Learn More About Orthodox Christianity
Do you believe you are created in God's Image and fashioned after His Likeness? - We do!
We are a growing Orthodox Christian mission located in a quiet neighborhood in Southwest DC. Our parish is committed to helping with programs that provide meals and nourishment to families and children in the community around us. We’re also here to help people live meaningful lives in Christ.
From 2016 to 2021, our services were held in the rectory chapel of Assumption Roman Catholic Parish, generously offered to us by Father Gregory Shaffer.
In August 2021, we moved to a new location. A generous benefactor granted us the use of a building to use as our church home. It is a blessing to witness the growth of our church community in our new site. As a result of that growth, we’re able to give more to the surrounding community through our charitable programs.
We Warmly Welcome
Those looking for a smaller, more intimate Orthodox church home
Orthodox Christians returning to regular worship
People inquiring about Orthodox Christianity
Groups and individuals seeking hands-on opportunities to participate in community life and outreach
Active duty and retired military
Travelers from out-of-town wanting to participate in the Divine Liturgy
As we continue to grow, we hope to expand the ways we serve our community. There are many needs around us, and several important outreach initiatives are currently in development.
Many people today feel spiritually disconnected or unsettled. We seek to offer a stable and nurturing spiritual home rooted in the life of the Church. For those longing for a deeper and more sacred connection with Christ, the Divine Liturgy remains the heart of that encounter.
Worshiping together in person as a community is powerful and life-giving. The fullness of Christian life is experienced most deeply when we gather face to face in prayer.
About Father John
Father John Anderson is the parish priest of St. John the Merciful Mission. His journey to Orthodoxy began at a young age when he witnessed a group of monks walking past him. It’s a memory he’s never forgotten, though he was only six years old at the time. He saw they were men of God and that’s what he wanted to be.
As a young adult, he found a book on the Desert Fathers and Mothers and studied their teachings from the third to the twentieth centuries. Raised Episcopalian/Anglican, he attended church regularly, but was looking for more meaning as he got older. The words and instruction of the Desert Fathers created a path that brought him to where he is today.
After joining the military, Father John met his wife Sabine while stationed in Germany. At the time of their first date, he felt called to be a priest.
Father John attended seminary at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (when Father John Meyendorff was dean). After his ordination to the priesthood, Father John and Sabine moved a lot as a part of Father’s career as a military officer, medic, and chaplain. He’s lived in four countries, and throughout the United States.
His favorite thing about being a priest is the ability to bring people into better and healthier relationships with each other and God. What he enjoys about St. John the Merciful is that the outreach is as much a part of daily life as the liturgical celebration.
Father John and Sabine have three adult children and enjoy living in the DC/Northern Virginia area. They love meeting new people and being active and involved in the life of the mission as it grows.
The Nicene Creed: The Orthodox Statement of Faith
When we say the creed every Sunday during Divine Liturgy, we’re reciting an Orthodox Christian text that was written in ancient times for a very important purpose: to clarify and prevent confusion about what we believe.
The creed was formally written and finalized by the church back in 325 AD and 381 AD after many controversies had developed in Christendom about the nature of the Son of God and the Holy Spirit.
The word creed comes from the Latin credo which means “I believe.” The Orthodox Church refers to the creed as The Symbol of Faith, meaning that it literally brings together and expresses the confession of our faith.
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I believe in One God, (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29, 12:32; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6)
The Father Almighty (Genesis 17:1-8; Exodus 6:3; Matthew 6:9; Ephesians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 6:18)
Maker of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:1; Job 38:1-30)
And of all things visible and invisible (Colossians 1:15-16; John 1:3; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 4:11)
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ (John 20:28; Acts 11:17, 16:31; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:5)
The Son of God, the Only-Begotten (Matthew 3:17, 14:33, 16:16; John 1:14, 3:16)
Begotten of the Father before all ages (Psalm 2:7; John 1:1-2)
Light of Light (John 1:4, 1:9, 8:12; Psalm 27:1; Matthew 17:2, 5; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 1:5)
True God of True God (John 1:1-2, 17:1-5; 1 John 5:20)
Begotten, not made (John 1:1-2, 16:28, 1:18)
Of one essence with the Father (John 10:30)
By Whom all things were made (Hebrews 1:1-2, 10; John 1:3, 1:10; Colossians 1:16; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Romans 11:36)
Who for us men and for our salvation (I Timothy 2:4-5; Matthew 1:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Colossians 1:13-14)
Came down from heaven (John 3:13, 3:31, 6:33-35, 38)
And was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:34-35)
And became man (John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14)
And He was crucified for us (Mark 15:25; I Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24)
under Pontius Pilate (Mark 15:15)
And suffered (Mark 8: 31; Matthew 27:50)
And was buried (Luke 23:53; 1 Corinthians 15:4; Matthew 27:59-60)
And He rose again on the third day (Mark 9:31, 16:9; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4)
According to the Scriptures (Luke 24:1, 45-46; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
And ascended into heaven (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9-10; Mark 16:19)
And sits at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55; Luke 22:69)
And He will come again with glory (Matthew 24:27; Mark 13:26; John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
To judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:1; Matthew 16:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Peter 4:5)
His kingdom shall have no end (2 Peter 1:11; Hebrews 1:8)
And I believe in the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; Acts 1:8)
The Lord and Giver of life (Acts 5: 3-4; Genesis 1:2; John 6:63; 2 Corinthians 3:6)
Who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26)
Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified (Matthew 3:16-17)
Who spoke through the prophets (I Samuel 19:20; Ezekiel 11:5; 1 Peter 1:10-11; Ephesians 3:5)
And I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church (Matthew 16:18, 28:19; 1 Peter 2:5,9; Ephesians 1:4, 2:19-22, 4:4, 5:27; Acts 1:8, 2:42; Mark 16:15; Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 10:17)
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins (Ephesians 4:5; Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 2:12-13; Acts 22:16)
I look for the resurrection of the dead (John 11:24; 1 Corinthians 15:12-49; Romans 6:4-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:16)
And the life of the world to come. (Mark 10:29-30; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1)
Amen. (Psalm 106:48)