Subdeacon Steven Eric Anderson

I am a Southern California native, born in Riverside CA. I moved to the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego when I was a child. I met my future wife Gabriella in eighth grade when we were attending the same school. After a brief stint in military service, we were married in 1991. At that time we were members of a local ELCA Lutheran church. We were active in several ministries and I served on the congregational council.

Gabriella and I encountered Saint Anthony’s in the mid 1990s when the parish was congregating at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church. About 20 years later, while looking for ideas to update the services at the Lutheran Church, we attended a Saturday evening Vespers service at Saint Anthony’s. We were drawn in by the love of the parishioners and the beauty and depth of theology presented in the service. We attended as many Saturday Vespers and Sunday Matins/Orthros and Divine Liturgy services as possible. Our first Pascha service in 2018 was a wonderful experience. Starting in July 2018 I started attending Saint Anthony's regularly and joined the choir. Gabriella followed me to Saint Anthony's a few months later. We attended the Saturday Inquirers classes and, thanks to our public library, read as much as we could find about the Orthodox church, its theology and history.

We were Baptized and Chrismated on Lazarus Saturday, 2019. My patron saint is Saint Erc, Bishop of Slane. Saint Eric was converted to Christianity by Saint Patrick and appointed the first Bishop of Slane in the 5th century.

My altar service began in 2020 while the church was congregating outside during the pandemic and I was blessed as a Subdeacon in June 2022.

Gabriella is an active member of the choir and volunteers as needed on several committees. We have between us nine nieces & nephews, three grandnieces and several kids at Saint Anthony's that have 'adopted' us as honorary relatives.