Published by The National Herald, October 8, 2004

St. George of Lynn: A Parish Worthy of Imitation

By Theodore Kalmoukos
Special to The National Herald

BOSTON.- The parish of St. George in Lynn Massachusetts raised $102,000 dollars for Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in just one hour on Sunday, October 3.

Organizations, the parish council, individual donors, parish priest Fr. George Tsoukalas all managed to collect the amount and celebrate their achievement with a family style luncheon after the Divine Liturgy for the entire congregation.

Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou, president of Hellenic College/Holy Cross told the Herald, “I admire the parish of St. George of Lynn because, despite its own needs to build new buildings and to renovate the existing ones, they said that without priests we cannot have communities.”

Triantafilou, who was most appreciative of the initiative taken by the Lynn parish, said, “The Theological School is saying to this parish that we have been challenged to be faithful stewards of their faith and donation.”

Hoping that the paradigm of St. George’s will be followed by other parishes in the U.S., Fr. Triantafilou, who knows well the dynamics and the strengths of most of the parishes, told the Herald that, “at least 200 parishes can organize a similar event which is going to save the school.”

Triantafilou also said, “The School is going very well. We have our challenges because we have second and third generation as well as converts. We have very good professors.”

Asked about the low numbers of students that come form the Greek-American Community Triantafilou said, “Yes we can do better. This week we have the alumni and the Archdiocesan Presbyter’s Council and they will make efforts to send students to Holy Cross.”

The Archdiocese owes $600,000 to the Theological School. “It is unfortunate. The Theological School should be a priority. I have been a priest for 44 years and I have to tell you that when our faithful give their contribution, the priest and the parish council tell them that a portion of this will go to the Theological School.”

Triantafilou feels strongly about teaching the Greek language: “Most certainly we want the language, because without the Greek language, the second and third generation and the converts will not learn Orthodox Theology. It is unacceptable to go as priests to the parishes and not to be able to read the New Testament in Greek. During the summer we have special classes in Greek.”

Fr. Triantafilou expressed a big thank you to the Omogeneia of America because “without them we do not have breath.”

Fr. George Tsoukalas told the Herald, “This is going to be an annual $100,000 contribution to Hellenic College/Holy Cross in order to support our school, which is the beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenic culture in the Western hemisphere. Without the school, we cannot celebrate next year, the 100 years of St. George’s parish. If there is no Theological School, there is no life. We are here to preserve and perpetuate our Orthodox faith and our Hellenic culture, which are one and the same. This is the purpose of the school. Where are the societies that used to be strong when I was growing up? The only thing that remains is the Church, which is the heart of Orthodoxy and Hellenism in America.”

Tomas Demakes, a prominent Greek-American businessman, former president of St. George parish, presently member of the executive committee of the Board of Trustees of Hellenic College/Holy Cross Theological School has a dream about his parish of Lynn, to institute a Greek-American Day School. A great benefactor of St. George, Demakes is in charge of the complete renovation of the church and school buildings. He hopes to materialize his dream by September of 2007.

“My guess is it is going to take us three to four years. We have another $2 to $3 million in renovations and every one of those renovations is geared towards the eventual beginning of a Day Care, Primary School, Pre-School, meaning a place for parents to bring their children,” Demakes told the Herald. “We do feel that if we do not serve the young families and the young children, we are going to become extinct as a parish. There is no immigration coming from Greece. This is not specific to St. George in Lynn, this is something that is occurring in every parish in the United States, the only difference is some people recognize it and some others do not.”

Demakes also said, “I know today the Orthodox Church in the United States is in danger of becoming extinct if it does not adopt to the realities of everyday life.” Demakes, who a few months ago donated more than $400,000 for the renovation and beatification of the buildings and grounds of Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology is convinced that the Day School of St. George will be a success from day one: “Young people today that are getting married and having children are desperately looking for something better for their children than the pubic schools offer. The young fathers and mothers will kiss our hands if we can provide a safe, secure, quality education. They want to be able to drop the kids off at 7 o’clock in the morning and pick them up at 5, and provide them with an education in religion, culture, dancing. We are going to be a thriving entity if we do this job and do it right.”

Demakes considers Hellenism an integral part of our community. The proud son of Greek immigrants, Demakes stated, “I am Greek to bond, my entire family, my father, my mother my uncles, are all Greek.” Demakes does not simply dream of establishing a Day School in Lynn, but to institute “a first class school,” and added that, “If you do not do it first class, do not bother doing it at all. You have to have the facilities, funding to run it, and you have to have first class people. The parish council should not run the school, it has to be left to professionals that do this all the time.”

St. George of Lynn is comprised of more than 1,000 families and is considered one of the most vibrant Greek Orthodox parishes of New England.

The president of the parish, Constantine Lebesis, told the Herald “St. George is doing very well. We are a thriving community," and added that the parish council "is supporting 100 percent the Day School initiative." On the Labor Day weekend, the parish of St. George hosted its annual Greek Festival, which was "a huge success,” according to Lebesis.

Today the afternoon Greek school has more than 100 pupils. Deacon Nicholas Pelekoudas, a psychologist by profession and Theology student at Holy Cross, teaches at the Greek school.

During a tour of the school building that Demakes was kind enough to give to the National Herald, Fr. George Tsoukalas remarked, “The Day School will be a reality, it is our dream. We should lay the foundation for the next 100 years.”



Volume 6 Number 40 - Tuesday, October 12th, 2004	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY

Volume 6 Number 40 - Tuesday, October 12th, 2004

St. George of Lynn: A Parish Worthy of Imitation