St. John the Evangelist Parish was founded in 1909 in the Hyde Park Neighborhood in Southwest Los Angeles. Originally serving Italian and German Catholics, it now serves a very diverse population. Since 1971 the parish has been staffed by the priests from the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD).

Fr. Danh Pham was born in Vietnam. He has a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, Master of Social Work (Child & Family) and Master of Divinity (World Mission).
He was ordained in the Holy Spirit Church of the Divine Word Missionary Techny, IL.
He was a missionary in Taiwan, Mainland China and Argentina.