History

Saint George Greek Orthodox Church of New Britain, Connecticut stands as the second oldest Greek Orthodox church in the State of Connecticut, its story stretching back to the early years of the twentieth century when Greek immigrants made their way to New Britain in search of work and a new life.

The parish's founding came in 1915 and 1916, when a determined group of Greek immigrants, earning modest wages and worried by the rising cost of living, willingly donated fifty cents per month to purchase the soon-to-be-vacated Russian Orthodox Church at 42 Beatty Street. Records at New Britain City Hall confirm the purchase price was $2,500. On April 23, 1916, the community of Saint George celebrated its first Resurrection service in its own church, and shortly thereafter witnessed its first in-church baptism, the christening of Anastasia, second child of Eleftherios and Marianthie Tavlarithu. The church became more than an enormous spiritual force for the Greek community; it became the cultural and social center of immigrant life in New Britain. On Sunday, May 21, 1916, the first official General Assembly meeting was convened, attended by 46 of the 187 founding members.

Through the following decades the parish grew steadily. Afternoon Greek language school classes were held at various locations throughout the city, including memorable stints above a lunch counter and a bakery, with students on at least one occasion smuggling their books under their sweaters to sneak into the Palace Theater instead. By the late 1940s the original Beatty Street building had become inadequate for the growing congregation, and plans were made for a new church. On September 9, 1951, the new Saint George Greek Orthodox Church at 301 West Main Street officially opened its doors. Mitchell Pappas, a well-known artist of Greek descent, created the interior design, combining traditional Orthodox dogma with a mid-century American sensibility. In the apse he painted the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, with a Pantocrator in the center dome surrounded by the four Evangelists.

Saint George Greek Orthodox Church at 301 West Main Street in New Britain serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of central Connecticut as a parish of the Direct Archdiocesan District of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community whose roots in the Hardware City reach back more than a century to the immigrant generation that pooled fifty cents a month to build something lasting.