History

When the need for a new suburban Orthodox community made itself felt in 1976, a dream was born among Greek Orthodox families in the Springfield area. Twelve couples of interested Orthodox Christians met to establish a church in East Longmeadow, gathering under a motto taken from the Gospel: The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. From the very beginning, even before a patron saint was chosen, that verse from Luke 18:27 set the tone for everything that followed.

On October 18, 1976, a meeting was held at the Unitarian Church in Springfield and 172 people signed the petition requesting a charter from the Archdiocese. The Archdiocese had required 50 families, and the response of 172 attendees exceeded every expectation. An agreement was signed with the Wilbraham-Monson Academy in Wilbraham to rent a chapel that had been in disuse for ten years, and in January 1977 the first Vesper service and Vasilopeta were held. On a snowy February 20, 1977, Father Nicholas Marinos celebrated the first Divine Liturgy for what was then called the Hellenic Community of Suburban Springfield, with more than 250 future Saint Luke family members worshipping together at the Academy Chapel. In March 1977 the community chose its patron saint, and Saint Luke the Evangelist was named the church's spiritual protector, his feast day on October 18 becoming the community's own patronal celebration.

The years that followed were filled with fundraising dances, annual Grecian Festivals, baking workshops, GOYA events, paper drives, and every form of communal effort the energetic new parish could muster. In July 1977 a building fund drive of $220,000 was established. Beautiful land in East Longmeadow was dedicated to God's use on October 4, 1980, at a groundbreaking ceremony celebrated by Bishop Anthimos of Boston. The building project encompassing the church, fellowship hall, and administrative offices was budgeted at $914,000. In October 1981 the parish celebrated the Opening of the Doors for the new church, and in October 1986 the community marked its tenth anniversary. In 1988 the church was formally consecrated, completing a journey that had begun twelve years earlier in twelve couples' living rooms.

The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Luke at 400 Prospect Street in East Longmeadow serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the Greater Springfield area as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, its annual Taste of Greece celebration carrying forward the festival spirit of the early fundraising years into a beloved tradition of Hellenic hospitality in the Pioneer Valley.