History

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church traces its origins to 1964, when a small group of Greek Orthodox families in the Lowell area came together to establish a new place of worship. The congregation purchased an abandoned building on Butterfield Street in Lowell, a former Methodist church dating to the turn of the century. By January 1965, the parish had 71 members and was formally established as a congregation of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos, an auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Iakovos, visited the community and conveyed the Archdiocese's acceptance of the new parish, and the late Rev. Michael Kastanas was appointed as the first priest, serving the small but vibrant community through its early years and for many years beyond.

For three decades the Assumption Church was the spiritual center of a tight-knit group of approximately 100 families in the inner-city neighborhood of Lowell. Then, in the early morning hours of April 24, 1999, a fire broke out on the back porch of a neighboring residence and spread quickly to the church. By the time firefighters arrived at 3:43 a.m., the interior was already an inferno. Firefighters managed to salvage icons and religious ornaments, but the church itself was a total loss.

The parishioners vowed immediately to rebuild. His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios appointed Rev. George Karahalios as the parish's new priest to guide the community through its grief and its deliberations about the future. After prayerful discernment and guided by Metropolitan Methodios, the community made the decision to relocate rather than rebuild on Butterfield Street, seeking a site that could better serve the Greek Orthodox faithful of the broader Merrimack Valley. In May 2000 the parish purchased 2.5 acres of land on Mammoth Road in Dracut and began construction on a new church.

Construction came to a halt in October 2002 due to a shortage of funds. A parish meeting was held in the presence of Metropolitan Methodios, new council elections were held, and Rev. Fr. Philip Gialopsos was assigned as the full-time priest. Fr. Gialopsos, who had previously served Holy Trinity Church in Lowell for 28 years, brought extraordinary pastoral energy and practical wisdom to the community. Together with the Parish Council and through the generosity of friends, members, and benefactors including the late Telemachus T. Demoulas, Fr. Gialopsos accomplished what many thought impossible. On April 20, 2003, Palm Sunday, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the newly built church on Mammoth Road. Fr. Gialopsos called it Panagitsa's Miracle.

Today, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church stands at 1160 Mammoth Road in Dracut as a living testament to the faith and perseverance of its parishioners, serving the Orthodox Christian faithful of the greater Merrimack Valley under the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, with Rev. Fr. George Karahalios as its presiding priest.