History

In the early years of the Greek community in Annapolis, the faithful had no church of their own and relied on Saint Anne's Church on Church Circle for occasional services, or made the journey by trolley to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Baltimore and by bus to Saint Sophia in Washington. As the Greek population of Anne Arundel County grew through the mid-twentieth century, the dream of a local parish became an urgent necessity.

That dream came to life in 1949 through the extraordinary generosity of businessman Steve Foundas, who donated $50,000 and the land at 4 Constitution Avenue in Annapolis, a gift that made the construction of the first Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church possible. In today's terms the donation would represent a gift of extraordinary magnitude, and without it the Annapolis Greek community might have waited many more years for a church of its own. The Charas Family won the honor of being designated Godfather and Godmother of the church in a fundraising raffle, a tradition that connected the parish's founding to the competitive generosity that has defined its culture ever since. From the first church on Constitution Avenue, the Philoptochos Society baked and sold Greek pastries in front of the Annapolis City Courthouse on Church Circle, the youth went caroling from home to home at New Year's carrying an empty cigar box for donations, and the annual Greek Festival began in the church's basement, eventually growing into an international event at Sandy Point State Park that drew nationally known Greek film actor George Maharis as a special guest.

By the 1970s the community had outgrown the Constitution Avenue church, and a decades-long effort to secure funding for a new facility culminated in what the community calls the Miracle on Riva Road, a series of providential real estate transactions facilitated by Father George Gallos, Danny Tsamouras, and Jim Moshovitis that produced the funds needed without reliance on any single large donor. A $4 million budget was dedicated for the new church complex and a $2 million endowment was established for its maintenance. Under the leadership of Father Kosmas Karavellas, the Byzantine church complex on Riva Road was completed in 1996, giving the Annapolis community one of the most beautiful Greek Orthodox church complexes in the United States, with a gym, stage, and seating for over one thousand, hosting regional basketball tournaments, dance competitions, Greek festivals, retreats, and community conferences.

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church at 106 Riva Road in Annapolis serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Anne Arundel County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community built not by the patronage of the wealthy but by the collective sacrifice, baking, caroling, and stubborn faith of the families who refused to worship anywhere but their own.