History

The first Greeks arrived in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1908, three brothers named Constantine, Arthur, and Thomas Havelos who opened the Busy Bee Cafe on Market Square at the corner of Green and Person Street. Their example drew others, and through the following decades a succession of Greek-owned restaurants established a visible and beloved Greek presence in the life of the city. Steve and Nick Fasul arrived in 1920 and opened Steve's Restaurant near the old post office. The Central Cafe, the New York Restaurant, the Rainbow Restaurant, and the Royal Palm were among the many other establishments that Greek families operated in the Hay Street area, feeding Fayetteville and building the economic foundation on which a church community would eventually be built.

For more than twenty years the Greek Orthodox faithful of Fayetteville were served by Father George Stephanis of the Raleigh parish, who traveled to the city to celebrate services and sacraments. As the community grew and its desire for a parish of its own deepened, a Hellenic Center was established, and in 1956 the Reverend Kallinikos Hatzilambrou was assigned to Fayetteville as the first resident priest, holding services in a classroom converted into a chapel in the front room of the Hellenic Center. After Father Hatzilambrou passed away, the Reverend Papazisis, who had retired from Jacksonville, Florida to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, was called upon to serve the parish until a new priest could be found. In the summer of 1961, the Reverend Chrysostom Manuel was ordained and began his service in Fayetteville that September.

On April 12, 1964, Bishop Aimilianos visited the parish for the groundbreaking ceremonies of the new church building, a milestone that marked the community's transition from the improvised chapel of the Hellenic Center to a permanent house of worship. On June 4, 1984, Archbishop Iakovos consecrated the church, completing a journey that had begun with three brothers opening a cafe on a Fayetteville street corner three quarters of a century before.

Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church at 614 Oakridge Avenue in Fayetteville serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of the greater Fayetteville area as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.