Saint George is a young Church. As a result of great enthusiasm, a dynamic group of individuals received the call from God to establish a new Church with great hope and expectation, the State of California approved of a license, followed by an approval of Sayedna Mar Athansius Y. Samuel, God bless his soul. The approval date was Sept. 1st. 1987. The pride of Saint Church has been a new Church is born. For the first seven years Rev. Fr. Noumeh Farah served the Church as the main minister. With great effort on his part, the Church grew from few families to about two hundred families in 1993 Rev. Fr.Farah decided to partially retire. The Board with great gratitude accepted his decision, and asked for the ordination of Rev.Fr. Botrous Rouboz. Presently the main minister is Rev. Fr. Botrous Rouboz. Rev. Fr. Farah was assisting with all the advice possible until he passed away on Dec 20. 2001 from heart failure, He has had previous health problems. He was laid to rest in Burbank, California.
For three years Saint George served its congregation by renting a Protestant Church. In 1991 a location with a Church on it was found, and purchased. The present address of the Church is 925 Harding St. San Fernando, California, 91340. The capacity of the sanctuary is 200 seats, and a social hall adjacent to it accommodates 200 people. Plan is being studied to enlarge the social hall soon. We have 260 registered families in the Church. The members are scattered over many localities in southern California with a radius of about 150 miles.
An ultimate goal of Saint George is to work on producing a Christian young generation of the Syrian Orthodox faith, a generation believing in God and in them selves. The leadership recognize that the beauty of the Church depends to a create extent, on the deacons and the choir. All efforts are being given to neat that beautiful goal.
The social committee at Saint George provides there important and happy evening; the evening of the Halloween , new year, and the evening of Saint George.
I can speak on behalf of the members that they feel very fortunate and proud to be of the Syrian Orthodox faith. They also give a positive pledge to transfer this fortune to their children, and make sure that the children in turn, give it to their children.
Fr. Botrous Rouboz |
