St. John of Rila Bulgarian Orthodox Church was founded on May 20, 2007, by the Rev. Stefan Mihailov, his wife Iliyana Mihailov, and by a group of Bulgarians who wanted to give new momentum to the process of uniting the Bulgarian community in Washington, DC and the surrounding areas. They were inspired by the idea to have one Bulgarian Orthodox Church, one cultural and Christian educational center for all the Bulgarians, residing in the Washington, DC area, as well as a Bulgarian school, teaching Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The Constituent Assembly was honored by the attendance of Archpriest Don Freude – representative of the Orthodox Church in America and Chancellor of the late Archbishop Kyrill. The Constituent Assembly adopted a Constitution and By-Laws of the newly founded church. It also approved the Reverend Stefan Mihailov as a Pastor and elected a Board of Trustees.

V. Rev. Mihailov retired in April 2017. As of May 1, 2017 Father Chterion Zaprianov was appointed as a priest of the St. John of Rila Bulgarian Orthodox church at a celebratory ceremony led by Archbishop Alexander of the Orthodox Church of America (OCA).