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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 250 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, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine. Learn more!

St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church was founded in 1997 by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco to minister to Portland’s westside. Our parish is made up of members who were both raised in the Faith and those who have converted to Orthodoxy. Our current site is in a remodeled building on Walker Road. The parish vision is to purchase land and build a Byzantine style church and supporting facilities.

St. John the Baptist is also the host of Portland’s only Orthodox Christian school, Agia Sophia Academy, currently offering pre-K through 5th grade.

One of the main ministries at St. John’s is the Logos Bookstore, which offers a wide variety of Bibles, commentaries on Holy Scripture, prayer books, Lives of Saints, books on the faith, the spiritual life, children’s literature, and more! The bookstore also carries Icons in many sizes of Christ, crosses, baptismal gifts, etc.

Sweet Eating and the Love of God

Let the world now bitterly mourn with Eve and Adam, for it fell together with them who fell by sweet eating. ~ Synaxarion of Forgiveness Sunday “Sweet eating.” Once again the profound theological poetry of the Church’s hymns have cut to the very heart of the matter. Sweet eating. Adam and Eve’s sin is the same sin with which I ... [Read more]

God’s Providence for His Beloved

It is a great joy to introduce to you Ioan Gheorghiu, who will, by God’s grace, become our Director of Youth & Family Ministries. Our loving Lord has responded to our prayers of entreaty—prayers we offered to Him, to His Mother, to His beloved kinsman St. John the Baptist, and to that friend of Christ is recent times, St. John Maximovich. It is ... [Read more]

The Birth of Christ in Us

We have begun the spiritual journey to Bethlehem, to the cave where our Lord Jesus Christ was born. The Virgin patiently waits for the God-child to reach maturity in her womb, so that His birth beyond description can take place. Yet our humble Lord was born without a home or even a room at an inn: Mankind gave no home to its Creator! As Orthodox ... [Read more]

In the Year 2047

What will the community of St. John look like in 25 years? It’s hard to imagine—just as it would have been hard for those first six families of St. John back in 1997 to imagine how our community today would look. However there are some things we can envision as we look with anticipation toward our shared future… Our beloved bookstore, that ... [Read more]

Prayer and the Commemoration of Names

I write to you today—at the beginning of the Dormition Fast, when we pray the Paraklesis service almost every night—to teach about the commemoration of names within the services of the Church. Communal prayer (prayer in church) is a sacramental and ecclesial act that belongs to the Church. It manifests the united Body of Christ, that is the ... [Read more]

Stephen’s (Kurt) Journey to Orthodoxy

My wife Tammy says that through our life together, I have never surprised her until the day she (gently and with trepidation) broke the news to me: She and my son Taran had determined that the Orthodox Church had the best, deepest and truest theology. They had found a local church that seemed—from its website!—welcoming, and they were going to ... [Read more]

Gracie’s Journey to Orthodoxy

As a child I grew up in a Christian household and attended many different parishes from Methodist to Catholic, but primarily non-denominational. In high school I had the desire to become a missionary, which led me to Nepal when I was twenty. I was there for almost three months and I worked at a hospital, led a children's Bible school at church, ... [Read more]

Christina’s (Melissa) Journey to Orthodoxy

Before becoming Orthodox, I was a Protestant Christian my entire life. I was not raised in a family where we necessarily went to church every Sunday, but I was always a part of the Christian faith. I attended a Methodist church as a kid and went to many different VBS camps growing up. I moved to Oregon City when I was entering 8th grade and ... [Read more]

Simeon’s (Spencer) Journey to Orthodoxy

My Orthodox adventure started when my Uncle Billy (Steven) talked with me about church at a family BBQ more than a decade ago. My wife Crystal and I weren’t attending church at the time. I was lost about what church to attend. He suggested we come visit the Greek Orthodox Church, of course my first response was, “Do we have to get togas?” I talked ... [Read more]

Tim J’s Journey to Orthodoxy

I was raised in a Protestant Christian home by wonderful God-fearing parents (who are now Orthodox too)! Growing up, I attended a non-denominational Bible study where the theology was primarily Baptist. I remember attending church for most of my childhood and enjoyed studying the Bible. When I was a very young child, I remember praying the ... [Read more]

Tim’s Journey to Orthodoxy

Like all the amazing stories that fill this page mine is yet another that displays the miraculous providence of God. I was raised in the Episcopal church as a child and, after my family stopped attending church, I was taken to Southern Baptist church by neighbors who were concerned for my spiritual well-being. I wandered aimlessly through ... [Read more]

Paisios’ (Cameron) Journey to Orthodoxy

I grew up nondenominational Protestant, attending Baptist, Evangelical, Assembly of God, and Foursquare churches, along with Christian schools. There was an emphasis on Bible study, avoiding sin, politics, evangelizing, and the end times. To me, this was authentic Christianity. I thought of “being saved” by “asking Jesus into my heart” as a ... [Read more]

Elizabeth’s (Elspeth) Journey to Orthodoxy

I grew up in a Protestant home, attending a variety of different denominations, but feeling most at home in the moderately charismatic Foursquare denomination. I felt like my faith was pretty solid until tragedy hit my family: my youngest sibling passing at 13. I was angry at God and pushed Him away. However after some years, I came to the ... [Read more]

Ioana’s (Alison) Journey to Orthodoxy

Coming to Orthodoxy was like death by 1,000 papercuts (or like life, in this case!): there wasn’t just one pivotal moment or fact, but many small things over time. The Bible says we will experience trials and tribulations in life, and in 2010, our family received our fair share (cancer, death, and divorces). By the end of that year, I was left ... [Read more]

Jacob’s Journey to Orthodoxy

My first obstacle was accepting that God was something to consider. Growing up agnostic in a small Missouri farming town and going to a Baptist Sunday School on occasion, I was left with the idea that church was free daycare and a school for morals. I gave next to no thought to God—that is until I had what could be called a mental break at 24. I ... [Read more]