History

On May 23, 1992, a small group of Greek Orthodox faithful in the eastern San Diego area recognized the need for a parish in the east part of the county. After gathering more than seventy signatures and petitioning the Diocese, the organizing committee met with Bishop Anthony at the Greek Orthodox Mission in Temecula on June 14th, now observed as Founders Day, and were granted permission to proceed. On June 17th the first official meeting was held, and a mailing went out to two hundred households requesting support. In July, the first General Assembly was held at the home of Earl and Carol Cantos with Bishop Anthony presiding, the community was officially sanctioned, and the interim Parish Council was named. On August 7th, Father James Gavrilos was assigned as the first priest, arriving with his family on September 10th and using a rented chapel and hall in El Cajon for services and parish functions.

The first Parish Council election was held in December 1992, with Kathern Rogers chosen as the first president. The parish chapter of Philoptochos was instituted on December 8th and immediately began ministries including Project Mexico, Saint Innocent Orphanage, Martha and Mary House, and God's Extended Hand, a homeless shelter and soup kitchen. On Pentecost Sunday 1993, parishioners chose from among eight candidate names and selected Saint Gregory of Nyssa as their patron, retiring the working name East San Diego County Greek Orthodox Church in favor of a dedication to the great fourth-century theologian, Bishop of Nyssa and younger brother of Saint Basil the Great.

The parish's path to a permanent home was neither straight nor easy. After years in the rented chapel, the community held its final services there on December 31, 2004, and then conducted the Divine Liturgy in a Bible bookstore, a restaurant, and an elementary school auditorium throughout 2005 and 2006. Beginning January 1, 2007, a house and garage on property the parish had purchased on Jamacha Road were converted for worship and community use. On January 27, 2013, an arsonist set fire to the house, making all facilities unusable, but the community rebuilt and persevered. Through all these years, the parish also pursued the remarkable project of locating the relics of its patron saint, eventually succeeding with the assistance of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego and the Vatican, a quest that deepened the community's identity and devotion to Saint Gregory in a singular way.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa Greek Orthodox Church at 1454 Jamacha Road in El Cajon serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of eastern San Diego County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, an English-language Pan-Orthodox community whose mission is to manifest the Body of Christ in the East San Diego County area by learning and living the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church.