History

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Wichita, Kansas was born and established by its faithful parishioners in 1927, when Greek immigrants in the city organized a community to preserve their Orthodox Christian faith on the Kansas plains. The first visiting priest traveled all the way from Memphis, Tennessee to perform Holy Week services for the young congregation, a measure of how scattered and few Orthodox parishes were across the American heartland in those early years.

With the growth of the aviation industry in Wichita, beginning during World War II, a new wave of Greek immigrants arrived in the city, and the church began to grow substantially. For years many baptisms, weddings, and funerals were conducted at the local AHEPA hall in the absence of a dedicated church building. Community members organized fundraisers, and between 1944 and 1951 the parish purchased land and built a house of worship, fellowship hall, and educational building, finally giving the Wichita Greek community a permanent home.

In 1979, city officials in Wichita determined that Holy Trinity's land was needed for improvements along South Grove, and through the exercise of eminent domain the parish lost the church its founders had built. Though broken-hearted and without a building, the congregation remained faithful to their Orthodoxy and continued to meet for services in locations throughout the city. In 1986 the parish purchased property at the corner of Dellrose and Murdock, renovating it in preparation for its consecration and Thyranoixia, the Opening of the Doors, by the presiding Bishop.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at 805 North Dellrose Street in Wichita serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of south-central Kansas as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a small but steadfast multicultural community that has carried its faith through displacement and renewal across nearly a century.