Our Parish
Saint Andrew Orthodox Christian Church is a parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, an archdiocese of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.
We trace our roots to first century Antioch, the city in which the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
Our Patron
Feast Day of St. Andrew - November 30th The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ (John 1:35-42). The future apostle was from Bethsaida, and from his youth he turned with all his soul to God. He did not enter into marriage, and he worked with his brother as a fisherman. When the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John began to preach, Saint Andrew became his closest disciple. Declaring Christ to be the Lamb of God, Saint John the Baptist himself sent to Christ his own two disciples, the future Apostles Andrew and John the Theologian. After the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, Saint Andrew went to the Eastern lands preaching the Word of God. He went through Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, he reached the River Danube, went along the coast of the Black Sea, through Crimea, the Black Sea region and along the River Dniepr he climbed to the place where the city of Kiev now stands. He stopped overnight on the hills of Kiev. Rising in the morning, he said to those disciples that were with him: “See these hills? Upon these hills shall shine forth the beneficence of God, and there will be a great city here, and God shall raise up many churches.” The apostle went up around the hills, blessed them and set up a cross. Having prayed, he went up even further along the Dniepr and reached a settlement of the Slavs, where Novgorod was built. From here the apostle went through the land of the Varangians towards Rome for preaching, and again he returned to Thrace, where in the small village of Byzantium, the future Constantinople, he founded the Church of Christ. The name of the holy Apostle Andrew links the mother, the Church of Constantinople, with her daughter, the Russian Church. On his journeys the First-Called Apostle endured many sufferings and torments from pagans: they cast him out of their cities and they beat him. In Sinope they pelted him with stones, but remaining unharmed, the persistent disciple of Christ continued to preach to people about the Savior. Through the prayers of the Apostle, the Lord worked miracles. By the labors of the holy Apostle Andrew, Christian Churches were established, for which he provided bishops and clergy. The final city to which the Apostle came was the city of Patra, where he was destined to suffer martyrdom. The Lord worked many miracles through His disciple in Patra. The infirm were made whole, and the blind received their sight. Through the prayers of the Apostle, the illustrious citizen Sosios recovered from serious illness and Maximilla and Stratokles, the wife and brother of the governor of Patra, were healed. The miracles accomplished by the Apostle and his fiery speech enlightened almost all the citizens of the city of Patra with the true Faith. Few pagans remained at Patra, but among them was the prefect of the city, Aegeatos. The Apostle Andrew repeatedly turned to him with the words of the Gospel. But even the miracles of the Apostle did not convince Aegeatos. The holy Apostle with love and humility appealed to his soul, striving to reveal to him the Christian mystery of life eternal, through the wonderworking power of the Holy Cross of the Lord. The angry Aegeatos gave orders to crucify the apostle. The pagan thought he might undo Saint Andrew’s preaching if he were to put him to death on the cross. Saint Andrew the First-Called accepted the decision of the prefect with joy and with prayer to the Lord, and went willingly to the place of execution. In order to prolong the suffering of the saint, Aegeatos gave orders not to nail the saint’s hands and feet, but to tie them to the cross. For two days the apostle taught the citizens who gathered about. The people, in listening to him, with all their souls pitied him and tried to take Saint Andrew down from the cross. Fearing a riot of the people, Aegeatos gave orders to stop the execution. But the holy apostle began to pray that the Lord would grant him death on the cross. Just as the soldiers tried to take hold of the Apostle Andrew, they lost control of their hands. The crucified apostle, having given glory to God, said: “Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.” Then a blazing ray of divine light illumined the cross and the martyr crucified upon it. When the light faded, the holy Apostle Andrew had already given up his holy soul to the Lord. Maximilla, the wife of the prefect, had the body of the saint taken down from the cross, and buried him with honor. A few centuries later, under the emperor Constantine the Great, the relics of the holy Apostle Andrew were solemnly transferred to Constantinople and placed in the church of the Holy Apostles beside the relics of the holy Evangelist Luke and Saint Paul’s disciple Saint Timothy.
Apolytikion of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
O Andrew first-called of the apostles, Brother of Peter the first-enthroned, intercede with the Master of all to grant peace to the world and great mercy to our souls.
Megalynaria of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
Since thou was the first to approach the Lord, thou O Andrew was revealed as the first-called apostle, divine visionary of Christ God's Resurrection, do thou now quell the raging of the passions.
Of the apostolic choir of the Lord, thou was first, O blessed one, to be called and to follow Him. With thy brother Peter, O Andrew, thou didst leave all, to preach Christ to all nations, that all may praise His name.
Our history
The Origins The origins of St. Andrew Church reach back to about 1988, with our first founders collaborating with the local Orthodox priests to establish an initial list of Orthodox Christians living in the Riverside area. In 1989 people began to meet in a rented room and the first Liturgy was celebrated. The founding families met once a month and continued outreach efforts to grow the church. St. Luke Church adopted the mission station and gave monthly financial assistance for the next ten years. St. Andrew Mission In 1992 the mission station leased a storefront, was formally received as a mission church and was named St. Andrew. During these early years St. Andrew Mission would form many of its fundamental characteristics including a deep commitment to worship and the use of the English language, as well as a sincere fellowship and family milieu in which parishioners are involved in one another’s lives. St. Andrew Church In 1997, St. Andrew Mission was elevated to the status of a church and relocated into two warehouses in an industrial park in Riverside – the “Holy Warehouse”. In 1998, Father Josiah Trenham was appointed as the pastor of St. Andrew, and continues as Senior Pastor today. Three Phase Building Plan At this time the building committee began in earnest to seek property for a church. The property at 4700 Canyon Crest was sold to the church for 35% below the asking price in order to accommodate our needs because we were a church. Dr. Chapman, the seller, remained dear to us until his repose at the age of 106. God rest his soul. With the new two acre parcel in hand, St. Andrew established a three phase plan for building a fellowship hall, church temple, and educational center. Phase One Realized In 2002 the first Sunday Divine Liturgy was held at the newly constructed St. Andrew Fellowship Hall. The hall served as the church, educational center, social hall and administrative center for the next 9 years. On Sundays following the Liturgy an eight foot portable wall was moved into place to shelter the altar and provide space for the Agape Meal and Lord’s Day fellowship. Phase One was realized. These years in the fellowship hall witnessed the steady growth of the parish membership and evangelistic outreach. The parish began to offer inquirer and catechetical classes each year, participate in community programs, choir festivals and performances, serve the homeless at the Hulen shelter, visit a number of local retirement and nursing homes and reach out to our beloved Riverside community. These outreach activities and more continue to this day. Phase Two Realized In 2004 St. Andrew experienced another miracle of God’s provision. The adjoining property of almost three acres had been for sale for some years, but the parish had been completely unsuccessful in purchasing it. Then late one evening after a lengthy parish council meeting Father and the council felt moved by God to approach yet again the owners. On this occasion, by the mercy of God, the owners informed St. Andrew that they experienced a change of heart and reckoned that the church should own the property. They not only reduced the price, but they themselves carried the mortgage note for 4 years at a reduced interest rate. With this acquisition the St. Andrew campus went from two to five acres, and a major re-design of the three phased campus plan was completed. The parish began to focus all of its energies upon a single goal: the building of a holy temple to the glory of the Holy Trinity. It would be located on the new three acre parcel acquired by the parish. Toward this end Fr. Josiah conceived a dream of designing a classic Byzantine church temple, modeled on the famous St. Catherine Church in Thessaloniki, Greece. Building began, and the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the magnificent new church temple on Palm Sunday, 2011. It was during this period, that the parish was gifted with the sacred relics of the Holy Martyr Eugenios (Eugene) which would be placed into the holy table during the Service of Consecration. In October of 2002 St. Andrew parish hosted more than 3,000 members of the Riverside community at a massive open house marking the public opening of the church. On December 3rd of 2011 the Service of Consecration of the St. Andrew temple took place presided over by His Eminence, Archbishop Joseph of Los Angeles, concelebrating with His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of Diocese of the West of the Orthodox Church in America, together with more than 60 priests and deacons, and hundreds of faithful Orthodox Christians. The consecration of the new temple was a day that St. Andrew only dreamed about but became a reality - the consecration of the St. Andrew church temple as a house of God. Since that day, the parish has been adding iconography to the temple walls, and beautiful iconography now covers the walls of the chapel. Phase Two was realized, to the Most Holy Trinity, our God, be all glory and honor now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.