Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church is a church in Seattle, Washington. It is part of the Greek Orthodox metropolis or diocese of San Francisco, within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. It is Seattle's oldest Greek Orthodox congregation.
The present St. Demetrios Church in the Montlake neighborhood (completed in 1962) was designed by Paul Thiry, one of the principal architects of the Century 21 Exposition Seattle's World's Fair that same year and of the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), formally in Montlake.
The church has held a bazaars and festivals on a scale well beyond a typical parish church festival. As of 2007, the festival lasts for three days, and requires a continuous shuttle bus service from as far away as the Northgate and South Kirkland Park and Ride lots, as well as from nearby school parking lots.
History
The history of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church reflects the history of Seattle and of the United States in general, the history of Seattle's Greek community, and the tensions resulting from differing interpretations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity within the congregation and from differing views on the relative power of the Archdiocese and the individual congregation.
The Greco-Russian Church
Seattle's first Greek settlers arrived in the 1880s. By the start of the 20th century, several had established themselves as shopkeepers (especially in food-related industries) and at least one owned a lodging house.
In 1892, the city's Greeks joined with its Russians, successfully petitioning the Russian government for the formation of the St. Spiridon parish with a bilingual priest. Greek immigrants donated the land for the original church at 817 Lakeview Avenue, which was variously known as the Greek-Russian Church, the Greco-Russian Church, and the Greek Catholic Russian Church. In fact, the priest who was sent, Sebastian Dabovich, was trilinugal: an 1895 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article notes that he preached a sermon in English.
The Greco-Russian Church opened in 1895; its direct descendant today is Saint Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral, of the Orthodox Church in America.
In this era, Seattle saw a large influx of young Greek men, but few women and families. Mootafes et al. report that "Perhaps a dozen or so Greek women lived in Seattle before 1920, most of whom were from Leros," the place of origin of the city's first Greek immigrants. Many were physical laborers, but they tended to form small businesses as soon as they had the opportunity, again often in food-related industries. Because there were few Greek women, intermarriage was common. Many were affiliated with St. Spiridon's, where the new priest, Michael G. Andreades (served 1905–1915), continued the trilingual tradition. There were also occasional visits to Seattle by Greek Orthodox priests from Portland, Oregon, as well is itinerant priests.
Founding a Greek church
A Greek Club was formed no later than 1909 and in 1913 a Greek American Political Club. In 1915 over 300 of the city's 2,000 Greeks gathered at the Labor Temple to discuss building a church. They appear to have started holding some services informally that year. The Greek Community of Seattle (later Greek Community Association) was formally incorporated October 30, 1916, with the specific purpose of establishing a church. The new congregation took its name from an icon of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki donated by one of its parishioners, Alexander Spetsieris (Spencer), who had brought the icon over from Kefalonia to give to his son, Demetrios (later known as James).
From 1916, the Holy Synod of Greece began assigning priests to the Seattle parish, but typically only for a few months at a time, often with lapses between. During these lapses, priests from St. Spiridon or from Portland would administer sacraments.
Initially the congregation met in a rented hall, which one parishioner described years later as "rickety". In 1917 the Community Association purchased a ballfield at Yale Avenue North and Thomas Street in the Cascade neighborhood with the intent of building a church; apparently, the neighborhood was chosen because most of the few Greek women in the city lived in Cascade. A further organization, the Hellenic Association of the Greek Community of Seattle, Washington was formed in support of the church and of Greek education in Seattle. A Women's Hellenic Club formed in 1919 or 1920 and a Hellenic Commercial Club on October 30, 1919. All of these organizations were involved in fundraising for the new church.