Diocese: Diocese of the West
Deanery: Missionary District
Address
205 Fern Valley Road
Suite Z
Phoenix, Oregon 97535
Mailing address:
PO Box 823
Ashland, OR 97520
Website: gabriel.church
Parish Contacts
Directions
The parish of Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church is currently meeting in Suite Z of “The Shoppes at Exit 24″ in Phoenix, OR. Take the Phoenix Exit (Exit 24) off I-5. “The Shoppes” are on the west side of the freeway, and Suite Z is across the parking lot, in the north-eastern corner of the outdoor mall area. Welcome!
Schedule of Services
6:00 PM Great Vespers.
Saturday Evening
9:00 AM Divine Liturgy.
Sunday Morning
6:00 PM Vespers.
Wednesday Evening
8:00 AM Divine Liturgy.
Thursday Morning
Services, Classes, Fellowship Meetings and Choir Practice during the week are subject to change. Changes are are announced in the bulletin each week, and on the Calendar on our parish website.
Parish Background
Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church has had an active presence in Ashland since the late seventies, when a handful of Orthodox believers, with no place to worship, began to meet for readers’ services on days of major Church feasts. “We just took things into our own hands,” said Olga Kline, one of the founders. The group’s persistence attracted the attention of regional Orthodox clergy. Records show that a Saturday liturgy was served on November 2nd, 1985, by a visiting priest, Father Alexander Golitzen, with seven adults and one child in attendance. During this period, ads were run in the local paper, inviting worshippers from amongst the various Orthodox backgrounds that are commonly found in North America. An organizational service was held on November 30th of that year, to discuss the possibility of forming a church.
In 1988, Fr. George Gray, priest at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Portland, began an eight-year tenure of visit. He traveled with his family to serve liturgy for the Ashland community every six weeks. Services were held in the local Episcopal Church. The cycle of worship included a Friday evening and Saturday morning service. Members continued to meet at each others’ houses for mid-week worship and fellowship. At this time, they were known as “Ashland Orthodox Christian Mission,” but later changed their name to “St. Nicholas Orthodox Mission” to reflect their affiliation with the Portland cathedral.
In 1996, care of the mission was assigned to Fr. David Shank, another Portland area priest. He hosted bi-monthly liturgies for the nine adults and five children that then made up the congregation.
The church obtained its first own priest in 1997, with the arrival of Fr. David Fox, a graduate of St. Tikhon’s Seminary in Pennsylvania. It was then that the parish received its current name of “Archangel Gabriel.” Fr. David’s tenure was cut short, however, upon his untimely death in December of 1998, leaving the church, once again, without a resident priest. Fr. David’s death was a catalyst for increased commitment and faith, and the mission continued to grow even without a resident priest.
Fr. Shank resumed service to the community until Fr. Isaac Skidmore arrived in July of 2000, with his wife and children. Fr. Isaac is a graduate of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in New York. He also has completed a Masters Degree in psychology and works as a substance abuse and mental health counselor in area agencies. He served the parish for over a decade, until he was no longer able to to serve the community full-time.
Fr. Andreas Blom and his family arrived at Archangel Gabriel’s in the summer of 2012, after graduating from St. Tikhon’s Seminary in Pennsylvania.
In December 2014, the parish was able to purchase almost 7 acres of land right by I-5 in Ashland. In April, 2015, the parish moved to a larger temporary space in Phoenix, OR, as the the community continues to grow and prepares to build a permanent Orthodox temple on their own property in the near future.
