Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
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 Kallinikos 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 purpose-built schoolhouse in 1931.
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.
Holy Trinity invited the members of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church to join with them in 1953 to form Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church. The combined congregation was elevated to Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral in 1970.
Priests
- Kallinikos Kanellas, 1907–1912
- Germanos Smirnakis, 1912–
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