History

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Newburyport, Massachusetts was founded in December 1918 by sixty Orthodox members who gathered in a new land, separated from their families and their village churches, determined not to abandon their faith. The community organized under the name The Hellenic Orthodox Church of Saints Peter and Paul, and with no building of their own, worshipped at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, served by priests who traveled from Ipswich and Haverhill to conduct services.

In 1923, with the congregation growing, the members elected a board of directors and established by-laws. Father Petros Christakos was invited to serve as the first regular parish priest and Greek School teacher on May 14, 1923, marking the beginning of regular liturgical and sacramental life in Newburyport. The community was renamed The Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos. In the following year, funds were secured to purchase the Second Presbyterian Church building at 7 Harris Street and restore it to Eastern Orthodox liturgical requirements. The building had a proud heritage of its own: designed by architect Leonard Smith in 1796, its bell had been donated by the wealthy merchant Timothy Dexter and cast in London that same year. The bell's inscription reads "Given by Timothy Deter, Esq. At the cost of $333.33 to the Second Presbyterian Society of the city of Newbury Port." In 1946, representatives of the Ford Foundation offered $5,000 for the bell. The Board of Trustees wisely refused, and the bell continues to ring at the Annunciation to this day.

On March 25, 1925, the Feast of the Annunciation, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the newly acquired church. A male choir was established on January 11, 1927, and on January 25 of that year the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recognized the Annunciation Church as a corporate body. A Greek School and Sunday School followed in 1927 and 1929 respectively. The Great Depression tested the community severely in 1932 and 1933, but with courage and mutual support the church remained open. By the end of that decade the parish had stabilized and begun to grow again.

Tragedy struck on August 7, 1983, when a fire destroyed the church. As firemen entered the smoke-filled altar area, parishioners formed a living chain outside, passing the salvaged sacred objects, including the baptismal font and the chalice, from hand to hand to safety. In the days that followed, the congregation voted unanimously to rebuild at the same site. Services returned to St. Paul's Episcopal, the same church that had hosted the community's first worship sixty-five years earlier. Groundbreaking for the new building was presided over by Bishop Methodios of Boston. On May 12, 1985, the Opening of the Doors was celebrated, with Governor Michael Dukakis, Congressman Nick Mavroules, and Newburyport Mayor Richard Sullivan among the guests. The church was consecrated by Archbishop Iakovos on May 9, 1989. A parish hall honoring the church's godparents, John and Helen Nicholson, was built in 1996.

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 7 Harris Street in Newburyport serves the faithful of the Merrimack Valley and North Shore as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, its 1796 bell still calling the congregation to worship in a building rebuilt by faith from the ashes.