Welcome to the website of Saint Barnabas Antiochian Orthodox Church. We are an Orthodox Christian parish community from all walks of life, age groups and imperfections located in Costa Mesa, California, half-way between Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Whether you are a guest, an inquirer, or a visitor from another parish, we are pleased you are here! The purpose of our web site is to introduce you to our parish community, and to provide you with a brief overview of the Orthodox Church and faith. Our priests, Father Wayne Wilson and Father Michael Reagan are also personally available to answer any questions you may have about Orthodox Christianity, or about your spiritual experience, or personal faith journey.
The beard is now gray and the hair is thinner than when he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the streets, beaches and house churches of Huntington Beach, California. That was during the heady days of the Jesus Movement in the nineteen sixties. Father Wayne Wilson, the founding pastor of Saint Barnabas Orthodox Church in Costa Mesa, California, a suburban city halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, now wears a black cassock and a long pectoral cross, rather than the tees and jeans he wore as a street evangelist and Campus Crusade For Christ student leader. Otherwise little has changed. He is still a man as passionate as ever about preaching the “good news” of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.
Jesus Christ founded His Church through the Apostles. By the grace received from God at Pentecost, the Apostles established the Church throughout the ancient world. St. Paul founded the Church of Antioch; St. Peter and St. James, the Church of Jerusalem; St. Andrew the Church of Constantinople; St. Mark, the Church of Alexandria; St. Peter and St. Paul, the Church of Rome. For one thousand years the Church was one (East and West), unbroken and undivided! After the Great Schism of 1054 A.D., when the Latin or western church tragically separated from eastern Christendom (at Constantinople), the eastern non-Oriental churches became known as the “Eastern Orthodox Church”, to distinguish them from what subsequently became known as the “Roman Catholic Church”.
Yes! Most of our congregation was not born into the Orthodox Church and faith. We began like many of you - with a desire to find out what the real "early Church" was, and what it believed and practiced. Many of us came from Evangelical, Reformed, Anglican, Charismatic and non-denominational Christian backgrounds. Others have come from eastern religions or through new age interests. You will find a wide diversity of faith traditions, races, age groups and ethnic groups represented at our parish.
So don’t be afraid to ask questions about what we do and why (at the appropriate time, of course!)! Our small bookstore also has books and pamphlets that can help answer a variety of questions. Subjects include Christian church history, theology, catechism, Orthodox spirituality, inspiration, prayer, the lives of the Saints, and stories about others who have journeyed to the Orthodox Faith.
We have to pray a lot, and with pain in our hearts, so that God will intervene. Our times are very hard to understand. A lot of ash, rubbish, and indifference has accumulated, and a strong wind will be needed to blow it all away. It
.png){kind=small}
The beard is now gray and the hair is thinner than when he preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the streets, beaches and house churches of Huntington Beach, California. That was during the heady days of the Jesus Movement in the nineteen sixties. Father Wayne Wilson, the founding pastor of Saint Barnabas Orthodox Church in Costa Mesa, California, a suburban city halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, now wears a black cassock and a long pectoral cross, rather than the tees and jeans he wore as a street evangelist and Campus Crusade For Christ student leader. Otherwise little has changed. He is still a man as passionate as ever about preaching the “good news” of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.
