Through it all, this Greek church in Mattituck endures
THE FUTURE OF A COMMUNITY
Ms. Tsounis says that in order to fully understand the impact a Greek Orthodox Church has on a community you must understand that there is very little separation between the two.
“It’s more than just being a church. It represents our culture, our civilization,” she said. “We never had a government. The church was our government.”
That principle defines the strength of Transfiguration of Christ, especially in times of weakness, she said.
When the church found it was operating at a deficit in 2013, then-council president Anthony Coutsouros sent a letter to every parishioner.
“I am writing to you on a very important subject,” he wrote. “Your beloved church, at present, is in a dire situation: We have a very low Sunday attendance; our church membership is very low; contributions are very low. I appeal to you to come to church.”
The church was forced to cut its operating budget by more than $2,000 a month and to rely on services donated by its members.
Perhaps the biggest change, Ms. Tsounis said, was the reintegration of English into church life to make it more accessible to the younger generations, which church leaders say has helped.
A renewed emphasis on the annual Greek Festival also helped bring more attention and money to the church. The Parish Council spread posters announcing the festival across the entire North Fork in 2013, bringing record attendance to the event each of the past two years.
Without the required number of workers to operate the festival, church leadership has had to make up the more than $50,000 generated last year, by again reaching out to the community for help. So far, more than $43,000 has been raised through donations from parishioners.
The difference, leadership hopes, can be made up through a pair of upcoming events. An evening of modern Greek music and dancing, dubbed the “End of Summer Greek Glendi” is planned for Sunday, Sept. 6, at 6 p.m. A “Kafenio Night,” Greek for café, will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15. The evening of food and music marks the end of a two-week period of fasting for church members.
There is, of course, one exception to that period of fasting, as the church marks the Feast of the Transfiguration on Thursday, Aug. 6.
On that evening, Father Makrinos said, more than 200 members will likely visit the church to celebrate the episode in the New Testament for which the church gets its name. In that story, Jesus ascends a mountaintop with three of his apostles and shines with bright rays of light as a voice, assumed to be God’s, calls him son.
The transfiguration is depicted in one of the icons at the church’s altar. The many icons that decorate the church, all donated by parishioners, are what Father Makrinos calls the church’s greatest feature.
The icons depict the stories of the Bible, but in the way the icons were acquired they also tell the story of the church: one built and rebuilt through the generosity of the families that founded it.
Ms. Tsounis said she finds hope for the future of Transfiguration of Christ in the sons and daughters of the church’s youngest members. She hopes that as the younger generation of Mattituck’s Greek community starts families of their own, they will reconnect with the church they were raised in. She said there is already evidence of this happening.
“Greek churches don’t close,” she said. “Our churches are our communities. We are our church.”
Photo: A stained-glass depiction of Jesus faces the altar from above the church’s front entrance. (Credit: Grant Parpan)
