Parish History

On August 29, 1982, a small group of faithful immigrants from Romania gathered around Rev. Fr. Gheorghe Mircea Niculescu, an outspoken critic of the Romanian Communist regime, to officially establish a new Orthodox Parish, serving the communities around West Los Angeles in the Romanian Orthodox tradition. God blessed Fr. Mircea with the gift of words and pen and guided him in his works, becoming a well-known poet, author and man of letters in his native Romania. God answered these faithful orthodox emigrants’ prayers and blessed the formation of Saint John the Baptist Romanian Orthodox Church which officiated its first Divine Liturgy on September 3,1982. The newly formed parish found its home in the Orthodox Church in America, Bulgarian Diocese under the Omophore of His Eminence Archbishop Kyrill of Pittsburgh and Toledo of the Bulgarian Diocese.

After the death of Fr. Mircea in 1989, the parish continued its works with the help of Fr. Cornel Avramescu, Rector of St. Mary Romanian Orthodox Church in Anaheim.
In April 1990, Fr. Remus Bibart assumed rectorship of our church. In 1998 he received tonsure as Hieromonk Nikodim, and was soon elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by His Eminence, Archbishop Kyrill. In September 2001, Archim. Nikodim received canonical release from the OCA. Upon his departure, the parish has been served in turn by the Rev. Viorel Visovan, and V. Rev. Dumitru Ionescu.
In October 2010, the parish welcomed Rev. John Beal. Fr. John was the first clergyman to serve the parish in his own native English.
From Fr. John’s departure in 2014, to the present day, our Parish has been receiving pastoral care of Hieromonk Dionisie (Rodila) Abbott of the Holy Resurrection Monastery. Hieromonk Dionisie adds a new dimension and perspective to the teachings of the Church from the point of view and life experience of a monk.
Throughout the years, Saint John the Baptist Church has been enriched in both Romanian and American Orthodox Tradition.
Now that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached at Saint John’s to all comers in both the English and Romanian languages, we look forward to a season of spiritual and demographic growth and enrichment.