History

The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of Woburn, Massachusetts has served the spiritual needs of Orthodox Christians in the Boston Metro North suburbs since 1917, when Greek immigrants who had settled in Woburn and surrounding communities founded the parish. Among their first acts was the purchase of the Thomas Moore estate, which was remodeled into a Greek Orthodox church, the expenses placing a considerable strain on parishioners who nevertheless remained committed to their vision of a suitable house of worship.

The early decades tested the community's resolve repeatedly. A small fire damaged the sanctuary in 1923, and a larger fire struck in 1926, yet rather than discouraging the faithful, the second fire strengthened their determination. Volunteers organized into work crews to make extensive repairs while services were held in borrowed spaces, and donors came forward generously for the renovation of both the interior and exterior and for the painting of new icons. The Great Depression then bore heavily on parish finances, but the community persevered, sustained by a faithfulness and stewardship that the recorded minutes of the Parish Councils preserve as an exemplary witness for succeeding generations.

A pivotal institutional moment came at a General Assembly in June 1930, when parishioners voted overwhelmingly to recognize the Patriarchate of Constantinople as their supreme administrative authority and adopted the New Calendar. The acceptance of the common Parish By-Laws of the Greek Archdiocese brought the Woburn parish into full participation in the broader life of the Church. Among the notable clergy who served the parish in the postwar years was Archbishop Makarios, who served from 1946 to 1948, donated the community's Bishop's throne, and is honored to this day by the parish's Lifetime Achievement Award bearing his name.

As the parish's expanding numbers outgrew its postwar home, planning began for a new and larger church. After years of effort, a new church was completed and opened in 1958, and on June 8 and 9, 1974, Archbishop Iakovos came to Woburn for the formal consecration, fifty-seven years after the establishment of the parish. In 2006, after literally decades of planning and fundraising, the new Woburn Hellenic Community Center opened, featuring a function hall with fireplace and bay windows, a state-of-the-art kitchen, and space for parish offices and the Bibilos Library.

The Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church at 70 Montvale Avenue in Woburn serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the Metro North suburbs of Boston as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community of more than a century's witness to the faith in the communities of Woburn, Winchester, Burlington, Reading, Stoneham, and Melrose.