St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church

St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church: A congregation in the Greek Orthodox tradition

St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church (4335 16th Street NW) is a Greek Orthodox congregation and is next door to Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church on 16th Street. St. George's is named for 3rd century A.D./C.E. soldier and martyr George of Anatolia. George refused to renounce his Christian beliefs and was tortured and beheaded in 303 B.C. Today, he is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia and an annual feast day--April 23--commemorates his martyrdom.

Although St. George's Church has a well-developed website, it doesn't provide a specific history of the congregation or its building. Nevertheless, the church appears to be actively engaged in the lives of its parishioners and they in the life of the church. In addition to the traditional parish council, the church also has a choir that sings Russian and Byzantine melodies and a cantor who chants in Arabic; the Fellowship of Saint John the Divine where, according to the church's website, "If you exceeded your teen years, (and you no longer know everything), the Fellowship is where you want to be for your continued self development both socially, as well as spiritually"; and the Ladies Myrrh Bearing Society. (Click on images to enlarge.)

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08