History

The first Greek Orthodox settlers arrived in Ann Arbor in the late 1880s, and while some became permanent residents, most were single men working temporarily with the railroads who moved on before any formal community could take root. It was not until the early decades of the twentieth century that the Ann Arbor Greek community grew large enough to sustain organized parish life, and even then its path to a church of its own was not without turbulence. Two separate Greek Orthodox communities had formed in the city before a unifying spirit prevailed, and at a gathering at the Allenel Hotel on November 7, 1933, thirty-three parishioners met together with Archbishop Athenagoras to settle upon a name and elect the first parish council by lot. The name chosen was Saint Nicholas and Holy Trinity.

Spurred on by their newfound unity, the Ann Arbor Greek community went to work raising funds to build a house of worship despite being in the depths of the Great Depression. Angelo Poulos pledged $1,000 and invited other pledges in money or labor. AHEPA donated the land on which the church would be built, families solicited donations throughout the city and surrounding communities, and on August 26, 1931, Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was officially incorporated in the State of Michigan. The articles of incorporation were signed by Angelo Poulos, Chris Bilakos, Charles Preketes, George Stratos, James Colovos, Nick Theros, George Bilakos, Frank Preketes, and John Kapeleris. The church building at 414 North Main Street, designed by Ypsilanti architect Ralph S. Gerganoff, was completed in 1935. On October 22, 1939, Archbishop Athenagoras returned to Ann Arbor to consecrate the church in honor of Saint Nicholas. Services began at eight in the morning and concluded at three-thirty in the afternoon, with dignitaries from across the region in attendance. That evening a banquet was held at the Michigan Union honoring the Archbishop before more than three hundred celebrants.

The North Main Street church served the parish for more than six decades, hosting services, Greek language instruction, and the beloved annual Ya'ssoo Greek Festival. By 1997 it was clear that the congregation had grown beyond what the building could accommodate, and in 2001 groundbreaking was held for a new facility on Scio Church Road in Lodi Township. The first Divine Liturgy in the new hall was celebrated in the spring of 2003, and the community has worshipped there ever since.

Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at 3109 Scio Church Road in Ann Arbor serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Washtenaw County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community with roots in the Ann Arbor Greek settlement of the late nineteenth century and more than ninety years of continuous parish life in the city of the University of Michigan.