Annunciations Centennial Celebration

One hundred years of Orthodox Christian worship. That is something to celebrate!

This year, the parishioners of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church celebrated one hundred years of Orthodox Christian worship in Pensacola, FL with a full weekend of festivities, worship services and a dinner dance. Events began on Friday April 30th and continued through Sunday May 2, 2010.  

We hope the community enjoyed the Centennial celebration this weekend. We are so appreciative of everyone’s efforts and support to make our one hundred year anniversary so memorable.

Our weekend began with an intimate dinner shared by His Eminence, Father Peter and Presbytera Tina, the Parish council members and their spouses, and the Philoptochos board members.

Saturday’s festivities started with a breakfast for the Parish children. Later in the day, we visited the original church on Reus Street for a wreath-laying ceremony. This was followed by a visit and reception with the Metropolitan at the AHEPA's affordable senior housing complex in Pensacola.

In the evening, a vespers service was celebrated at the Annunciation church by Metropolitan Alexios, Fr. Peter, Fr. Gabriel Bulz of Ft. Walton, Fr. George Dursa of Panama City Beach, Fr. David Bleam of St. Andrews and our special guests - former parish priests Fr. Ted Chelpon and Fr. Dean Gigicos.

The gala at the New World Landing was a huge success. With over 250 guests, the party lasted late into the night. The food, the dancing, and the company made for an amazing evening! A touching first dance of the evening was led by the youth of the parish representing our future and the grandparents representing our founders.  Pensacola's Mayor Mike Wiggins presented the keys to the City of Pensacola to the Metropolitan in recognition of our history and contributions to the community.

On Sunday, we enjoyed a beautiful service offered by His Eminence to commemorate our Centennial. A short memorial service was chanted in memory of all the priests and parish council presidents who have fallen asleep. Metropolitan Alexios tonsured the acolytes, and afterwards he spoke to the youth during his sermon. Following church, everyone gathered in the hall for a wonderful luncheon and fellowship.

The festival committee is working on a Centennial commemorative book. Old photos as well as photographs taken over the weekend will be included. If your family or business would like to place an ad in the book, please contact one of the festival committee members.  Pictures from the weekend are available online at http://annunciationgoc.shutterfly.com. If you would like to upload your pictures to this website you will need to get a free account on Shutterfly. If you have problems adding pictures, email maria@ced.com. 

We thank the Pensacola News Journal for their excellent coverage in advance of our event. You can read the article online at http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20104240301. Again, we want to thank you all for your participation in this weekend’s events. So many people helped to make the Centennial a success. Without the support and contributions from our parishioners, we could not have enjoyed such a spectacular weekend.

Sincerely,


The Centennial Committee:
Judge Nick Geeker
Eli Pagonis
Dimitri Georgiades

View more pictures at annunciationgoc.shutterfly.com

A Brief History of Greeks in Pensacola

The first Greek immigrants came to Pensacola in the mid to late 1880s. They were seamen on the cargo ships and fishermen. The stream of immigrants increased and they made their living as fishermen, grocers, restaurateurs and other small merchants. As in many communities across the US, the Greek immigrants initially came together to build places of worship and community centers for fellowship, in order to perpetuate their ethnic customs. The first Greek Orthodox Church was built in 1910 at the corner of Wright and Reus Street and became home to this parish until 1954. During that year, construction of the present church on Garden Street was completed. Today the parish still has strong ties to its Greek heritage but welcomes and serves the spiritual needs of Orthodox Christians from all backgrounds.  Read more about our church history.

Our spiritual father and shepherd His Eminence Metropolitan ALEXIOS of Atlanta, as well as distinguished clergy and laity from throughout the area attended and participated in the Divine Services along with Annunciation's Presiding priest, Rev. Protopresbyter Panagiotis Papanikolaou.

Schedule of Events