After the unsuccessful Izhevsk-Votkinsk uprising, part of the Russian workers who escaped from the international punitive detachment, consisting of 60% Austrians, Hungarians, Germans, Chinese, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Tatars, and Bashkirs under the leadership of the Latvian Voldemar Azinsh, emigrated to San Francisco. There they founded the Church of St. John the Baptist.

In the early 1920s, the first Orthodox services began to be held in Berkeley. For this, the rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral from San Francisco traveled by ferry to Berkeley twice a month. At that time, the community did not have its own church, and services were held in the Episcopal Church of St. Mark. The first parishioners in Berkeley were Orthodox students from the University of California.

After World War II, many Russian emigrants from the Far East and Europe settled in California, significantly increasing the number of parishioners. In 1950, the parish acquired a building at the corner of Essex and Adelina streets, which was converted into a church. In the same year, Father Georgy Benigsen served here. After his transfer, from 1951 to 1991, the rector of the parish was Father Nikolai Viglays. During his tenure, the church was significantly rebuilt, and the parish established a Sunday school.