Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church (Agia Starvou) is a former Greek Orthodox congregation, which split off from Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in 1933 and was re-unified with them in 1953, forming what is now the Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
Tension at Holy Trinity arose as a result of a dispute over the operation of the Greek School attached to the parish, but which came to involve a basic disagreement about the role of lay leadership in the church. Approximately a third of the parishioners, including those involved in the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), joined the new congregation, led by three laymen. They were not formally recognized by the Archdiocese and took it upon themselves to employ their own priest. In answer to an advertisement in the Atlantis newspaper, they hired Dionysios Dimitsanos to lead masses at the Fraternal Hall.
Within a year, the group embarked on building its own church on a lot on the 700 block of 25th Street North, and began holding Greek School classes led by a Mr Anagnostou. In 1935 the Archdiocese granted recognition to the new parish and assigned a Father Milelis to succeed Dimitsanos, who had resigned over a salary disagreement. In 1938, with AHEPA's support, the congregation built a new church building and moved the school into the older one. In 1949 the church began construction of a youth center.
Efforts to reconcile the congregations 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 former Holy Cross buildings were damaged in a fire in the 1970s and the property was subsequently sold.
Priests
References
- "History of Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral" in Nancy Faires Conklin & Brenda McCallum (1982) "The Lebanese Arabic School and The Greek School, Birmingham, Alabama" Project on Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America. American Folklife Center. Library of Congress, pp. 28–36
- Lafakis, Irene (n.d.) "A Brief History of Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral" HolyTrinity-HolyCross.com - accessed May 24, 2021