Cathedral History

Let us tell you a little bit about the history of the Annunciation Cathedral community. St. Sophia, precursor to the Annunciation Cathedral, came into being June 1921, when the parishioners of the Holy Trinity Church, sympathetic to Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, established a second Greek Orthodox community in San Francisco. Land was acquired at Hayes and Pierce streets, all of the lots facing Pierce street from Hayes to Fell streets, for the purpose of building a Cathedral and an adjoining school and orphanage. Ground was broken June 1921, with a ceremony where His Eminence Metropolitan Meletios Metaxakis, Archbishop of Athens, laid the cornerstone of the cathedral.

During the next six years the St. Sophia community grew significantly, requiring larger facilities. In March 1928, the community acquired the Valencia Theater, which stood on the earlier site of the pavilion of Woodward’s Gardens. George Burns, among others, often mentioned how he got his start at the Valencia Theater, known as “the grandest, most beautiful of the West.”

In 1936, however, in the wake of financial difficulties, the Valencia Street community was reorganized and named the United Greek Orthodox Community of San Francisco, the Annunciation. The parish subsequently repurchased the church building for the original auction price of $22,000 from the Bank of Italy, later the Bank of America. With the onset of an economic boom during the war-time years, and following, the community prospered. An educational wing was added, along with other facilities.

In 1962 the Annunciation was named Cathedral for the Metropolis of San Francisco.  Later that year the Annunciation acquired an adjacent apartment building. The building was razed to make way for the building of a new community center complex. In 1965 a major renovation of the santuary, auditorium, and classrooms was completed. In 1981 the Bausch and Lomb Optical Company building, located at 275 Valencia Street, became available and was purchased by the Cathedral, effectively giving the community 47,000 square feet of land. The plans were modified to accommodate, in part, the inclusion of this new acquistion. The Cathedral itself was scheduled to remain as renovated.

At 5:04 on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck with a force of 7.1 on the Richter Scale. The City of San Francisco and the Bay Area were particulary hard hit by the earthquake. While the congregation of the Annunciation Cathedral suffered no loss of life or personal injuries, the earthquake wreaked devastating damage to the Cathedral building. As a result, the Cathedral building was closed by the City, since structural engineers noted a portion was in imminent danger of collapse. The parishioners voted to demolish the church and to construct completely new facilities.

Given the general condition of the neighborhood, some people thought the Cathedral should relocate. Two years of searching for alternate site ensued. Noting the prohibitive costs of new locations and the desire of many to remain on Valencia Street, on March 3, 1991 the parishioners voted unanimously to rebuild on the same site. They initially approved a $10 million plan, which soon proved to be too expensive. After considerable discussion on what to build first, the church or the facility, on May 12, 1992 the Parish Assembly voted to commence with construction of Phase I of the Master Plan, as modified, to include a 300-seat Chapel. a Multi-Purpose Hall, Kitchen, Classrooms, the Cathedral Offices at an approximate cost of $4.6 million. It should be noted that the initial seed money of $500,000 came from the Ladies Philoptochos. Their contribution to the project has now reached $1 million. Ground for Phase I was broken on November 22, 1992.

The Annunciation serves as the Cathedral Church for the Metropolis of San Francisco. While there are several cathedral churches in the Diocese, including Holy Trinity, Phoenix; Saint Sophia, Los Angeles (which for a time served as the Cathedral church for the fourth Archdiocesan District, now the Diocese of San Francisco) and, more recently, the Ascension, Oakland, Annunciation is the seat of the Bishop of San Francisco. As a community, it serves approximately 1,000 families in the immediate area, one-half of whom are regularly pledging stewards of the Cathedral. The Cathedral is also headquarters for many fraternal and national organizations, who have assisted in its rebuilding efforts.

Over the years, the cathedral has had a distingished list of priests who have served as the dean of the cathedral. Three of them were later elevated to bishop and served the Archdiocese in that capacity. See list below (assistant priests are excluded).

The Annunciation maintains a number of programs for our senior population. Its youthful character is also apparent. One only has to look at the diversity of our youth programs: Sunday School, Greek Language School, GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth of America), YAL (Young Adult League), Boys and Girls Basketball for ages seven seven through eighteen, Adult Basketball, Bible Study, Orthodox Church Life, Greek Folk Dancing, and Summer Camp. As if this were not enough, in 1997 we added a Sunday pre-school class, a Women’s Basketball Team, a Junior Varsity Girls Team and a Booster Program. In 1998 we plan to open a Day School, grades kindergarten through eight and re-introduce Scouting for boys and for girls. Needless to say, Annunciation’s pride is in its youth.

In addition, Annunciation hosts many other events, including Diocesan Spiritual Renewal, Religious Education and other Conferences. His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit in November, 1997, points to the re-emerging prominence of the Annunciation Cathedral.

We believe Annunciation has a great future, both in service, as a parish church, to God’s people, and as a center in service to the entire Diocese. In some ways Annunciation is also seen as a “mother church” to several newer parishes, including the Holy Cross, Belmont, the Navity of Christ, and Ignacio parishes. Annunciation looks ahead to serving the larger Orthodox Christian community as well, in addition to the immediate neighborhood, which is mostly Latino. One of the considerations in deciding to remain in its present location was the commitment to the neighborhood, where the church provides a sense of order, purpose and stability. In doing so, we are commited to serving all people, in San Francisco and beyond.

Now, when exactly will the the Cathedral Church be built? Truly, only God knows when. We have yet to put the final touches on Phase I, on which we still owe $1.5 million. The Cathedral will cost $4-5 million. Money we do not have and cannot presently raise. But we trust in the will and power of God, and we believe He will send people who believe in the work of the church our way. We never for a moment thought the Ecumenical Patriarch would come and break ground on November 6, 1997. And, so, we find ourselves ever so grateful, and united in prayer.

We thank you for sharing our prayer: that our Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless this undertaking and enable its completion. That it may stand until the end of time in service of the Orthodox faithful and to all God’s people, in this City and everywhere, as a fitting dwelling place for God’s greater glory.