Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral is the spiritual home of the largest

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

parish in Houston, Texas. It is located in Montrose and Neartown.Boundaries
" Neartown Association. Retrieved on March 22, 2019
Older map
/ref>Map of Montrose
''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. Retrieved October 20, 2008. The cathedral was built from 1950 to 1952 by the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

community of Houston. From 1967 to 1974, the church was the seat of the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of the 8th Diocesan District of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. The church provides a variety of ministries and services as well as housing a number of organizations. It is named for the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary and celebrates its feast day on March 25. The church hosts services and also functions as part of the Annunciation Orthodox School. It is within the

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. Archbishop On May 11, 2019, the church's Hol ...

, Metropolis of Denver.

Architecture

The cathedral was designed in a

Byzantine Revival Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Ortho ...

style and is a single-aisle domed

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's Forum (Roman), forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building ...

with a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

. The iconostasis which divides the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and the altar holds many of the icons from the original 1917 church.

History

The first Orthodox church in Houston was built in 1917 on Walker Street in what is now

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The ...

.Annunciation Cathedral website
The original building was made of wood. Initially in its history, most of its worship services were held in Greek. In 1950, the church had to move due to city construction and because the parish had outgrown its old building. A new church was built on Yoakum Street in the Neartown area. Its capacity was about 475. The church was completed in 1952. A community hall named for longtime parishioner S.P. Martel was built next door to the church and still serves the community. In 1960, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America created archdiocesan districts to better serve the Greek Orthodox faithful throughout the country, and Houston was assigned to the 8th Archdiocesan District, which was served by a bishop in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. In 1967 the seat of the bishop for district 8 was moved to Houston, and Bishop Iakovos of Catania arrived in Houston and consecrated the Annuciation Church as his new

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

. At that time, the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

included most of the states in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain region. Some of the larger parishes were in Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Shreveport and Tulsa. The dean of the cathedral was Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou, who served as priest in Houston from 1965–1991. In 1967, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Church of the Annunciation, the community hosted a "Greek night." The following year saw the institution of an annual

Greek Festival A Greek festival or Greek Fest is an annual celebration of Greek culture presented by many ethnic Greek American communities and organization in the United States and Canada, particularly Greek Orthodox churches. Typically, these events are intende ...

to celebrate Greek culture, food and Orthodox life. In 1970, the parish founded the Annunciation Orthodox School with classes for students from kindergarten through 8th grade. In 1972, a new bishop was assigned to Houston: Bishop John of Thermon, who was consecrated a bishop in Houston. In 1974, Bishop John moved the see of the diocese to Denver, Colorado, where it has remained ever since. The church in Houston continues to be called a cathedral, however, consistent with the longstanding tradition of many denominations. The current cathedral building, with a capacity of over 900, opened on September 30, 2018. The price tag of the expanded facility was $12,500,000.

The parish today

There are two celebrations of the Divine Liturgy (one in English and the other in

and English) each Sunday morning, preceded by Orthros or Matins (morning prayers) and followed by a fellowship coffee hour, with Sunday Church School following the first Liturgy. most services are in English. The parish operates a Language & Cultural School which provides Greek language and cultural education for all ages every weekday afternoon and evening. Annunciation Cathedral hosts a variety of ministries. These include the Ladies Philoptochos Society; the Cathedral Choir; GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth of America); FAITH, HOPE and JOY groups (for young children); PAREA (young adults); AGOSS (singles group). A chapter of Sea-Scouts of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

is sponsored by the cathedral. Other ministries, which meet on a regular basis, include marriage preparation and a grief-support group. Through its Philoptochos Society and other organizations, the Cathedral contributes to charitable organizations in the Houston area and nationwide. These charities include both religious and non-religious agencies which help the poor, the sick and those who are in distress. In addition, volunteers from the cathedral assist by translating for Greek-speaking international patients in the

Texas Medical Center The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston, Texas, United States, immediately south of the Museum District and west of Texas State Highway 288. Over 60 medical institutions, largely concentrat ...

, visiting with patients and preparing food for those who can't do that for themselves.

Houston Greek Festival

Houston Greek Festival was started in 1967 by the members of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral as a "Greek Night", which was held on the church's 50th anniversary. The three-day festival is held annually on the first weekend in October (including Thursday) and features Greek food, live Greek music and Greek folk dances, as well as a gift shop and tours of the cathedral. The cathedral grounds on Yoakum Boulevard in the Neartown area of Houston are used to host this annual festival. Proceeds from the Greek Festival are made to various charitable organizations, such as Children's Assessment Center, S.E.A.R.C.H., the Women's Home, Covenant House, Texas Emergency Aid Coalition (EAC), and the Star of Hope Mission. The Annunciation congregation now bills its October festival as "The Original Greek Festival" to differentiate itself from a similar event, "Houston Greekfest", held b
St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church
on the west side of Houston the first weekend of May every year, except 2020-21.

Annunciation Orthodox School

Annunciation Orthodox School is a

K-8 school K8 or K-8 may refer to: * K-8 (Kansas highway), two highways in Kansas, one in northern Kansas, one in southern Kansas * K-8 school, a type of school that includes kindergarten and grades one through eight * AMD K8, the internal designation for the ...

on the church property. it has over 690 students. It is a ministry of the church. The AOS School opened in 1970 and added one grade level for each year for a period. Its middle school began in 1992.History
" Annunciation Orthodox School. Retrieved on March 22, 2019. The main school building, with of space, opened in 2002. The Katherine E. Veletsos Lower School building, which houses kindergarten through 4th grade, opened in 1993. The Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones Early Childhood Development Center opened in 1988. In the 1990s

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, w ...

at large member Joe Roach, who had a son enrolled in the school, promoted having AOS build a new parking lot by buying a block of Marshall Street. Some area residents opposed on the basis that traffic would increase or that the neighborhood would be physically divided.

References

External links

Annunciation Orthodox Church

Annunciation Orthodox School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Houston Greek Orthodox cathedrals in the United States Eastern Orthodox churches in Texas Cathedrals in Houston 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Byzantine Revival architecture in Texas European-American culture in Houston Churches completed in 1952 Neartown, Houston Greek-American culture in Texas