Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

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Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (Agia Triada) is a Greek Orthodox congregation which originated in 1902 with the establishment of a lay committee, called the Lord Byron Society after the English poet who fought in the Greek War of Independence, and which had as its goal, "to establish a Greek Orthodox church, also to assemble the members of the community in one place for order and social improvement." The new congregation observed its first mass, led by Father Callinicos Kanellas, in 1907.

The 100-member parish purchased the former Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church building on the site of the present Cathedral, and obtained a state charter. Within a year or two, the congregation had begun using an existing small house next door to the church to conduct a Greek School. That facility was replaced with a new Hellenic Community Center between 1931 and 1934.

An internal dispute which began over the operation of the Greek School, but which came to involve a basic disagreement about the role of lay leadership in the church, provoked a split in 1933. About a third of the parishioners, including those involved in the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, formed the nucleus of the new congregation, which was named Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church.

Between 1949 and 1956 Holy Trinity embarked on the construction of a new church building. It was designed by architect George P. Turner. Due to the configuration of the lot, Turner employed an extended Latin cross floor plan, uncommon in Greek Orthodox churches.

Efforts to reconcile Holy Trinity with Holy Cross had begun by 1947. Calls to merge were particularly strong from the youth groups which had been struggling to combine their social activities. Birmingham's successful bid to host the annual Greek Orthodox Youth of America convention provided an impetus to forge a reunification. Both congregations voted in favor of the proposal, and a the new Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church was created with more than 1,500 parishioners. Holy Cross' new youth center was retained to host social functions, while the combined worship and school moved into the new educational buildings at Holy Trinity.

The combined congregation was elevated to Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral in 1970.

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