Saint Andrew Orthodox Christian Church

Saint Andrew Orthodox Church began in 1989 as several families from Riverside neighboring Corona began meeting weekly for prayer services with the blessing of the local bishop. While there was no full-time priest to serve the community, the four founding families began to run local ads, produce a monthly newsletter and conduct outreach. In November 1992 the mission station was granted formal mission status and given the name "Saint Andrew" by the late Metropolitan Philip Saliba. In November 1997, Saint Andrew Mission was elevated to official "church" status by then Archbishop Joseph Al-Zehlaoui of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West, and Father Paul Finley was assigned as pastor. At this time the parish relocated their worship from a storefront to two industrial warehouses in west Riverside. On May 1, 1998, Father Josiah Trenham was appointed as the pastor. During his tenure the membership of Saint Andrew grew, and worship, educational, and catechism programs were implemented.

The church as seen from Canyon Crest Drive in 2011

With a rapidly growing parish, the Saint Andrew community sought land of their own in which to build a traditional Orthodox-style church. In 1999, the parish purchased its first real estate property at its current location. This same year, the Riverside City Council approved a three-phase construction plan consisting of a Fellowship Hall (Phase 1), a Church Temple (Phase 2), and a Christian Education Center (Phase 3).

Construction of the Fellowship Hall was completed in 2002; it served as the interim worship center until the Church Temple was completed in 2011. In 2004 Saint Andrew acquired an additional three-acre lot adjacent to their current property. This acquisition more than doubled the size of the Saint Andrew campus and a major redesign of the building plans was enacted. The temple was modeled after the St. Catherine Church in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Ground was broken on October 12, 2008, in a ceremony presided over by Bishops Joseph of Los Angeles and the West and Benjamin of San Francisco of the Orthodox Church of America.

The basic design of the church is a large cross within a square. Much marble stone is used, both on the inside and outside of the structure. The marble comes from seven different nations and over a dozen quarries. There are seven distinct domes, 74 arches, 14 barrel vaults, 16 groin vaults, 8 inverted convex ceiling domes and a central dome.

The church was built oriented toward the east, in accordance with tradition. On the western side there are eight doors which were handcrafted and carved in Antakya, Turkey. According to the Christian New Testament, this ancient city is where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. The central grand doors stand 12 feet (3.7 m) tall and 7 feet (2.1 m) wide. Each is made of solid quercus kelloggii, a black oak. The images carved within the doors depict Christ, the Holy Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, Saint Peter, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Anthusa, Saint Simeon the Stylite and Saint Simeon of the Admirable Mountain.

A small plaza with tumbled travertine leading up to the main entrance of the church was inspired by a 6th-century monastery in Saidnaya, Syria, built by the Emperor Justinian.

Hanging in the Saint Andrew belfry are five bells cast in Russia. Fourteen chandeliers, made in Athens, Greece, light the interior of the temple and the church's baptismal chapel.

The iconography of the church is hand-painted by Orthodox-iconographer monks from Buena Vista, Colorado. The iconography, depicting scenes from Christ's life, his miracles, parables and hundreds of saints, was still in progress in 2013, and would be one of the most elaborate iconographic schemes in the US when completed, with no wall space remaining unadorned. Cost was estimated to be in the millions of dollars, with completion planned for 2021.

Sunday services at Saint Andrew are attended by over 400 people, with seating for only half that number; the Orthodox tradition maintains that standing is the proper disposition during worship.

The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the new church temple on the Orthodox Feast of Palm Sunday, 2011.

The temple was formally opened with the Service of Consecration on December 3, 2011, presided over by Bishops Joseph and Benjamin, and attended by over sixty priests and deacons, and hundreds of laity.

In 1998 Father Josiah Trenham, a native Southern Californian ordained in 1993, became pastor. He is an adjunct professor of theology at St. Katherine College in Encinitas, California. Father Josiah is the founder and director of Patristic Nectar Publications, a company which sells religious audio recordings. He serves on the Board of Advisors of the Ss. Cyril and Athanasius Orthodox Institute in San Francisco. He is a member of the Orthodox Theological Society of America, and participates in yearly academic forums and symposia as well as conducting numerous parish retreats each year throughout the United States and Canada. Father Josiah became a member of the Secretariat of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops on its inception in May 2010. Father Josiah is married and has 10 children.

• Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
• Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America
• History of the Eastern Orthodox Church in North America

Notes

• Saint Andrew official website
• Antiochian Archdiocese
• Path of Life

• Saint Andrew official website
• Antiochian Diocese of Los Angeles and the West
• Patristic Nectar Publications
• Riverside Greek Fest
• Path of Life Ministries