History

Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania was founded in 1944 as a satellite church of the Evangelismos tis Theotokou parish in Philadelphia, established to serve the growing Greek Orthodox community that had settled around 69th Street in Upper Darby and the surrounding neighborhoods of Delaware County. From its earliest days the parish at 229 Powell Lane grew alongside the Greek community it served, as Greek families, clubs, and businesses clustered in the streets around the church and built a vibrant Hellenic neighborhood at the western edge of greater Philadelphia.

Described by many over the years as the jewel of the Greek community, Saint Demetrios has built a reputation for its history, its deep commitment to Hellenic language and cultural preservation, and its devotion to Orthodox Christian life. Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey, speaking at the parish's 75th anniversary celebration in 2019, remarked that Saint Demetrios was the Orthodox church within his Metropolis where the effort to preserve the Greek language was stronger than anywhere else, and praised the dedication of its parishioners to Orthodoxy and its values. The 75th anniversary gala, attended by three hundred parishioners including surviving original members, featured a historical documentary film that traced three generations of community history through photographs and interviews, narrated by past president Demos Vasiliou and grounded in records compiled by parishioner Mary Seis.

The parish is home to a Greek School whose students mark OXI Day and other milestones of Hellenic memory each year, and hosts the Upper Darby Greek Wine and Food Festival, one of the most beloved annual celebrations of Hellenic culture in the Philadelphia region. Saint Demetrios sits today in the geographic center of the Philadelphia Greek Orthodox community, its nearly eighty years of continuous parish life making it one of the oldest and most respected Greek Orthodox communities in the Delaware Valley.

Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church at 229 Powell Lane in Upper Darby serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Delaware County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.