Following the retirement of Father Michaels, St. Demetrios welcomes Father George and his family!

Rev. George Parsenios was ordained a deacon in December, 2015 and a priest in May, 2016. He is an Associate Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in Ancient Greek, New Testament and the interaction of early Christianity with the classical world. He has also taught at St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary and the Pope Shenoude Coptic Seminary. He studied Classics at the University of Cincinnati (BA) and Duke University (MA) before earning the MDiv degree at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and a PhD from Yale University. He comes to St. Demetrios together with Presvytera Maureen and their three children: Nicholas, Julia and Constantine.

Father George may be reached at 609-462-2949 or at fr.georgepar@gmail.com.

Thank you to all the patrons of the 2016 Perth Amboy Greek Festival! See you all in 2017 under the big tents!

Grand Prize Winner of Trip to Greece: Brian Garcia & Domenique Katsaros

The Grand Prize Winner, Brian Garcia, of Perth Amboy, and his fiancé, Domenique Katsaros, show their joy and excitement as they begin planning their “dream trip” to Greece.

40″ Smart TV: Mr & Mrs. Chris Corodemus

Winners of the 40″ Smart TV, Mr & Mrs. Chris Corodemus, can’t help but smile gleefully as they receive their special prize.

Samsung Tablet: Alexis Huber

Alexis Huber of Avenel happily displays her winning raffle prize of a Samsung Tablet. Her mother is Christine Kalamaras who grew up in our Church.

50/50 Raffle: Ralph Anania

The winner of the 50/50 Raffle prize of $250 was Ralph Anania of Montana who was in the area visiting friends and relatives.

June 7, 2016

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Glory to God. We have a new priest.

On Sunday, June 19, Pentecost and Father’s Day, Father George Parsenios will celebrate his first Divine Liturgy at St. Demetrios. Father George, recently ordained, first visited our church on March 27, and, again, on Palm Sunday as Deacon George. Now, newly ordained, Father will be joining us with his wife, Presbytera Maureen, and their three children Nicholas, Julia and Konstantinos.

This coming Sunday will be Father Michael’s last Divine Liturgy, so I ask you to please attend to thank and say goodbye to Father and Presbytera. Also, this Sunday will be Greek School Graduation hosted by Kyria Alexandra with our wonderful Greek school children. The Greek school program will be held in church directly after the Divine Liturgy. Please know that our new kitchen is being worked on now, hopefully be completed by June 19th.

So, now let us prepare to meet and greet Father George and His Family on Sunday June 19th, Pentecost and Father’s Day. A light reception will be held by the PTO for the Father of the Year and our new Spiritual Father. All are welcome. Space is limited.

Hope to see you all on both Sunday the 12th and Sunday the 19th. Our church moves forward and more united in the Service of our Lord.

Very Truly Yours,

Judge Marina Corodemus (ret.)
Parish Council President

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To all those who worked at this year’s St. Demetrios Greek Festival by the Bay 2016,

I can only say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all your hard work. We are a small, but very caring community. When it came time to pitch in for our Church, so many of you worked as hard as I could ever believe people could. Your hours of dedication in the rain, the smoke, heat, and crowds were nothing short of heroic. We do this all not for ourselves, but for our beloved St. Demetrios, to keep its doors open and to remain economically sound.

This year, we took up the challenge of relocating the Festival from the traditional building to an outdoor tent overlooking the Raritan Bay. So many people, Greek and otherwise, commented so positively on our most beautiful view, excellent food and cordial musical atmosphere. This outdoor setting was actually more personal and positive for workers and attendees. Despite two days of rain, we had steady attendance capped off by the record crowd Saturday night. Not only did we set a record for Gyros sold, the Loukoumades line almost rivaled the gyro wait. Each person who worked, whether in pastries and coffee, to the boutique and plants, to finer taverna dining contributed to our most successful raffle trip to Greece and it all paid off.

This year’s expansion into social media of FACEBOOK and our now famous teaser commercial launched our church profile to new horizons. We will certainly capitalize on this new medium. We will be posting pictures of the Festival and winners of our prizes next month.

Finally, to those of you who contributed financially, THANK YOU. Festivals like these also come with large overhead, no matter how hard we try to be conservative. Your checks to help pay our bills equally lent to the profits we earned for our church.

My particular thanks to co-chairs. Spero Kalambakas and Afroula Kanellidis, along with Stan Suravlas, Helen Horan, Maria Mantoudakis, Dennis Krousos, Dino Kusulas, Joanne Kusulas, Nick Giannakopoulos, Irene Pakis, Olga Mamaligas, Froso and Ruben Morales, Helen Catelanos, Mike Koudis and Liz DaCunha. The Parish Council has worked very hard in the last 18 months to spend your donations and earned money wisely all for the Glory of God.

Very Truly Yours,

Judge Marina Corodemus (ret.) Parish Council President
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Treat your family or office to an incredible, homemade and hassle-free Greek feast from the Perth Amboy Greek Festival.

NEW THIS YEAR: ORDER ONLINE or by PHONE from our special take-out and drive-thru menu.Just choose a pick-up time when you place your order, then skip the line when you arrive! First 100 orders receive a free Baklava!

Visit http://menu.perthamboygreekfestival.org or call 1-800-260-5236 to order delicious Greek food for pickup this Friday – Sunday.