COMMENT BY
Laura from Anchorage, AK
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Eagle River, AK
COMMENT
Orthodox Christian Community in Eagle River
Eagle River is home to St. John the Evangelist Orthodox Cathedral, and to the Community surrounding it where approximately 85% of the parishioners live within a mile of the church in "intentional community". Homes are not owned by the church, but privately, or in co-owned o-lot lines.
The cathedral is on Monastery Drive, so named for the Catholic convent that existed at the current site of St. James' House (aka "The Big House") just to the west in the late 60's, and where Thomas Merton visited on his way to Japan. It was out of the Big House windows that Merton foretold of a community that would one day exist there.
Nearby is the pre-K-6th private school that is open to the community-at-large. While parishioners choose to live in community,they are an active part of the greater community, working in all of the typical professions. One would not be able to "pick out" someone from the Community (known among the youth as "The Village"), except for the well-known ability of the youth for music and singing, as the major portion of the church services are sung. The cathedral was built by the labor of the original parish members in 1980 and features a central cedar dome and icons written by various iconographers.