B1
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, MARcH 12, 2022
CONTACT US
FOLLOW US
Lissa Brewer
lbrewer@dailyastorian.com
facebook.com/
DailyAstorian
The interior of St. Brendan the Navigator Orthodox Church in Astoria. The church features views of Youngs Bay and Saddle Mountain.
Parish finds a home in a
historic Astoria church
By JAIME LUMP
For The Astorian
s light shines in from the floor-to-ceiling
window on the southwest side of St. Bren-
dan the Navigator Orthodox Church, Father
Sergey Kakorin flips on some midcentury pendant
lights made of colored glass.
Suddenly, the Astoria church’s nave is filled with
warmth amid a recent blustery day.
A bare wood ceiling above swoops up in an
inverted arch, like two hands coming together for
prayer. Glulam beams curve along the building’s
tongue-and-groove boards, appearing like a Viking
ship setting sail toward Youngs Bay. It’s a fitting
design for a parish named after the patron saint of
mariners and sailors.
St. Brendan the Navigator Orthodox Church
came to the North Coast in 2012 as Holy Nativity
Eastern Orthodox Mission from Kelso, Washing-
ton. But after much contemplation and prayer, the
church changed the name of their parish in obser-
vance of its service to the local seafaring commu-
nity. The new name was chosen as an ode to a saint
known for his sea voyages to found monasteries and
spread the gospel.
Weekly services for the parish were first held
in the St. Francis de Sales church in Hammond.
While the space worked well for worship, the parish
yearned for a more permanent home. In 2018, one
couple in the parish discovered a little green church
covered in blue tarps and nestled in a pocket of Ala-
meda Avenue. At the time, the church belonged to
the First Congregational United Church of Christ.
Worshippers in the space date back to 1896, when
a group of Finnish immigrants decided to orga-
nize an independent, nondenominational church
that officially became the Astoria Finnish Evangel-
ical Lutheran National Congregation. Soon, how-
ever, feelings of isolation began to grow from their
independence. The church evolved into the Finn-
ish Congregational Church, then later the First Con-
gregational United Church of Christ. Their first
building, constructed by 15 men who each donated
a week of work, was located at 245 W. Exchange
St. and was used by the congregation for over 50
years. When the aging Uniontown building became
too much to maintain, the congregation decided to
relocate. In 1954, church members acquired seven
lots in the Astor Court area, across from Capt. Rob-
ert Gray School, and began to worship in a Crafts-
man style house. Ten years later, they were break-
ing ground for a new church designed by Brown &
Brown Architects.
Ebba Wicks Brown was the daughter of prom-
inent Astoria architect John Wicks, and was the
first woman in Oregon registered as an architect in
1942. Her work can be found in a number of mid-
century designs dotted throughout downtown Asto-
ria and seen at the Zion Lutheran Church, the Asto-
ria Library and U.S. Bank, just to name a few. In
her buildings, including this church, every detail is
intentional, from pendant lighting to stunning views
of Saddle Mountain.
The post-war trend of moving away from build-
ing neoclassical churches toward using more modern
designs continued to prevail in the U.S. during the
A
A photo of the church when it housed the First Congregational United Church of Christ.
WORSHIPPERS IN THE SPACE DATE BACK TO 1896, WHEN A
GROUP OF FINNISH IMMIGRANTS DECIDED TO ORGANIZE
AN INDEPENDENT, NONDENOMINATIONAL CHURCH THAT
OFFICIALLY BECAME THE ASTORIA FINNISH EVANGELICAL
LUTHERAN NATIONAL CONGREGATION.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about the parish, visit www.orthodox-
astoria.org.
For details on the church building, Ebba Wicks
Brown and midcentury modern architecture, visit
the Lower Columbia Preservation Society’s website,
www.lcpsociety.org.
1960s, but architects were beginning to move away
from the steel, glass and box shapes of midcentury
modern churches and back toward the traditional.
The church, surrounded by trees and houses, still
carries particular ecclesiastical motifs, yet lacks any
intimidation by traditional architectural styles of city
churches. It resembles a modern take on traditional
Nordic designs with its simplicity and functional-
ity. The southwest facade offers a high pitched gable
roof that peaks at the top then swoops down into two
curves leading to lower pitched eaves designed for
bitter winds and rain.
In 2018, the St. Brendan parish knew they had
found their church. After signing a two year lease,
its members got to work cleaning up a building that
had suffered from dry rot, leaks and insect infesta-
tion. They replaced the roof, repaired and resealed a
large chancel window in the nave, scrubbed floors
and repainted walls. Upon purchasing the church in
2020, they began preparations to build and install
their iconostasis, a wall of icons that will separate
the nave from the sanctuary.
The parish’s commitment to keeping a Nordic
flair and celebrating the church’s heritage remains
evident in their renovations. Inspired by St. Bren-
dan’s ship, which was built from oak and tanned
ox hides, the iconostasis will be constructed with
leather straps and some oak pews left behind by the
previous congregation.
Future visions for the church include turning the
house behind the church, the same one brought over
by the Finnish congregation, into a Sunday school,
installing a new cross, and rebuilding a bell tower
reminiscent of the original Brown & Brown design.
In January, Father Kakorin became the new priest
to the parish and services are now available every
weekend.