History

Assumption Greek Orthodox Church of Seattle began in 1939 with a simple desire: to make the ancient Christian faith accessible to people living in a modern world. At that time, many Orthodox parishes in America still worshipped almost entirely in Greek, and a small group in Seattle, many of them in interethnic marriages and raising children who spoke English as their primary language, longed for worship and Sunday School conducted in English. The congregation that coalesced around this desire found its shepherd in Father Stephanos Phoutrides, a Yale-educated priest from Greece who had been serving at Saint Demetrios, Seattle's oldest Greek Orthodox parish, and who had long pioneered the use of English in Orthodox services. A dispute over the role of English in worship caused a split in the Saint Demetrios community, and in August 1939 the English-favoring group invited Father Phoutrides to lead a new parish. The new community celebrated its first Divine Liturgy on September 24, 1939 at Saint Barnabas Chapel of Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral on Capitol Hill, with Father Phoutrides as the first priest. He served the parish until his untimely death in July 1946.

From those early years the parish established a Ladies Auxiliary, organized youth groups, and produced one of the Metropolis's first Greek cookbooks, building the full institutional life of a parish around the core commitment to Orthodox worship in English. The present church building at 1804 13th Avenue on Capitol Hill was completed in 1961, giving the Assumption community the permanent home it has occupied for more than six decades. The parish is also home to the All Saints Camp and Retreat Center on Raft Island near Gig Harbor, a beloved summer camping program for children that has served the families of the greater Seattle Orthodox community for generations.

Assumption Greek Orthodox Church at 1804 13th Avenue in Seattle serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Capitol Hill and the greater Seattle area as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a pioneer of English-language Orthodox worship in the Pacific Northwest and a welcoming spiritual home for all who seek the ancient faith in the Emerald City.