From a Telephone Survey to a Parish on Sixteen Acres
Saint Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church sits on a sixteen-acre campus at the southeast corner of Roselle and Palatine Roads in Palatine, Illinois, in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago. Its story begins in the early 1970s with a small group of Greek Orthodox Christians who wanted to establish a parish in their part of the metro area. A temporary committee phoned friends and family and combed local telephone directories for Greek surnames to gauge interest, then met with Bishop Timotheos to seek his advice. The group applied to the State of Illinois for a charter in the name of Saint Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church, in honor of the twentieth-century saint and miracle worker. The charter was issued in the summer of 1974, making it, at the time, the only church in the country named for Saint Nectarios.
The first services were held on the weekend of Saint Nectarios's feast day, November 10, 1974, in the Rolling Meadows High School auditorium. Father Steve Zanis was the first clergyman to serve the parish; his successor, Father Nicholas Voucanos, shepherded the community through most of its high-school years. Programs took root quickly. The community held an Apokreatiko Glendi in March 1975, a fundraiser that May, and the Second Annual Dinner Dance that fall, while enrollment grew in the Sunday School and Greek School, where modern Greek and Greek dance were taught.
On January 13, 1976, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America issued the ecclesiastical charter. That March the parish purchased a five-acre parcel near the intersection of Roselle and Palatine Roads. Father Dennis Strouzas, then the parish priest, oversaw the renovation of a small building on the property into "The Chapel" of Saint Nectarios, complete with altar, iconostasion, solea, nave, narthex, meeting room, parish office, and basement. Bishop Timotheos presided over the Thyranoixia - the Door Opening ceremony - on September 26, 1976.
Growth drove the next phases. An adjacent five-acre parcel was acquired, with a split-level residence converted into Sunday School and Greek School classrooms that replaced the temporary mobile units. In 1981 Father Demetrios N. Treantafeles began his service. By 1982 the parish was ready for a larger sanctuary: Bishop Iakovos of Chicago broke ground on June 20, and the new church edifice was completed on June 19, 1983, accommodating 450 faithful. Over the following years the building was embellished with wooden pews and the iconography of Christ Pantocrator in the dome and the Theotokos Platytera in the apse, with an iconostasion, chandeliers, and other furnishings completed in stages.
On November 15, 1987, ground was broken for an adjoining community center, and Bishop Iakovos presided over its Door Opening on September 24, 1989. The community center added a fellowship hall, ten classrooms, a library, offices, and a full basement, joined to the church by a hallway. In April 1994, Dean Photos was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop Iakovos and in March 1995 to the Holy Priesthood, serving as assistant priest. By the mid-1990s the 250 students in Sunday School had outgrown the classrooms, and youth programs had expanded to include HOPE (Helping Orthodox Parents Educate), FAITH, JOY, GOYA, and YAL.
In 1996 the parish acquired another roughly five acres, bringing the campus to nearly sixteen acres and the entire southeast corner of Roselle and Palatine. The Vision 2000 fundraising program was launched to reduce mortgage debt and plan for the next century. With the approval of Metropolitan Iakovos of Krinis, the church was consecrated on September 23 and 24, 2000, the culmination of a quarter-century of endeavor.
In 2001 Father Peter G. Balkas became Proestamenos. Under his leadership the parish grew to nearly 600 families, becoming one of the largest in the Metropolis of Chicago. A Gymnasium/Community Center expansion was dedicated in 2006. On January 15, 2019, Rev. Fr. Chris R. Mihalopoulos began his work as parish priest. The parish marked its fiftieth anniversary in 2024 with a gala at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel on November 9. Rev. Fr. Patrick O'Rourke joined the Saint Nectarios community in August 2025.
A Sunday at Saint Nectarios
Sunday is the center of the week. Orthros and the Divine Liturgy begin at 8:15 a.m., and the services are also livestreamed on YouTube and on the parish's Facebook page for those who cannot be in the building. The parish publishes a weekly bulletin every Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and a monthly newsletter, "The Voice of Saint Nectarios," in the first week of each month.
The Divine Liturgy is the principal Orthodox service, celebrated in the fully embellished main church. The Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom is used on most Sundays; the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is celebrated ten times a year, and the Liturgy of Saint James on October 23, the saint's feast day. Most of the service is sung or chanted, in keeping with Orthodox practice. Standing is the customary posture for prayer, with kneeling reserved for particularly solemn moments.
The parish is explicit about welcoming visitors. In the narthex, members of the community light candles, sign themselves with the cross, and venerate icons before entering the nave; newcomers may join in or simply step inside. A member of the Parish Council is usually on hand to greet visitors and help orient them in the building. Visitors may sit, stand, or move about freely - even stepping out briefly for a break - except during the priest's processions, the reading of the Holy Gospel, and the times when the congregation kneels. Only baptized, chrismated, and practicing Orthodox Christians receive the Holy Sacraments, but anyone is welcome to join the prayers. At the end of the Liturgy the priest distributes Antidoron, the blessed bread from the same loaf used for Holy Communion; visitors are encouraged to come forward and receive a piece and to meet the priest. The service closes with a coffee hour in the church hall.
The Divine Liturgy is celebrated only once a day, emphasizing the unity of the local congregation, and always with a congregation present. Weekday and evening services follow the Orthodox cycle of feast days, fasting seasons, and the liturgical year.
The Building, the Icons, and a Prayer Path
The Saint Nectarios campus is laid out on nearly sixteen acres at the southeast corner of Roselle and Palatine Roads. The 1983 church edifice, with its dome, apse, and completed iconography, sits at the heart of the property. The adjoining 1989 community center, connected to the church by a hallway, contains a fellowship hall, ten classrooms, a library, and offices. A Gymnasium and Community Center, dedicated in 2006, expanded the facilities available to youth programs, Greek Fest, and community events. The original 1976 chapel remains part of the campus as a reminder of the parish's first decade.
The interior follows the Orthodox design of narthex, nave, and sanctuary. Worshippers pass from the narthex into the nave, then to the iconostasion that separates the nave from the sanctuary. Icons of Christ and Saint John the Baptist stand to the right of the Royal Door; icons of the Theotokos and the patron saint or feast to the left. Behind the iconostasion, the Holy Altar holds the tabernacle with reserved Holy Communion for the sick, candles, the Book of the Gospels between liturgies, and a large cross bearing the painted figure of Christ.
Beyond the buildings, the grounds include a prayer path that has been blessed by the parish and is open to the community. The walking trail winds through the wooded portions of the property, with stations for icons. Members and visitors can contact the parish office for instructions on where and when to enter.
Three Schools Under One Roof
Saint Nectarios runs three distinct educational programs from a single campus: a Day School for the very young, an after-hours Greek School, and a Sunday School for religious education.
The St. Nectarios Day School, under Director Benjamin Brown, serves children ages two through PreKindergarten (four-year-olds). All students aged three and up receive one hour of Greek language instruction each day they attend. The school frames itself as a faith-based early childhood program in which the Illinois Early Learning Standards are interwoven with spiritual, moral, cognitive, and social development. The philosophy emphasizes hands-on discovery, exploration, problem solving, and decision making, with classrooms built around learning centers. Registration for the 2025-2026 school year remains open. The school also runs a summer camp program, hiring counselors, a reading and music specialist, and a gross-motor and outdoor specialist.
The Greek School teaches the Greek language and culture to students of all ages, with the goal of helping them communicate in Greek and understand its relevance to Orthodox faith and to everyday life. The Saint Nectarios Greek School PTO supports the program with social and cultural events throughout the year. Registration for the 2026-2027 school year is open. Contact Mrs. Katerina Karavitis at kkaravitis@stnectariosgoc.org for more information.
The Sunday School meets every Sunday after Holy Communion until 11:30 a.m. and serves students from Pre-K through twelfth grade. There is no fee, but each student must be registered. Twenty-three volunteer teachers, with more than two hundred years of combined classroom experience, lead age-appropriate lessons on the Gospel readings, parables, feast days, and the lives of the saints. Older students in grades 5 through 12 participate in the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical and Fine Arts Festival, with scholarships available through the Metropolis and Archdiocese. The Sunday School also hosts an annual Lazarus or Holy Friday Retreat, offers Hymnology Classes that culminate in singing with the choir on the first Sunday of the month, organizes donation drives and service projects, places high school students in Service Sundays, teaches third graders the Nicene Creed by year's end, presents an annual Christmas Pageant, and runs a one-week, half-day Vacation Church School each summer. Sunday School contacts are Constance Palas and Peter Vichos.
Greek Fest: Three Days of Souvlaki and Loukoumades
Greek Fest is the parish's largest annual event, drawing together the parish family and the wider community for a long weekend of food, music, and fellowship. The festival runs Friday through Sunday, with evening hours and a drive-thru option. The taverna menu is extensive: pork souvlaki, Athenian chicken, gyros, pastitsio, fried kalamari, flaming saganaki, loukaniko, mini souvlakia, Greek fries, tyropita, and spanakopita. Desserts include loukoumades, diples, baklava, kourambiedes, melomakarona, and assorted Greek pastries, with bottled water, soft drinks, and a bar. Volunteers and sponsors keep the festival running; sign-ups are available online, and a sponsorship form can be downloaded from the parish's Greek Fest page. The festival is also one of the parish's most important fundraisers, helping to cover the share of operating expenses not funded by stewardship pledges.
Becoming a Steward
In Orthodox practice, stewardship is the prayerful commitment of time, talent, and treasure that each member makes in support of the parish. At Saint Nectarios, becoming a steward begins with a signed stewardship commitment card; a voting member is at least eighteen years old and turns in a card pledging a portion of time, talent, and treasure to the church.
There is no minimum pledge. The parish suggests, for those who want a benchmark, a monthly offering of $100; if more is possible, it helps expand outreach. Stewardship funds cover the parish's operating budget - utilities, insurance, maintenance, snow removal, supplies, postage - as well as salaries for clergy and staff, the mandatory Archdiocese assessment (more than ten percent of the annual budget), outreach, and adult and youth ministries. Roughly sixty percent of operating expenses come from stewardship; the remainder comes from fundraisers such as Greek Fest and other parish events. Saint Nectarios is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and issues receipts for donations.
Members can give by check, credit card (American Express, Visa, MasterCard, or Discover), online bank deduction, monthly credit card payments, stock donations, and crypto donations. Online giving is set up through the parish's Pushpay account at pushpay.com/g/stnectariosgoc. New recurring monthly gifts can be established at nectarios.info/stewardship; existing gifts can be updated or canceled at nectarios.info/pushpay.
The Orthodox Faith in Practice
The parish's own catechetical materials, drawn largely from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, give a clear outline of Orthodox belief and practice. The heart of the faith is theosis - the teaching that each person is called to share in the very life of God, growing ever closer to Him through prayer, worship, the sacraments, fasting, and a Christ-like life. Salvation and redemption are understood within this framework, as the journey of the human person into the life of the Holy Trinity.
The Orthodox Church confesses one God in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and affirms that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, the Son of God who became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. The Church's faith is expressed in the Nicene Creed, recited at every Divine Liturgy, and in the decisions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. Holy Scripture is highly regarded, and portions are read at every service, but Scripture is understood as part of the broader Tradition "handed on" through the centuries in prayers, hymns, icons, the witness of the saints, and the lived life of every local parish.
Worship is the central activity of the Church and is, in the Orthodox view, the work of the entire people of God. The Divine Liturgy is both the principal sacrament and the center of parish life; all the other sacraments lead toward and flow from it. The Orthodox Church recognizes six major sacraments, or mysteries: Baptism, Chrismation, the Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick (Holy Unction). Chrismation follows immediately after Baptism; the priest anoints the newly baptized with Holy Oil, saying, "The seal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit." Services are always sung or chanted, and worship engages the whole person - intellect, feelings, and senses. The congregation actively participates by singing the hymns, responding to the litanies with "Lord, have mercy," making the sign of the cross, bowing, and receiving Holy Communion.
Weddings, Baptisms, and Funerals
The sacraments mark the milestones of Orthodox Christian life, and the parish gives detailed guidance for each.
Baptism. In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism a person is incorporated into the crucified, resurrected, and glorified Christ and reborn into divine life. Baptism is performed by triple immersion in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and is conferred only once. Both Orthodox parents must be members in good standing and current on their stewardship commitment. The sponsor (godparent) must be an Orthodox Christian in good standing and is responsible for reciting the Nicene Creed on the child's behalf. According to Orthodox tradition, the child is given one Christian name of Orthodox origin. Arrangements are made with the parish priest at least one month in advance. Chrismation follows immediately, and the newly illumined receives Holy Communion within the Divine Liturgy. The parish provides a detailed list of items for the day: white clothes for the child, a bottle of pure olive oil, a gold cross, three white candles, soap, white towels, a white twin sheet, and (optionally) martyrika.
Marriage. The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is celebrated by an Orthodox priest in an Orthodox church according to Orthodox liturgical tradition. Both a civil marriage license and an ecclesiastical marriage license from the diocese are required, and at least three pre-marital meetings with the parish priest precede the wedding. Mixed marriages between an Orthodox Christian and a baptized, non-Orthodox Christian may be celebrated in the Orthodox Church by an Orthodox priest; non-Christian partners cannot marry in the Orthodox Church. The Koumbaros or Koumbara (sponsor) must be an Orthodox Christian in good standing. Weddings are not performed during January 5-6, Great Lent and Holy Week, August 1-15, August 29, September 14, December 13-25, or on the day before major feasts, except by special permission of the Bishop.
Funerals. The Orthodox Funeral consists of three services: a Trisagion vigil at the time of wake, the Funeral Service at church (ideally with the Divine Liturgy celebrated), and a Trisagion at the graveside. The Church also offers Memorial Services on the third, ninth, and fortieth days after a death and on the yearly anniversary; on the two Saturdays preceding Great Lent; on the first Saturday of Great Lent; on the Saturday before Pentecost; and on Memorial Day in the United States. Families typically bring a dish of kollyva (boiled wheat), a symbol of the Resurrection.
Other special services observed at Saint Nectarios include the Great Blessing of Water on the eve and day of Epiphany, the Blessing of Five Loaves (Artoklasia) at feasts, the Akathist Hymn in honor of the Theotokos during Great Lent, and the Service of Supplication (Paraklisis) during the first fourteen days of August leading up to the Dormition.
The People Who Lead the Parish
The parish is shepherded by its clergy and led, in partnership with the priest, by an elected Parish Council.
Rev. Fr. Chris R. Mihalopoulos has been parish priest (Proestamenos) since January 2019. A native of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, he grew up in Palos Hills, attended St. Spyridon in Palos Heights and Assumption in Olympia Fields (now Homer Glen), and graduated from Amos Alonzo Stagg High School. He holds a double major in Psychology and History from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a 2013 graduate of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on the Second Sunday of Great Lent in 2014 by Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos and to the Holy Priesthood in September 2014 by Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago of Blessed Memory. He and Presvytera Toni have three sons: Luke, Theodore, and Apostolos (Paul) Nektarios.
Rev. Fr. Patrick O'Rourke joined the Saint Nectarios community in August 2025. A native of Toledo, Ohio, he came to Orthodoxy through Chrismation at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Columbus in 2008 and graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism. After Holy Cross, where he met Presvytera Jessica, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate in 2016 by Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit and to the Holy Priesthood in September 2016 by Archbishop Demetrios, Geron of America. After parish assignments in New Rochelle, Ogden (Utah), and Salt Lake City, he served at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, Massachusetts, and most recently as Director of Programs and Operations for the Metropolis of Chicago and assistant priest at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Elmhurst. He and Presvytera Jessica have two sons, Jacob and Lucas. His name day is March 17, the feast of St. Patrick of Ireland.
Father Chris P. Kerhulas and Deacon Zaharias Zaharis serve as additional clergy.
The Parish Council is elected by the parishioners and works hand-in-hand with the clergy on the financial affairs of the church, ministry development, and the overall vision and mission. The Executive Committee includes Nick Georgakopoulos (President), Ari Hantgos (1st Vice President), Apostolis Sambanis (2nd Vice President), George Reimnitz (Treasurer), Matthew Stankowicz (Assistant Treasurer), and Emily House (Secretary). Council members include Terry Bishop, Elaine Ionas, Pam Weinroth, Maria Costopoulos, Andreas Sambanis, Harry Gianos, Costas Angelakos, Margo Pasek, George Demarakis, and Jim Stavropoulos.
Penelope Nuehaus serves as Director of Church and Ministry Operations, and Katerina Trakas as Office Administrator. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at (847) 358-5170; the fax is (847) 358-5193. Members can also sign in through the Church Community Builder (CCB) platform at stnectariosgoc.ccbchurch.com to register for programs, view the calendar, and stay current with parish events.