All Saints Orthodox Christian Church

The History of Our Parish

All Saints Orthodox Christian Church traces its roots to the early nineteen seventies and the pioneering effort of a small group of Orthodox Christians to bring a place of worship to their home in Bloomington. Greeks, Arabs, Russians, Romanians, Serbians and Americans met together in rented rooms on Saturdays to continue in the tradition of the Faith. The Antiochian Archdiocese welcomed the worshipers as a mission in 1989 and as a church in 1997. That original handful of families has now grown to over 187 members.

While various priests and deacons have served the community on a part time basis since its inception, in 1994 V. Rev. Fr. Athanasius Wilson became the first full-time priest. Fr. Athanasius served faithfully until his retirement in the summer of 2006, when Fr. Peter Jon Gillquist was assigned to pastor All Saints. The community has continued to grow and develop under Fr. Peter Jon’s leadership.

Our present building, which was constructed in 2001, is already overflowing with an active and growing parish. A beautiful remodel of the church interior was recently completed, and we pray for the Lord’s direction as we anticipate constructing the final two phases of our temple complex at a future date. We continue to work on the reclamation and beautification of the 24 acres owned by the parish, which is replete with quarry trails and ponds. The placement of prayer shrines has begun along these trails, offering peaceful sanctuary for meditation in the midst of the Lord’s natural creation. In addition, a new 350-plot cemetery and grove were dedicated during the summer of 2007.

With an active women’s group, OCF, SOYO, outreach and evangelism committee, and Sunday school program, the parishioners of All Saints look forward to a future of local growth and mission-planting, to the Glory of God.