Diocese: Diocese of the West
Deanery: Missionary District
Address
17323 Main St
Hesperia, California 92345
Mailing address:
PO Box 400504
Hesperia, CA 92340-0504
Website: stgeorgeoca.org
Office: 760-244-9223
Parish Contacts
Directions
General Location
St George is located 5.5 miles east of Interstate 15 on Main St in Hesperia.
From Interstate 15 (north or south)
Exit the interstate directly onto Main St and head east. A landmark will be the large, arched railroad bridge over which Main St runs. Passing this, proceed east for 1 mile and look for a Washington Mutual Bank on the right. The Church will be just past and next door to the bank.
Schedule of Services
All Services are in English.
6:00 PM All-night Vigil.
Saturday Evening
9:10 AM Hours, followed by 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy.
Sunday Morning
6:00 PM All-night Vigil.
Eves of Great Feasts
9:10 AM Hours, followed by 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy.
Mornings of Great Feasts
Other services are listed in the monthly calendar on the parish website, or you may call the parish office.
Parish Background
The Victor Valley of the High Desert of California lies some 40 miles north of the city of San Bernardino and extends north to the city of Barstow, and stretches east to the town of Lucerne Valley and west to near the city of Palmdale. On the map the cities of Hesperia, Apple Valley and Victorville lie at the midway point between San Bernardino and Barstow, along Interstate 15. The Victor Valley currently supports a population of some 300,000 inhabitants in the Tri-Ciry area amd surrounding areas of Adelanto, Phelan, Pinon Hills, Oak Hills, Silver Lake, Helendale, Oro Grande, Lucerne Vallet and outlying desert and unincorporated areas.
In June of 1985, Mrs Mary Ross, a life-long Orthodox Christian of Greek ancestry, began the process of gathering other Orthodox Christians together to found a worshipping community. By sitting down with the local telephone directory, she contacted every Orthodox “sounding” name of all ethnic backgrounds. Soon she was joined in this effort by Mrs Nina Rubanov and Mrs Robin Angelopolous, longtime residents of the Victor Valley.
On October 12, 1985, Fr Theodore Pulcini served the first Divine Liturgy for the group at the Hesperia Grange Hall on Main St in the city of Hesperia. The Mission continued to meet at the Grange. At a meeting of the mission on January 18, 1986, Fr Theodore formally explained the requirements of becoming a mission of the Antiochian Archdiocese.
The mission was received into the Diocese of San Francisco and the West of the Orthodox Church in America. The see of the Diocese was vacant at that time and His Beatitude, THEODOSIUS, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, was Locum Tenens of the Diocese with His Grace, Bishop Job served as temporary Administrator of the Diocese.
The mission was served then by Rev Joseph Fester. Weekly services of Great Vespers on Saturday evenings and Divine Liturgies on Sundays were started. These were the first Sunday Liturgies of the Mission.
During this time the mission relocated to the Hesperia Medical Center where the late Dr Edmund Moushabek provided two rooms for the exclusive use of the mission. The mission was able to set up a chapel and have space for fellowship and educational activities. Several members of the congregation remodeled the interior of the rooms, built a small iconostas, purchased icons, and supplied the mission with other necessary things that go into transforming a room into sacred space. During Fr Joseph’s tenure the first Lenten and Paschal cycle was served for the mission.
Following Pascha 1986, Diocesan clergy including Hieromonk Alexander (Golitzin) and Fr Mark Koczak served the mission. In December 1986, Fr John Schreiber, then Priest-in-Charge of St Anthony Orthodox Church, San Antonio, TX, was assigned as the mission’s first resident priest.
The present church is located in a building that previously hosted the local post office. By the grace of God, the building was donated to the mission community and once again the congregation joyfully and gratefully put in the necessary time, talent and treasure to completely renovate the interior and, to some extent, the exterior of the building to create space for the church with sacristy, a fellowship hall with kitchen, restrooms, and space for storage, education and offices. His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of San Francisco and the West, blessed the building later that year.
On May 11, 1997, the feast of SS Cyril and Methodius (Apostles to the Slavic Lands) and Mother’s Day according to the American calendar, Rev John Schreiber fell asleep in the Lord after a long bout with cancer. It was during his tenure that the mission faced some difficult times brought on by the manifestation of all the ills and sins that plague all missions, which in this case were writ large. Through Fr John’s sacrifice and patience, and his deep abiding love for Christ, His Church, and those commited to his charge, the mission slowly, and sometimes painfully, grew and became established.
A church school, youth ministry, choir, bookstore, men’s and women’s groups, and food ministry are established as integral to the life of the mission.
The liturgical life of the mission has been enhanced to include regular midweek services and feast days. A large space in the memorial park of a local mortuary has been donated for the exclusive use of the Orthodox Christians of the Victor Valley.
St. George is a warm and welcoming community comprised of those who have found the fullness of Orthodox Christianity as adults and those hailing from almost all traditionally Orthodox countries.
The vison of St George Mission is reflected in the words of the Prophet Micah: “The Lord hath showed thee, O man, what is good. And what doth the Lord require of thee? To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”