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The '''Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral''' is a parish of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]] in San Francisco, California, that was founded in 1921, and serves as the Cathedral Church for the [[Metropolis of San Francisco]]. Founded in 1921 as St. Sophia Church, the parish first bought property and built a church, but within only a few years, this church was too small, and so the congregation then purchased a theater building, which they converted to a church. In 1989, as a result of the Loma Prieta earthquake, the cathedral building was damaged to the extent that it posed a danger of collapsing, and had to be completely torn down. The church community decided in 1991 to rebuild on the same site, and a master plan for the new Annunciation Cathedral was drawn up. As of 2016, many parts of this master plan have been completed, however, the construction on the main sanctuary began in 2013 and is still in progress. As a community, Annunciation 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. While there are several cathedral churches in the Metropolis of San Francisco, including Holy Trinity, Phoenix; [[St. Sophia Cathedral (Los Angeles, California)|Saint Sophia, Los Angeles]] and, more recently, the Ascension, Oakland, Annunciation is the seat of the Bishop of San Francisco.
==History==
===St. Sophia Community===
St. Sophia, the precursor to [http://www.annunciation.org Annunciation Cathedral], came into being June 1921, when a group of parishioners from [http://www.holytrinitysf.org [Holy Trinity Church (San Francisco, California)|Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Churchin San Francisco]], 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 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 26]], 1921 where His Eminence Metropolitan [[Meletius IV (Metaxakis) of Constantinople|Meletios (Metaxakis)]], laid the cornerstone of the Cathedral.
The community chose Father [[Philaret (Ioannides) of Syros|Philaretos (Ioannides)]] as their first priest. He was accomplished, well educated and capable. In 1923, he was consecrated as the first [[Metropolis of Chicago|Bishop of Chicago]] and appointed [[w:Locum|locum tenens]] of the [[Metropolis of San Francisco|Bishop of San Francisco]]. He would later become [[Metropolis of Syros, Tinos, Andros, Kea, and Milos|Metropolitan of Syros]].
On [[August 7]], 1927, Father [[Kallistos (Papageorgapoulos) of San Francisco|Kallistos (Papageorgopoulos)]] was [[Consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] as the first Bishop of San Francisco by Archbishop Alexandros. The consecration was held at St.Sophia on Hayes & Pierce Streets. A banquet in honor of the occasion was held at the Hotel Whitcomb. His Grace, Bishop Kallistos, established his office at the Cathedral.
Given the general condition of the neighborhood, some people felt the Cathedral should relocate. Two years of searching for an 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 rebuld on the same site. They initially approved a $10 million plan, which 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 1 of the Master Plan, as modified, to include a 300 seat chapel, a multi-purpose hall, kitchen, classrooms, 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 reached over $1 million. Ground for Phase 1 was broken on [[November 22]], 1992.
Annunciation serves as the Cathedral Church for the Metropolis of San Francisco. While there are several cathedral churches in the Metropolis of San Francisco, including Holy Trinity, Phoenix; [[St. Sophia Cathedral (Los Angeles, California)|Saint Sophia, Los Angeles]] 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.
===List of Priests===
Over the years, the Cathedral has had a distinguished 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. Assistant priests are excluded from the list below.
* Jim Lucas. ''[http://www.annunciation.org/index.php/en/about-us/our-history Cathedral History: Annunciation Cathedral San Francisco, CA].'' 23 April 2013.
:*<small>''(Jim Lucas is the President of the Greek Historical Society of the San Francisco Bay Area, a California non-profit corporation based at Annunciation Cathedral. He is a San Francisco Bay Area Greek community historian.)</small>''
==Links==
*[http://www.annunciation.org Annunciation Cathedral] Official Website
[[Category:Churches]]
[[Category:USA Churches]]