History

Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Union, New Jersey traces its origins to Newark, where in 1928 a small group of Greek families, primarily from the islands of Chios and Mani, leased a second-story flat at 120 Bank Street to serve as both a church and Greek school. The Reverend Nicholas Papas became the first priest that same year. Their determination was immediately tested when the Great Depression struck in the fall of 1928, placing the newly established parish under severe financial strain. The community weathered that hardship only to face a more painful trial in 1930, when a schism divided the congregation, with Father Papas and a large segment departing to form a new Church of Saint George on nearby Plane Street. In 1932 the two groups were reunited, and together they purchased a building at 135 New Street, beginning a period of greater stability.

Through the difficult years of the 1930s and early 1940s, the Board of Trustees navigated successive financial crises with remarkable resourcefulness, with individual trustees personally assuming mortgages and backstopping the community's obligations. In 1947 a property at 210 Clinton Avenue in Newark was purchased, giving the parish a more permanent home, and in subsequent decades the community grew to nearly 500 families, establishing Saint Demetrios as one of the best-known parishes in New Jersey. Greek school, Philoptochos, youth programs, and community organizations all flourished during those years.

By the early 1970s the social landscape of Newark had changed significantly, and it became clear that relocation was necessary to retain the parish's membership and vitality. The community found its new home in Union Township, where the present church at 721 Rahway Avenue was established. The new church was consecrated on October 29, 1989, by Metropolitan Silas of the Metropolis of New Jersey. The mortgage on the church was retired in 1993, and the following year construction of a Community Center began, completing the parish campus. The Annual Greek Festival, established in 1985, grew into one of the most popular community celebrations in Union County.

Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church at 721 Rahway Avenue in Union serves the Orthodox Christian faithful of Union County as a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, a community that carried its faith and its heritage from the streets of Newark to the suburbs of Union and continues to thrive nearly a century after its founding.