Wikipedia:Saint Andrew Orthodox Christian Church

Saint Andrew Orthodox Christian Church is a parish church of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, an archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. The church is dedicated to Saint Andrew, the First-Called Apostle, and is located at 4700 Canyon Crest Drive, near the intersection of Canyon Crest Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard in Riverside, California, across from the University of California, Riverside.The church as it exists today was built in 2010 as the first Byzantine-style Orthodox Christian church in Riverside. The church is modeled after a 13th century World Heritage Site in Thessaloniki, Greece, named for St. Catherine of Alexandria.HistorySaint 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 Father Josiah's tenure, the membership of Saint Andrew grew and worship, educational, and catechism programs were implemented.