Welcome!

For first time visitors to our site, and to St. Photios Church, we welcome you!  We have plenty of parking, and a place for you. 

St. Photios Church is a growing group of friends and neighbors from all over the continent who have two things in common: a love for God and a passion to serve our community. We hope that no matter where you are with God, you will find St. Photios to be the best place to take your next step. Show up this weekend. We would love to meet you!

To start with, we want you to know at least this much:

• Relax, and enjoy your visit. Dress comfortably and modestly. No special protective equipment is required. No one is judging you. 

• We will not do anything that will make you uncomfortable or embarrass you. 

• We will not ask you to give money – we don’t expect visitors to contribute anything to the financial support of our parish or our programs. That is the privilege of members.

• Our children worship with us. If you have young children, they are welcome here, too. If you need to step to the back of the Church with your child for any reason, you are not disturbing us. We expect children to be raised in the Church and to accomplish that, they have to be IN THE CHURCH. Remember, if the babies ain’t cryin’, the church is dyin’.

• All of our facilities are handicap accessible. If you need any assistance at all, please let us know. We are here to be of service to you.

If you are an Orthodox Christian, and you have prepared yourself to receive Holy Communion according to your Spiritual Father’s direction, be sure to introduce yourself to our priest before the service. Once you have informed the priest of your status, you are welcome to approach the chalice.

We are part of the worldwide Orthodox Church – the oldest Christian Church in the world. 

 

 

 

 

Yes! Our children worship with us.

We do not shuffle them off to kiddie church or Sunday school. Your children are welcome, too, and you’re in good company. We have many babies and children in our parish. 

If you want to raise your children in the Church, then they have to be IN THE CHURCH. The entire spiritual culture of the Orthodox faith is necessary formation for everyone, whether 40 days old, 40 years old, or 40 years as a senior citizen. We are forming the process of their spiritual life, not providing programs that keep them busy and distracted.

Don’t worry if your child wiggles and squirms a bit. God put the wiggle in them, don’t try to get it out! Unless your child is making more noise than our priest and choir, stay put. When they need a little more room, just walk them to the back, so that they can still see and hear what’s going on. 

It can be a sacrifice to raise children in the Church, and we know it, but if your child doesn’t learn to incline his/her heart in worship, and turn aside from distraction from a young age, how in the world will they survive as an older Christian in a world which is designed to distract them?

Relax. We’re here to help you raise saints.