St Elizabeth's was begun by a small group of American converts in November of 1997. In the Orthodox Church "converts" are people who are not baptized as children in the Orthodox Church, and become Orthodox as adults. Fr Mark Mancuso, raised a Roman Catholic, was ordained to be the priest of St Elizabeth's in September of 2000. Before then, services were held regularly in the Mancuso home by visiting local priests. Then in February 2000, the parish began to rent a small storefront, which was transformed over time into a beautiful, but small sanctuary in the midst of metropolitan Columbia. It is reminiscent of the storefronts which many of the Russian faithful have been attending since the Diaspora began (see pictures below). Like our predecessors, we too have begun a building campaign so that we can soon transition into a beautiful church building. Our own people have crafted most of the handiwork you see in our church: gifted woodworkers, builders, artists and seamstresses. Our parish consists of a varied group of not only Catholic and Protestant converts, but also so-called "cradle-Orthodox" including Russians, Ukrainians, and Serbians.
Interior of our church dedicated to the New Martyr Elizabeth.
Interior of the first church dedicated to the Holy Virgin "Joy of All Who Sorrow." The parish was established in 1927 by Bishop Apollinary and a group of Russian Orthodox faithful. The first church occupied a storefront on Sacramento Street in San Francisco, California.