History

The first Greek Orthodox faithful arrived in Macon and Central Georgia in the late 1890s, among them families named Lamis, Floros, Nicholas, Roniotis, Andros, Zolotas, Zaloumes, Pappas, Callianos, and Malliotis. For decades they gathered for religious services in halls and private homes, relying on visiting priests from Atlanta. From 1933 to 1955 the community was under the pastoral guidance of Father Panos Constantinides of Atlanta, and after World War II the faithful organized themselves as the Greek Orthodox Community of Macon, Warner Robins, and Milledgeville. In 1959 the Greek ladies social club, Sophia Agape and Elpis, was founded and became instrumental in sustaining the community through bake sales, fundraisers, and dinners.

The Greek Orthodox Church of Macon was legally formed in 1964 when the State of Georgia granted a charter to four incorporators: George Zaloumes, John Cacavias, Harry Andros, and Nick Dermatas, with George Andros and Johnny Vastakis joining as Great Benefactors. A Church Building Fund was established in anticipation of eventually purchasing land and building a church. In the meantime the congregation worshipped primarily in the chapel of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, whose community proved a generous and steadfast partner through many years. Father Homer Goumenis of the Atlanta Cathedral served the mission throughout the 1960s and 1970s, celebrating the Divine Liturgy and performing sacraments on Saturdays and holy days.

In 1976 the community purchased an existing chapel and adjacent house in Bloomfield from St. Francis Episcopal Church, and in August of that year, more than eighty years after the first Greeks had arrived in Macon, the community celebrated its first Divine Liturgy in a church of its own. Extensive renovations followed, and the house next door became the Parish Hall. In 1977 the parish was renamed Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church. Father Michael Vastakis was ordained in September 1978 and began a tenure of more than twenty-seven years of devoted service to the community. The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society was chartered in 1984, and in 1996 the Archdiocese granted Holy Cross an Ecclesiastical Charter, elevating it from a mission to a full parish under the Diocese of Atlanta.

In April 2004 the parish purchased its current downtown property from First Street United Methodist Church and launched a Capital Campaign called New Beginnings to fund extensive renovations. The first Divine Liturgy at the new location was celebrated in June 2005. Today, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church serves more than 90 families at 859 First Street in Macon as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, drawing Orthodox Christians from across Central Georgia including Warner Robins, Americus, Thomaston, Cordele, Milledgeville, and Eatonton, and welcoming parishioners of Greek, Russian, Romanian, Albanian, Hungarian, Serbian, Ethiopian, and Hispanic backgrounds into one community of faith.