Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church is a church in Seattle, Washington. It is part of the Greek Orthodox metropolis or diocese of San Francisco,Home page of Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. Accessed 25 September 2007. within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.About the Metropolis of San Francisco, on the official site of the Metropolis of San Francisco. Accessed 25 September 2007. It is Seattle's oldest Greek Orthodox congregation.Mootafes et al., passim, esp. p. 57 et. seq.Our Parish, Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. Accessed 25 September 2007.
The present St. Demetrios Church in the Montlake neighborhood (completed in 1962) was designed by Paul Thiry, one of the principal architects of the Century 21 Exposition Seattle's World's Fair that same yearSeattle Greek Festival at a glance , official site. Accessed 26 September 2007.Summary for 2717 Franklin AVE / Parcel ID 1437680000, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Accessed 26 September 2007. and of the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), formally in Montlake.Jim Gould, The Montlake Neighborhood, originally on Montlake.net, archived on the Internet Archive 28 January 2007, accessed 26 September 2007.
The church has held a bazaars and festivals on a scale well beyond a typical parish church festival. As of 2007, the festival lasts for three days, and requires a continuous shuttle bus service from as far away as the Northgate and South Kirkland Park and Ride lots, as well as from nearby school parking lots.
History The history of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church reflects the history of Seattle and of the United States in general, the history of Seattle's Greek community, and the tensions resulting from differing interpretations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity within the congregation and from differing views on the relative power of the Archdiocese and the individual congregation.Mootafes et al., passim.
The Greco-Russian Church Seattle's first Greek settlers arrived in the 1880s. By the start of the 20th century, several had established themselves as shopkeepers (especially in food-related industries) and at least one owned a lodging house.Mootafes et al., p. 57.
In 1892, the city's Greeks joined with its Russians, successfully petitioning the Russian government for the formation of the St. Spiridon parish with a bilingual priest. Greek immigrants donated the land for the original church at 817 Lakeview Avenue, which was variously known as the Greek-Russian Church, the Greco-Russian Church, and the Greek Catholic Russian Church. In fact, the priest who was sent, Sebastian Dabovich, was trilinugal: an 1895 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article notes that he preached a sermon in English.Mootafes et al., p. 58; the cited P-I article dates from August 19, 1895.
The Greco-Russian Church opened in 1895;Mootafes et al., p. 58. its direct descendant today is Saint Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral, of the Orthodox Church in America.Home page, Saint Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral. Accessed 25 September 2007.
In this era, Seattle saw a large influx of young Greek men, but few women and families. Mootafes et al. report that "Perhaps a dozen or so Greek women lived in Seattle before 1920, most of whom were from Leros,"Mootafes et al., p. 59. the place of origin of the city's first Greek immigrants. Many were physical laborers, but they tended to form small businesses as soon as they had the opportunity, again often in food-related industries. Because there were few Greek women, intermarriage was common. Many were affiliated with St. Spiridon's, where the new priest, Michael G. Andreades (served 1905–1915), continued the trilingual tradition.Mootafes et al., p. 59–60. There were also occasional visits to Seattle by Greek Orthodox priests from Portland, Oregon, as well is itinerant priests.Mootafes et al., p. 63.
Founding a Greek church A Greek Club was formed no later than 1909Mootafes et al., p. 60. and in 1913 a Greek American Political Club.Mootafes et al., p. 64. In 1915 over 300 of the city's 2,000 Greeks gathered at the Labor Temple to discuss building a church. They appear to have started holding some services informally that year. The Greek Community of Seattle (later Greek Community Association) was formally incorporated October 30, 1916, with the specific purpose of establishing a church.Mootafes et al., p. 60–61. The new congregation took its name from an icon of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki donated by one of its parishioners, Alexander Spetsieris (Spencer), who had brought the icon over from Kefalonia to give to his son, Demetrios (later known as James).file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/bd/13/AFC0ADB8-E401-490A-9B01-A43858256527/Document_2021-11-12_132129.pdfMootafes et al., p. 20–21, 62.
From 1916, the Holy Synod of Greece began assigning priests to the Seattle parish, but typically only for a few months at a time, often with lapses between. During these lapses, priests from St. Spiridon or from Portland would administer sacraments.
Initially the congregation met in a rented hall, which one parishioner described years later as "rickety". In 1917 the Community Association purchased a ballfield at Yale Avenue North and Thomas Street in the Cascade neighborhood with the intent of building a church; apparently, the neighborhood was chosen because most of the few Greek women in the city lived in Cascade.Mootafes et al., p. 63 and Addenda. A further organization, the Hellenic Association of the Greek Community of Seattle, Washington was formed in support of the church and of Greek education in Seattle.Mootafes et al., p. 62. A Women's Hellenic Club formed in 1919 or 1920 and a Hellenic Commercial Club on October 30, 1919.Mootafes et al., p. 65. All of these organizations were involved in fundraising for the new church.Mootafes et al., p. 63–65.
A cornerstone was laid in 1919. Funds were raised only with great difficulty from this largely poor community, but construction began in April 1921 and the first service was held November 20, 1921. One stained glass window in the church contained the name "St. James Greek Orthodox Church", James being the prevalent translation of Demetrius at the time.Mootafes et al., p. 73.
The 1920s Father Stephanos Phoutrides (1891–1946) was the congregation's first long term priest. A Yale University graduate, he came to Seattle in 1924 and remained until 1932; he later returned to St. Demetrios 1935–1939, after which he served at Seattle's new Church of the Assumption. As Washington State's only Greek Orthodox priest, he traveled widely to attend to a congregation that extended well beyond Seattle. (In 1925 the state's second Greek Orthodox church was founded in Tacoma.) He used English heavily in his Seattle services, partly for the benefit of the many non-Greek women married to Greek men, and the children of those couples. He began a bilingual Sunday school and, in 1926, founded a program to teach Greek to native English-speakers.Mootafes et al., p. 43–44, 45, 73–76.
In 1924 Seattle's Hellenic Civic Society (HCS) started an English-language monthly The Washington Hellenic Review, probably unique in the country at that time. The HCS also successfully persuaded Seattle Public Schools to start evening English language classes for Greek immigrants.Mootafes et al., p. 74.
The following year, on June 14, 1925, for the first time a Greek Orthodox bishop visited Seattle. The church, already operating for three and a half years, was formally consecrated, and Father Phoutrides was given the rank of Economos, or steward of the church.Mootafes et al., p. 76.
During this period, the church first began holding bazaars as fundraisers.Mootafes et al., p. 77. The Greek community continued to found new organizations, notably, in 1928, a chapter of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA).Mootafes et al., p. 79. This would continue in the next decade with a chapter of the Greek American Progressive Association (GAPA) in 1930Mootafes et al., p. 92. and the Washington Hellenic Political Club (later Hellenic Progressive Political Club of Washington) in 1932. The community also, in 1929, raised money to give oil heat to the church and to pay off its mortgage.Mootafes et al., p. 80.
The Depression years Although Seattle's Greeks were not wealthy, they shared in the prosperity of the 1920s. Some lived in an almost entirely Greek milieu; others were far more assimilated. There were many Greek-language performances of music, as well as theater and lectures, and Greek community banquets were on a par with those of the city's most established ethnic groups.Mootafes et al., p. 85–86.
As with the rest of the city, all of this would be threatened by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Further, at almost the same time the economy began to fail, Seattle's Greek community underwent theological disagreements that ultimately split the congregation in two.Mootafes et al., p. 86–87.
With the onset of the Depression, the church Board reduced the fees for sacraments and reduced Father Phoutrides' salary, while urging parishioners who could afford to do so to give monetary gifts to the priest when they received sacraments. Seattle's Greeks rented the Scandinavia Hotel as a shelter for those rendered homeless within their community. Further, as of December 8, 1930, the finances of the church were for the first time separated from those of the city's Greek community. There were fewer banquets and more picnics.Mootafes et al., p. 87, 89.
In 1932, Father Phoutrides left to take over priestly duties for a congregation in Oakland, California; Archimandrite Germanos Papanugiotou came in the opposite direction. This was a turbulent time in the church: of Phoutrides' departure, The Washington Hellenic Review wrote: Like the pastors of every community in the country, during troubled days of religious strife, of reform and of reaction, he has faced warring factions, inefficient leadership, self-centered bigotry, and far-fetched idealism falling pitifully short of its makr, but weathered the storms with the steadfast confidence of the believer.Mootafes et al., p. 92–93 (including the quotation from The Washington Hellenic Review).
By February 1933, St. Demetrios was US$1,900 in debt and could pay neither the priest nor the teacher of the Greek school. Further, there was great disagreement within the congregation over the new constitution adopted by the 1932 national convention of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America.Mootafes et al., p. 93. The result was that St. Demetrios was not formally affiliated with the archdiocese until 1957.Mootafes et al., p. 123.
Amidst these continuing difficulties, Archimandrite Papanugiotou exchanged positions in the summer of 1934 with Father Haramlambos ("Harry") Skoufis, who came to Seattle from Los Angeles. However, Harry Skoufis soon moved on to Spokane, and on April 4, 1935, the community voted "by a landslide" to invite Father Phoutrides to return.Mootafes et al., p. 94–95.
One of the few accomplishments of Father Papanugiotou's tenure was the establishment of a women's choir, instructed by Marianne Flanders of the Cornish School; he also introduced an organist. In 1938, the Board of the church decided that they wished to bring in a chanter. Budget limitations led them to seek someone who was also qualified to teach Sunday school and direct the choir. Archbishop Athenagoras told them that there was only one man in the United States qualified for all three positions: Constantine Miolonopoulos, who thus came to Seattle from Salt Lake City.Mootafes et al., p. 96.