Mesa, Arizona, October 29, 2026
Photo: St. Ignatius Orthodox Church
A parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America currently has nearly 160 catechumens who are preparing to be received into the holy Orthodox Church.
“The Lord blessed us with 65 catechumens this past weekend!” reports St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Mesa, Arizona.
According to Khouria Karen Coles, the parish, led by her husband Fr. James Coles, now has 158 catechumens in total. The community is also served by assistant priest Fr. Justin Olmstead.
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Photo: saintig.org
St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in Mesa, Arizona, was founded in 1999 when two groups came together with a shared dream of an English-speaking Orthodox church for the east valley of Phoenix. One was a group of eleven families from Mesa and Gilbert who had been traveling into Phoenix each week for Liturgy. The other was a group of families exploring the Orthodox faith who wanted a church in the Tempe/Mesa area.
The parish met first in a Mesa Public Schools conference room, then moved through a warehouse, an RV garage, and the Trailside Center on Main Street in Mesa. Fr. Edward Kelly was the first pastor, followed in 2000 by Fr. Elias Ziton. Fr. James Coles was assigned in 2005, and the parish grew enough that its storefront was expanded three times.
In 2012, the congregation voted unanimously to buy a property on Redmont Circle and remodeled its office building into a church. Fr. James was elevated to archpriest the following year, and the nave was later expanded for the fourth time in seven years. The parish now has about 100 families, many with young children.
For its 20th anniversary in 2019, the congregation voted unanimously to accept the free gift of a nine-acre property at 2402 N. Usery Pass Road.
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