We take our name and inspiration from one of the most gifted and most respected pulpit orators of the era of the Undivided Church.  John, Bishop of Constantinople, was later named John Chrysostom, which in Greek means John the Golden Mouth.  In the Roman Catholic world he is called San Giovanni Chrysostomo.  He was known for delivering his inspiring homilies, often lasting nearly two hours, without any notes.

Known during his lifetime as John of Antioch, he was born in Antioch, Syria, to a wealthy family who thought him destined for a career in the law. Instead, John choose Baptism into the Christian faith at Easter 368 A.D. His ideas and strong sense of personal discipline were formed during his theological training, including four years at an isolated monastery in northern Syria. Upon his return to Antioch in the waning months of 378 A.D., he became an administrative assistant and pamphleteer to the Bishop of Antioch. Eventually, he rose to become a Deacon, then, in 386 A.D., he was ordained by Bishop Flavian of Antioch.

St. John's oratorical skills, combined with his reputation as a caring pastor, earned him the respect and admiration of higher officials both in the Church and at the Imperial Court. In February 398 A.D., he was appointed Bishop of Constantinople, the imperial city created by the Emperor Constantine. His memorable, plain language writing and speaking, as a Deacon, pamphlet writer, Priest and as a Bishop, earned him the title "Golden Mouth."  He was a strong and unwavering advocate of the Nicene creed, formulated at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. 

Though he fell from office in a power struggle with Empress Eudoxia, it was in large measure owing to John's leadership and example that the Church at Constantinople became a Patriarchate in 451 A.D. One of the two most favored liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, was named in his honor and contains many memorable phrases typical of his thinking, including the Communion liturgy's description of God the Father as "ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, ever-existing and eternally the same."   His last words were:  "Glory be to God for all things!"

In the Anglican Christian calendar, St. John Chrysostom is celebrated on January 27th. 

John Chrysostom's relics were placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople in 438 A.D..  In 1204 A.D., during the Fourth Crusade, his relics were seized by Venetians and were taken to Rome, where they were installed in St. Peter's Basilica.  After 800 years, on Saturday, November 27, 2004 A.D. in St. Peter's Basilica, the Roman Catholic Church returned Chrysostom's relics, along with those of St. Gregory Nazianzus, to the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I.