Very Reverend Marc Dunaway, Dean
V. Rev. John Downing
V. Rev. Robert John Polson
Rev. Thomas Frizelle
Rev. John Rogers
Rev. Protodn. Patrick Lamb
Rev. Dn. Fred Arvidson
Rev. Dn. Joseph Ray
Rev. Dn. Kevin Dougherty

Physical Location
18936 Monastery Dr.
Eagle River, AK 99577

Weekly Service Schedule
Saturday Night Great Vespers: 7:15 PM
Sunday Morning Orthros: 9:00 AM
Sunday Morning Divine Liturgy: 10:00 AM
Wednesday & Friday 6th Hour: 12:15 PM
Wednesday Vespers, Akathist or Paraklesis: 7:15 PM

Parish History
Thirty years ago, Monastery Drive in Eagle River, Alaska, was a dirt path in a forest of spruce and birch. Today about seventy-five families make their homes around St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, their houses scattered along Monastery Drive and Darby Road. Others live elsewhere in Chugiak/Eagle River and in Anchorage, fifteen miles to the south.

In 1968, Fr. Harold and Barbara Dunaway and their family arrived in Anchorage, sent by Campus Crusade for Christ to take the gospel message to the military in Alaska. Their small apartment became a gathering place for young people – so many, in fact, that Fr. Harold and Barbara decided to found their own ministry. They called it Maranatha North. A new house in Anchorage was quickly outgrown and a large house – the original “Big House” which was used for residence, worship and fellowship – and five acres of land was acquired, rather miraculously, in Eagle River. Families built homes nearby and a community grew.

During these years, Fr. Harold and his son, Fr. Marc (now archpriest of St. John’s), joined with other men in a journey seeking “true and right worship.” Their search led them from evangelical Protestantism to the ancient Orthodox Church. In 1984, the community pooled its first Alaska oil dividend checks and built our unique, geodesic-domed cathedral. In 1987, Metropolitan PHILIP of the Antiochian Archdiocese traveled north to ordain the clergy and Chrismate the faithful, encouraging us with his loving words - “Welcome home!”

Monastery Drive is now a paved road, along which are houses, a school (preschool through sixth grade), the St. James House (a residence program for young single adults), a cemetery, St. Sergius Chapel, and the heart of the community, our beautiful Cathedral. Our parish is made up almost entirely of converts to Orthodox Christianity who believe that “we have found the true faith, worshiping the undivided Trinity.”

We pray that God’s grace will continue with us now and forever.”

The community of St. John Orthodox Cathedral today is the result of a recent movement among many Protestant and Catholic Christians in America to return to the faith of the early Church. In April, 1987 our entire Church community, which had been in Eagle River since 1975, was received into the communion of the Orthodox Church under the Patriarch of Antioch. Today we share the same historic faith and worship as is held by all Orthodox Christians throughout the world.

The Cathedral itself was completed in November, 1984. Most of the work was done by members of the Church community.

The interior structure of the Cathedral is a 60-foot diameter, geodesic dome. The wood on the ceiling is native Alaskan Birch. The Alter furnishings are Canadian Cherry.

More than 50 families in our Church live within walking distance of the Cathedral, creating a vital Church community that hosts our beloved Bishop JOSEPH for one week each year at Christmas.

We are newcomers to Orthodoxy in Alaska, however, Orthodox Christianity was first brought to Alaska 200 years ago by Russian monks who came as missionaries. Today there are more than 80 Russian Orthodox Churches in villages extending from the Aleutians to the Southeast Panhandle.

Visitors are welcome to attend our services. If you have any questions, please contact us.