At 808 N. Broom St. in Wilmington, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral is Delaware's only Greek Orthodox cathedral and the religious home of a community extending across Delaware, southern New Jersey, northeast Maryland and portions of southeast Pennsylvania. Founded as a parish in 1934, Holy Trinity is known for its Byzantine-style church, hand-painted iconography, Greek-language education and a wide network of worship, youth, senior and charitable ministries.
From Greek Settlers to a Wilmington Cathedral
The story begins with the arrival of Wilmington's first known Greek settlers near the end of the 19th century. By the 1920s, a recognizable community had taken shape, and in 1934 the church was formally organized under a Parish Council. Faith and education were central from the start: families preserved language, Orthodox tradition and communal ties while creating institutions for the next generation.
Religious education began in 1923 when Reverend Daskalakis gathered school-aged children at 9th and Market Streets. Greek language instruction also dates to 1923, first in afternoon classes at the former P.O.S.A. Hall and later above the Presto Restaurant on Market Street. In 1929, women of Elpis hired Mrs. Harisiades to teach twice weekly on the second floor of the Woolworth Building. Zacharias Cozamanis later became the long-serving parish instructor, followed by Katherine Macrogeans and other teachers who carried the program through changing classroom locations.
In 1939 the Greek community purchased the T. Coleman and Alice duPont Estate at 9th and Broom Streets. The existing structure became a church, social hall and educational facility while construction of a dedicated church moved forward. A fundraising dinner at the Hotel duPont on November 30 drew pledges of $35,000 toward a $150,000 goal. Co-chairmen James Boines and Wilmington banker J.K. Johnston welcomed civic and business leaders, government officials and Archbishop Athenagoras. The project depended on both major gifts and broad community participation. The cornerstone was laid in 1948, construction was completed in 1951, and the first Divine Liturgy in the new church was celebrated in 1952.
The Hellenic Community Center, completed in 1978, became the permanent home of Sunday School and gave the parish room for Greek classes, cultural gatherings and the annual Greek Festival. In 2024 the community marked 90 years of its Wilmington journey, a history now centered on a cathedral and community complex rather than the rented rooms and converted spaces where it began.
A Dome of Icons and a Center for Community Life
The sanctuary's Byzantine-style form is crowned by a prominent dome, and hand-painted iconography adorns the interior ceiling. The adjacent Hellenic Community Center keeps church, classrooms and cultural life close together and gives the annual Greek Festival a permanent home. The arrangement reflects a community that has placed worship, schooling and cultural preservation alongside one another since the 1920s.
Sunday at North Broom Street
Sunday worship at Holy Trinity consists of Orthros at 9:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. The church office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cathedral stands at 808 N. Broom St., Wilmington, DE 19806. Orthodox Faith Sunday School also begins at 10 a.m., and for children the movement from church to classroom continues the Divine Liturgy.
The cathedral's mission statement calls the church to make disciples of all nations in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as quoted from Matthew 28:19. It joins that mission of evangelism with worship and education. In the youth ministries, Holy Trinity teaches that God is revealed through Holy Tradition and Scripture, with worship expressing both. The Sunday School curriculum is largely set by the Archdiocese, and teachers seek to connect Orthodox belief and tradition with daily life.
Greek and English appear together in Holy Trinity's Nativity and Epiphany service schedules, and the Archdiocese issues paschal material in both languages. Daily saints, feasts, Gospel and Epistle readings are offered through the Archdiocese's online chapel.
Father Christoforos Oikonomidis and the Metropolis of New Jersey
Fr. Christoforos Oikonomidis serves as parish priest and Proistamenos under the spiritual care of Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey. He was born and raised in Peiraias, Greece, in 1982 and has been a clergyman since 2002. After serving in Greece from 2002 through 2015, he served as presiding priest of St. Thomas in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, then handled liturgical and administrative needs at Evangelismos in Philadelphia. He also served as Chancellor of the Metropolis of New Jersey from 2021 to 2023.
He received the offikion of Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during his 2021 apostolic visit to the United States. His education includes the Ecclesiastical High School of Athens, theological studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, master's coursework in liturgical studies and a 2022 Master of Theology in Liturgical Studies from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. His service in the Delaware Valley has given him a close familiarity with the parish's ministries and the people sustaining them.
Sunday School as an Extension of the Divine Liturgy
Orthodox Faith Sunday School began in 1923 in a building at 9th and Market Streets. After the community purchased the Coleman DuPont Estate in 1939, classes met in converted stables that also served as a church, social hall and educational facility. When construction of the new church was completed in 1951, two large rooms behind the altar became classrooms. In 1978, the Hellenic Community Center gave religious education traditional classroom space.
The school continues the Divine Liturgy rather than standing apart from it. Teachers use a curriculum largely established by the Archdiocese to teach the Orthodox faith, customs and traditions, with an emphasis on applying them in daily life. Children move from church into the classrooms, and the program connects religious instruction with the wider life of the parish.
Sunday School also supports activities that place children in the life of the church, including:
- the St. John the Theologian Archdiocese Oratorical Festival
- the Great and Holy Friday Retreat and Myrophores
- the Christmas Pageant and end-of-year trips
- Feast Day processions
This continuity has linked generations of children to the church: the lessons begin with worship, move into the Hellenic Community Center classrooms and extend into parish celebrations and service.
Learning Greek Since 1923
The Wilmington Greek School shares the same 1923 roots as religious education. After Elpis hired Mrs. Harisiades in 1929, Zacharias Cozamanis and later Katherine Macrogeans served as instructors. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the school added courses in Dover and Newark under Peter Yiannos and Aristides Zdetsis. Margarita Mitses and Joanne Tsaganos later organized the program while incorporating Orthodox faith and traditional Greek dance into its teaching. Successive directors and instructors included Vickie Dalianis, John Pennia, Kostas Fountzoulas and Popi Tsaganos as the program moved into the 21st century.
The program provides weekly Greek language classes with supplemental online capabilities. Its curriculum blends language, history and culture. Greek is introduced at the age of four or five and continues through sixth grade, with young adult classes for beginners and advanced learners. Teachers create supportive, engaging classrooms that build communication skills and academic proficiency while deepening students' connection to Greek heritage.
Greek School classes meet on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and serve children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, alongside the young adult classes. The goal is both practical fluency and cultural continuity: students are encouraged to acquire the language while preserving and celebrating the cultural legacy of the Wilmington Greek community.
JOYA, GOYA and Young at Heart
Children and Teenagers
JOY & Hope welcomes children in third through sixth grades. It meets from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month from September through June in the church classrooms. The ministry's purpose is to help children build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and live the Orthodox faith with confidence. Tonia Belitsas and Hillary Raptis serve as co-directors.
GOYA, the Greek Orthodox Youth of America ministry, serves teenagers and asks them to become active sacramental members of the parish. Its work is built on worship, fellowship, service and witness, expressed in the Greek terms Liturgia, Koinonia, Diakonia and Martyria. The parish encourages teenagers to participate actively in church life, and GOYA activities have included retreats, basketball and dance.
For both younger and older youth, service is treated as part of Orthodox life rather than a separate activity. GOYA describes service to God through service to the church and community, while its four-part framework also calls young people to integrate faith into daily life and offer a credible witness through word and action.
Older Members at Young at Heart
Young at Heart serves older members of the parish. The group meets at 1:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month from September through June in the AHEPA Room. Members plan socials, outings and parish activities, and past gatherings have included trips to nearby cities, plays, picnics and Taverna Night. Peter Xarhoulakos serves as president.
Philoptochos: The Parish's Charitable Arm
From Elpis to St. Agape
The roots of St. Agape Philoptochos Society extend beyond the parish itself. In 1929, women of Elpis formed a benevolent organization to assist families of Wilmington's young Greek community during the Depression. Elpis also started a Greek school and helped bring clergy to celebrate liturgies in local churches of various denominations. Wilmington's Philoptochos chapter was officially chartered on February 3, 1942, with Demetra Kramedas as its first president.
Elpis's first officers included Aspasia Green (Zographos) as president, Helen Karavasili as vice president, Stella Cooper as secretary and Chrisoula Korologos as treasurer, with many other women participating. Their mixture of education, worship support and benevolence established a pattern that continues in the chapter's work.
Philoptochos supported American and Greek War Relief efforts, church fundraising and completion of the cathedral. From 1946 through 1957, Maria Geanopoulos led the organization's work on the building and its contents. Members donated the original dome icons of the prophets Amos, Abbakoum and Jonas, the marble pulpit and the church chandeliers, and they helped support the marble throne.
A Charitable Arm Reaching Locally and Beyond
The chapter's mission includes aid to people who are poor, hungry, aged, sick, unemployed, widowed, orphaned, imprisoned or disabled, along with anyone who seeks help through the church. It supports charitable and educational work within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, promotes Orthodox Christian family life and traditions, and encourages participation in the wider Greek Orthodox community under the parish priest and Parish Council.
Locally, St. Agape has provided:
- support for people experiencing homelessness and addiction
- meals for Ronald McDonald House, families and homebound parishioners
- Christmas family support, food and basic clothing assistance
- financial sponsorship for Orthodox patients and families seeking extraordinary medical care
- volunteering at local food shelters
Since 1974, the chapter has also participated in mental health support through Operation Reindeer and related efforts. Its reach extends beyond Wilmington through support for the Cyprus Foster Parents Plan, St. Michael's Home for the elderly, St. Basil's Academy and Hellenic College. It has also contributed to international missions, Orthodox charities, church construction and disaster relief.
An annual bazaar begun in 1966 grew into Holy Trinity's Greek Festival, and Philoptochos members continue to prepare it. The chapter also hosts wellness lectures, sponsors youth at the Communion Breakfast, assists with the Palm Sunday brunch, prepares holiday breads, stages a Bid-n-Buy and produces the community Christmas card. Orthodox women over 18 are invited to join, making St. Agape a visible part of the parish's charitable life.
The Boines Scholarship Ties Participation to Opportunity
The James D. and Ethel M. Boines Scholarship Program grew from a 1987 bequest to the parish. A committee formed in 2015 to direct the fund and chose youth participation, rather than a traditional application process, as the basis for awards. The program reaches high school students, families considering Hellenic College or Holy Cross, and young people preparing for ministry. It is one of the Metropolis of New Jersey's largest parish-based scholarship programs.
The primary college scholarship can reach $5,000. A student may bank up to $1,000 in each high school underclassman year and up to $2,000 as a senior, with the accumulated award disbursed to the chosen college during freshman year. Eligibility is tied to sustained participation in parish life.
Qualifying students meet criteria that include:
- 80 percent attendance in Sunday School
- two of the Oratorical Festival, Church or Liturgical Choir competition, altar service, or Philoptochos internship program
- active participation in GOYA
Participating high school seniors can also receive Oratorical Festival awards of $250 at parish level, $500 at regional level, $750 at the Metropolis level and $1,000 at the national level. Separate first-year awards are available for students entering Hellenic College or Holy Cross, and students pursuing the priesthood may qualify for support across the full eight-year Hellenic College and Holy Cross program when funds are available. The Boines Scholarship Committee is elected by parishioners at a spring General Assembly.
Stewardship, Festival and Family Traditions
Holy Trinity defines stewardship as a Christian system of supporting the work of Christ and the church through time, service and financial resources according to individual ability and commitment. The parish connects this principle with proportionate and regular giving, and it offers financial gifts through its online giving form. Families and single adults may make commitments, which are kept in confidence.
The annual Greek Festival is more than a food-and-culture gathering: it began as Philoptochos's bazaar and remains a major parish fundraiser, with the Hellenic Community Center serving as its home. Seasonal worship includes Great Lent, Holy Week and Supplication to the Theotokos services. Another enduring family tradition is Saturday of Souls, when worshippers bring boiled wheat, known as kollyva, and a list of names for special prayers for the deceased.
Father Christoforos offers monthly pastoral messages to the congregation, while schedules for worship, education and service keep those ministries connected. At Holy Trinity, those rhythms remain tied to Sunday Orthros and Divine Liturgy, Greek classes in the Hellenic Community Center, youth and senior gatherings, scholarship participation and the charitable service of Agape, all centered at 808 N. Broom St. in Wilmington.