Sat: 5pm Vespers | Sun: 9:30am Hours 10:00am Divine Liturgy
Christ is in our Midst
Welcome! We’re glad that you’ve taken a moment to come to our parish’s home on the web. Please join us for a service or stop by during office hours to see the church.
We welcome visitors to come and experience the Orthodox Christian Faith. Often described as “the best kept secret” in America, Orthodox Christianity is, in reality, for everyone. The Orthodox Faith traces back to the Apostolic times, after Christ’s Resurrection. There are approximately 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and 1.3 percent of the population in the United States. Eastern Orthodoxy is the largest single religious faith in Belarus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine.
St. John the Evangelist in Tempe, Arizona is a community of Orthodox Christian people who come from all walks of life, gathering in the oneness of Faith to worship God through daily prayer, weekly services, and annual feasts.
Many of us have come to the Orthodox Church after years of searching. The Orthodox Church is the historical Church, which was founded on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem and spread throughout Judea and finally the world.
In our services we celebrate the great truths of the Christian Faith. Our parish also has a strong commitment to living out the gospel and serving others in communities where we live.
Members are dedicated to bearing witness to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Our individual experiences collectively create a vibrant community and we welcome you to join the praises of our worship, the joys of our fellowship, and our commitment in the service to others.
Learn more about our community.
OUR BELIEFS
We believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, (Nicene Creed) who died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Co 15:3‐4).
Discover more about our beliefs:
Why Become Orthodox?
Some of us were born and raised in the Orthodox tradition, but most of us are converts who come from a variety of Christian and even non‐Christian backgrounds. Many of us felt that there was something “missing” in our faith tradition and began the journey to find Jesus Christ’s true historical Church. Our journey, by the grace of God’s all Holy Spirit, lead us to the Orthodox Church. Only the Orthodox Church, throughout the centuries, has maintained the fullness of the Christian Faith (apostolic tradition), worship and life without addition, subtraction or distortion.
At a time when so many traditional Christians are unhappy and confused by the moral and doctrinal changes taking place within their churches, when so many denominations seems to be rewriting and adjusting their theology in order to comply with contemporary social attitudes and trends, Orthodox Christianity offers an alternative.
“The Church can only be the Church if it is in real, literal, historical continuity with the Apostles. There is a ‘body’ in history that has one faith, one worship, a traceable development and continuity which began historically with the Apostles. If there is no Church which has the fullness of grace and truth, the fullness of Christ’s presence, then Jesus failed and the world hasn’t been saved. We believe and proclaim to this day that there is a Church in which the fullness of grace and truth, which resides in Christ, is made accessible to human beings. The Church is salvation; the Church is eternal life in its deepest and fullest sense. This salvation is in the Orthodox Church.”
Father Thomas Hopko of blessed memory, and Dean Emeritus of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological seminary.
IMPORTANT FACTS
#2 Largest Body of Christians in World is Orthodox
1,000,000+ Orthodox Christians in United States
1,985 years old: Age of the Orthodox Church
(Pentecost 33A.D. to Present)
300,000,000+ Orthodox Christians World Wide
Over 50 million Orthodox Christians have died for their faith in the first eight decades of the twentieth century.
What People Are Saying
“If you’re looking for the Early Church, Christian Orthodoxy is as close as you can get. St. John’s offers one of the most authentic family friendly Christian experiences you can find. You won’t find much pretentiousness here in my experience. Here, mostly people are just trying to work out their own Salvation. Hospitality is awesome. They even offer a free meal every Sunday following the services. If you’re looking to learn and grow in your relationship with God, I found this place to be the closest thing to where I believe Saints Peter and Paul would attend. Loved it!”