purchased by a pre-registered church organization.

One evening at the home of Penka and Dimitar Iankovi, all members of the two societies gathered, and a nine-member church board was elected. Penka Iankova, the most active of all, was chosen as the Chairman, Dimitrichka Atanasova as the Treasurer, and Fani Lane as the Secretary.

The church was registered under the laws of the state of Florida on November 20, 2016, under the name Bulgarian Orthodox Church "Saint Petka."

Immediately after the registration, a campaign to collect donations from the Bulgarian community of Tampa Bay for the purchase of the building began. In a very short time, $35,000 was donated, which, in addition to the $33,000 raised from 2012 to 2016, was more than enough to make the purchase happen. Thanks to the generosity of the Bulgarian Tampa Bay community, there were also funds for renovating the building. On November 18, 2016, the long-awaited purchase was made.

Saint Petka became a spiritual home for the Bulgarian Orthodox community. The first Holy Liturgy was celebrated on December 4, 2016, for the feast of Saint Nicholas by Yerei Atanas Megerov, who is the priest of the Bulgarian church in Orlando "Saint George the Victorious." He also remained a temporary priest in the temple until August 2019.

On December 26, 2016, a Solemn Christmas Liturgy for the Nativity of Christ was celebrated by Father Atanas and Father Ljubisa, from the Serbian Church "Saint Petka" in Orlando.

With the arrival of the new 2017 year, the repairs in the church building began. Because of its poor condition, significant renovations were needed. Also, the church hall had to be redesigned according to the Eastern Orthodox canons.

The first big celebration in the renovated church was for the Resurrection of Christ-Easter in the same year. For this brightest church holiday on April 12, His Eminence Daniil, former Vicar Bishop of the Metropolis for the USA, Canada, and Australia, now Patriarch of Bulgaria, arrived! He served all the liturgies for the Resurrection of the Lord and took part in the picnic that was organized for the holiday. He also placed the Cross on St. Petka’s dome.

In July 2017, the Chairman of the church board, Penka Iankova and Paul Iankov represented our church at the Ecumenical Council in the state of Wisconsin, where Paul Iankov gave a report about the building purchase process, the choice of the church’s name, and the renovations carried out according to Orthodox canons. At the council, the Church of Saint Petka in Saint Petersburg, Florida, was officially recognized by the Bulgarian Patriarchate in the person of His Eminence Joseph, Metropolitan of the USA, Canada, and Australia.

The consecration of the "Saint Petka" temple was performed by His Eminence Daniil and Father Atanas on October 14, 2017. This was also the first temple holiday.

As of September 1, 2019, the church has a permanent priest, Jerei Dimitar Dimitrov, or as everyone calls him Father Dimitar.

Over the years, most of you have invested a lot of work and money, for which we are all extremely grateful!

We would like to extend our deepest and most sincere gratitude to all of you!!!

There is a separate page on our site dedicated to all the good people who helped with labor and donations for the church's needs.

This abbreviated version of the history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, "Saint Petka," is based on the book “A Dream Come True” by Mikhail Boyadzhiev. The entire community is grateful for his efforts to keep alive the memories of the start of the Tampa Bay Orthodox community under the blessing of Saint Petka!