In The Spirit

-- Michele Marr

Church Name: St. Barnabas Orthodox Church

Address: 3505 Cadillac Avenue, Building G-3, Costa Mesa

Phone: (714) 429-0587

Senior pastor: The Very Rev. E. Wayne Wilson

Pastoral staff: The Rev. Michael Reagan, assistant pastor

Denomination: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North

America

Year established: 1987

Service times: Sunday -- Morning Matins at 9 a.m. and Divine Liturgy

at 9:45 a.m., Sunday school is at 9 a.m.; Wednesday -- Vespers at 7:30

p.m.; Saturday -- Great Vespers at 6 p.m.

Size of congregation: 125

Makeup of congregation: Mostly young families with children

Child care: Provided for Sunday worship

Type of worship: Traditional and liturgical

Type of sermon: The sermon is taken each Sunday from the gospel

reading

Recent sermon: “The Power of a Thankful Heart”

Upcoming sermon: “Your Guardian Angel”

Welcome wagon: Visitors are received as guests. Wilson said, “We’ll

treat you nice in so many ways you’re bound to like one of them.”

From the helpfulness of the greeters to the service books available

for worship and the coffee hour that follows the worship services, warm

hospitality is extended to all.

Outreach programs: Guest speakers and special events are hosted

throughout the year. On Saturday, Bible study for teens meets at 5 p.m.

Outreach to the community: Twice a month, church members assist a

local service program in serving hot lunches. Clothes and food are

collected monthly for those in need. Some parishioners work as volunteers

at Mary’s Shelter, a home for unwed, pregnant teens. Parish teens work

with an orphanage in Tijuana.

Church design: Orthodox churches around the world, whether large or

small, hold certain architectural elements in common: the placement of

holy icons, which portray saints and biblical events in a manner that

communicates a sense of transcendence; the placement of candles; and the

central placement of the altar.

Mission statement: To provide a place of worship for Orthodox

Christians, those interested in the historic faith and those seeking

God’s Holy Church in an environment that truly honors and worships God.

Core values: The church considers itself part of the ancient and

historical church established by Jesus Christ in AD 33, at Pentecost.

This is the 1st century Christian Church that wrote the New Testament and

the Nicene Creed, and laid the Trinitarian and incarnational groundwork

of Christian doctrine. The church has a unique heritage in that its

archdiocese traces its spiritual and ecclesiastical roots to the ancient

city of Antioch, the city mentioned in Acts 11:26, which says “they were

first called Christians in Antioch.”

Vision statement: To be a light to the community of the love of Christ

and to spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Upcoming in December: St. Lucia Procession, High School Winter

Retreat, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services.