Serve God and your neighbor by volunteering with us at St. John’s! There are many ways, big and small, to contribute to our parish community. Get to know your fellow parishioners better. Teenagers, earn your service hours here in your spiritual home! Below is a listing of service teams; within each one there are many opportunities to sign up for service on a one-time or more frequent basis. Check back often to see what additional needs have been posted!

Email us at volunteer@stjohndc.org

Ongoing Opportunities

• Slavonic Lunch Teams: Volunteers participate in organizing, cooking and serving lunches on Sundays after Slavonic Liturgy. Support our parish tradition of gathering for a meal after liturgy. Volunteers are needed in teams of 3 or more people to prepare and serve lunches. If you are not part of a team, individual help is also highly appreciated. Reach out to Team Lead – Elena Bazimirova (703-577-4315) and sign up on  St. John's Slavonic Lunch Signup Link (signupgenius.com).
• English Lunch Teams: Volunteers participate in organizing, cooking and serving lunches on Sundays after English Liturgy. Support our parish tradition of gathering for a meal after liturgy. Currently there are six teams, and we need to form two more for a total of eight. Join an existing team or form a new one of 3 or more people. Reach out to Michelle Gidaspova via volunteer@stjohndc.org.
• Kiosk Team: Help greet visitors to St John’s and support our parish community by working at our kiosk in the church hall! Volunteers are invited to staff the kiosk on a periodic or regular basis after Slavonic liturgy. Certain skills and time availability are required. You’ll get to know our book, icon, jewelry and souvenir collections. Team Lead – Valentina Kelly. Contact volunteer@stjohndc.org.
• Kiosk Children’s Corner: Our parish is blessed with vivacious and inquisitive young children, and we are happy to offer them paper and drawing supplies to occupy their time before and in between services and meals. A volunteer or two is needed after each liturgy to regularly monitor and refill these supplies, sharpen pencils, provide papers, pick up tossed items, etc. This task does not take much time and is perfect for some of our young parents. Contact volunteer@stjohndc.org to indicate your interest in helping.
• Feeding the Homeless: This team helps Matushka Maria feed lunch to approximately 25 food-insecure individuals every Saturday between 11:30 and 2:00 pm. Volunteers are needed to keep order and fill snack bags, prepare a meal, and serve food and beverages.  Team Lead – Liza Cooley. If you have any questions please contact Liza at volunteer@stjohndc.org or sign up at Homeless Ministry Signup Link.
• Clothing for the Homeless: Help Matushka Maria sort through and send to the cleaners donated clothing or shop at Walmart for underwear, socks and shoes.
• Ukrainian Relief: Help Matushka Maria sort through donated food and medical supply items, shop for personal hygiene items, package and drive to drop off point.
• Church Adornment (Flower) Team: These volunteers keep our cathedral beautifully decorated throughout the year. Volunteers are needed to remove flower arrangements from the church to refrigerate at the end of service and return back to the church before the next service, change water in vases during the week and do minor flower clean-up. Learn from experienced personnel, training is available. Reach out to Anna Vikhlyaeva if interested in helping. To find out more, e-mail us at volunteer@stjohndc.org.
• Church Cleanliness Team: These volunteers provide extra care to clean hard to reach corners and shelves and remove candlewax. On a periodic basis, they gather to polish candlestands, vigil lamps and other silver objects. To express interest in helping with these projects, please e-mail us at volunteer@stjohndc.org.
• Prosfora Baking Team: This team bakes over 2,000 prosfora each month! Baking sessions are scheduled on weekdays two-three times per month. Team Lead – Irina Del Castillo. E-mail us at volunteer@stjohndc.org.
• Prayer Ministry (Ministry for the Ill and Afflicted): The Ministry seeks to meet the needs of the elderly, homebound, ill, and imprisoned through special acts of attention, compassion and prayer. Volunteers are needed to pray on a regular basis for specific individuals in need, make phone calls to those who are homebound, deliver Christmas and Easter baskets. Team Lead – Natasha Lord. If you’re interested in helping, message Natasha at (703) 283-8548 or reach out to volunteer@stjohndc.org.
• Vestment Team: This team maintains and repairs all the vestments used during services. If you’re good with a needle and thread, this team could use your talent! Team Lead – Anya Campos. To find out more, e-mail us at volunteer@stjohndc.org. Besides working on repairs, help with changing the analogion covers depending on feast days and cleaning the icons is also needed.  Anya is recruiting for one or two seamstresses who can make minor repairs and adjustments.
• Garden Team: The garden team maintains the landscaping, including weeding, pruning and planting annuals and perennials surrounding the church. Watering the several stone vases during summer months is particularly important. The work of this team is seasonal. Team Lead – Marina Zacharin. Volunteers are invited for the spring, summer and fall seasons. Contact us at volunteer@stjohndc.org if you like gardening.
• Household Inventory Team: This team keeps our household running, including ordering drinking water, purchasing paper towels, soaps, plates, disposable utensils, and food staples. Team Lead – Raisa Riabtsev. Volunteers are needed to help conduct quarterly inventory, stocking shelves and periodic maintenance. Contact volunteer@stjohndc.org if you are a good organizer.
• Lampada (Vigil Lamp) Care: Maintaining the many vigil lamps in the church is painstaking work that requires timeliness and dedication. Most wax inserts must be changed on a weekly basis, more often if there are weekday services. Additionally, colored vigil glasses are changed out several times a year depending on the holiday (i.e. red or blue or green). Contact volunteer@stjohndc.org and ask for Anya Yedgarian to volunteer as a backup. Training will be provided.
• Bazaar/Fundraiser Committee: The bazaar/fundraising committee is an ad hoc group of parishioners led by the sisterhood who meet as necessary to plan and conduct the annual parish bazaar and major fundraisers as required. Volunteer slots for specific fundraisers are typically listed above in the “new opportunities” section, but if you have ideas and would like to join the committee to help with long-term planning, please reach out to us at volunteer@stjohndc.org.

Thank you for lending your talents to serve our parish and others!

May God bless you and keep you safe!