Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church of Champaign

History

The story of Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church of Champaign, Illinois begins not with a grand vision but with a frame house. In 1952, Gus Furla, president of the local AHEPA chapter, convinced colleagues to join him in purchasing a small building at the corner of Locust and Green Streets, within walking distance of the University of Illinois campus. Two rooms were converted into a modest chapel, and priests from the Church of the Annunciation in Decatur made the trip to conduct infrequent vespers services and occasional Saturday Liturgies. It was an informal beginning, but a faithful one.

Progress toward a real church was slow until late 1960, when four men, Gus Furla, Peter F. Tomaras, John Lessaris, and George Lessaris, pledged significant personal funds to launch a proper building project. Unable yet to afford a true church, they constructed a simple two-story brick community building on Green Street in 1961, converting the first floor into a temporary chapel and using the basement for social events and fundraisers. Over the next four years the community strengthened sufficiently that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese took notice. In 1966, influenced by the determination of the community's leaders and the large number of Orthodox students enrolled at the University of Illinois, Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America and Bishop Meletios of Chicago approved the official charter for Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church. The parish's boundaries stretched across five east-central Illinois counties. Original dues-paying members numbered 72.

Father Basil Papanikolaou became the parish's first permanent priest, celebrating his first Liturgy on February 13, 1967. In 1970, the council sold the Green Street building and purchased a former Mormon church on West John Street, a more spacious structure with a sanctuary, offices, classrooms, and gymnasium. Though not an Orthodox building, parishioners over the years made it as Byzantine as possible through donations exceeding $30,000, all while paying down the mortgage and keeping alive the dream of a true Orthodox church.

That dream was realized through one extraordinary act of generosity. In 1983, John Trebellas stepped in as parish council president and committed more than $2 million of his own funds to make it happen. He personally selected the site, chose the architects and artisans, and oversaw every detail of the construction. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in 1984, and in the summer of 1985 Father Nicholas Pathenos celebrated the first Liturgy in the new building. On October 3, 1999, the church was formally consecrated, standing as a magnificent Byzantine-design parish with a surrounding Greek Heritage Center that also incorporates a parsonage and on-site homes for retired Orthodox parishioners, all set on beautifully landscaped grounds near the University of Illinois campus.

Three Hierarchs has long been distinguished by its deep and vital ministry to students and faculty at the University of Illinois. The parish also oversees the Chapel of St. Barbara in Danville, and is closely tied to Nika House, a residential Orthodox Christian student living and meeting center on the U of I campus that opened in 2004 and was the first of its kind in America. The parish's breadth is reflected in its congregation as well: while services are conducted in English and Greek, Three Hierarchs regularly welcomes parishioners from Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Egypt, and many other backgrounds, embodying the universality of the Orthodox faith.

Today, under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Fr. Michael Condos, Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church continues to proclaim Christ to central Illinois, nurturing a multigenerational community of faithful while extending its ministry far beyond the walls of its church at 2010 Three Hierarchs Court in Champaign.