History

Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church of Chandler, Arizona was established in 1980, founded to serve the Orthodox Christian faithful of the East Valley as the communities of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area expanded rapidly into the desert suburbs south and east of the city. For more than four decades the parish has been a pillar of Greek Orthodox and Hellenic community life in Chandler, growing from a small East Valley congregation into one of the most active Orthodox Christian communities in the Metropolis of San Francisco.

The parish is dedicated to Saint Katherine of Alexandria, the third-century martyr whose feast day is celebrated on November 25. Born to a noble family in Alexandria, Katherine was renowned for her extraordinary beauty, learning, and fidelity to Christ. When the Emperor Maximinus assembled philosophers to refute her faith, she silenced them all with her eloquence and converted many of them to Christianity. Refusing to renounce Christ or submit to the emperor's will, she was martyred in the year 305, her relics subsequently taken by angels to Mount Sinai, where the famous monastery bearing her name has honored her memory for nearly seventeen centuries.

The parish has grown into a welcoming community of Orthodox Christians of diverse backgrounds who gather each Sunday for Divine Liturgy and the full round of sacramental and parish life at 2716 North Dobson Road. Its annual Fall Greek Festival transforms the church grounds into a mini Greek Village each October, drawing the broader Chandler community for traditional Greek food, folk dancing, live music, and a taste of Hellenic culture in the heart of the East Valley.

Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church at 2716 North Dobson Road in Chandler serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the East Valley as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.