Saints Anargyroi, Taxiarchis & Gerasimos Greek Orthodox Church of Greenport

06/13/2025

A spiritual visit to the episcopate of Brisbane and all Queensland, and His grace bishop of Brisbane Mr. Bartholomew.
Thank you very much your Grace, for the warm welcome, your heartfelt filoxenia, and your precious gifts.
Χρόνια πολλά επικοδομητικά, καί υγειεί επ ευκαιρία τής ονομαστικής σας εορτής.

04/06/2025

OPEN INVITATION. Hello every one.
Let us celabrate the upcoming Palm Sunday (April 13) at the beautiful village of Greenport.
Our Holy church of Saints Anargiroi Taxiarhis and Gerasimos is open and is inviting all the faithful Orthodox Cristians to come and pray with us and to glorify our Lord.
We hope to see you All. Have aBlessed Holy week and a Splendor Easter.

03/11/2024

With much sadness we announce the passing of Bishop Ierotheos of Efkarpias who fell asleep to the Lord early this morning in Patra, Greece. May He Rest In Peace and May His Memory Be Eternal 🙏✝️

08/25/2023

ENGLISH EDITION AVAILABLE ON SITE

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations be made to:
Little Warrior Foundation
https://givebutter.com/jerryballas
and
Wings for Ewing's Sarcoma https://www.wingsforewingsarcoma.org/jerrynballas

ΝΕΑ ΥΟΡΚΗ. Κάλεσμα προς κάθε ενδιαφερόμενο προκειμένου να ενισχύσει δυο μη κερδοσκοπικούς οργανισμούς, που συνεισφέρουν στην καταπολέμηση του σαρκώματος Ewing, απευ...

08/21/2023

January 9, 2005 - August 20, 2023

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Fr. Jerasimos Ballas' grandson and namesake. Tragically, he fought a very valiant battle against cancer and succumbed yesterday morning.

Jerasimos Nicholas Ballas was a brilliant young man taken far too soon. He was an Eagle Scout who excelled in school, was musically gifted and loved by everyone for his personality and warmth.

May his memory be eternal and may God rest him and give strength to his family and all who grieve for him. 🙏✝️💔💐

The family made the following announcement:

It is with great sadness that our families once again lost a beloved child. We lost our beloved nephew, son, grandson. On April 19, 2021 Jerasimos Nicholas Ballas was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone cancer.

On Sunday August 20, 2023 at 10:30am he passed away after a long and hard fight. He is now in the Arms of our Creator.

As you can imagine we cannot talk right now and if you text please understand if we cannot respond right away or receive visitors at our house. We need some time.

Visitation: August 25, 2023 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Branch Funeral Home of Commack
2115 Jericho Turnpike
Commack, NY 11725

Service: August 26, 2023 10:30 am
St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church
1 Shrine Place
Greenlawn, NY 11740

Interment: August 26, 2023 12:00 pm
Commack Cemetery
450 Townline Road
Commack, NY 11725

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations be made to:

Little Warrior Foundation
https://givebutter.com/jerryballas and

Wings for Ewing's Sarcoma https://www.wingsforewingsarcoma.org/jerrynballas

08/10/2023

The response to our successful petition (with over 500 supporters!) fighting to protect our church, resulted in the sad desperation of those opposed. The makeshift "board" (inflicted upon our church by the deposed priest) works hard to impune the distinguished reputation of the true board that worked tirelessly and selflessly for years before the unwelcome intrusion.

Baseless claims against the board include huge amounts (laughably 25% to be exact!) of money being stolen over the years, hoarding in the church basement and other nonsense by them only show their fear and desperation. They should be ashamed of themselves for working so hard to fabricate these falsehoods. They do this because there are no wrongdoings to support their contempt and ire.

Had there ever been a misappropriation of funds, why wasn't it stopped years ago? Why wasn't the board punished and replaced?Why now, after Bishop Ierotheros' demand of all our records for a thorough audit which of course was passed with flying colors? There were never any cash withdrawals and no check was ever written without a valid invoice or receipt down to the penny.

Their claim of hoarding? Nothing personal was stored. The only things stored in the basement by the true board and Philoptochos were the church's Christmas trees and decorations, signs for events and various ecclesiastical items such as the baptismal font and brass hanging vigil candles. Everything else was restaurant items collected by Father Ballas. Upon his retiring, they were promised to people who never got the chance to take them. For some bizarre reason they were wastefully thrown out by the overzealous minions. They focused their efforts and church funds gleefully disposing of things that could have been repurposed. What did this accomplish when only authorized personnel ever goes into the storage basement? What have any of these people donated to the church that gave them the right to throw out the offerings of others? What have they ever replaced (at their own expense) for the betterment of the church? NOTHING!

Where's the Christianity in these people spewing lies and malice? And why? Because light was shed exposing corruption resulting in the culprits' being brought to task (and ultimate removal) for the good of the church? Because their misguided followers lost their excused leaders who share the same inappropriate goals? Because good triumphed over evil?

As that priest's removal was warranted and sanctioned, no actions or decisions of his should be respected or tolerated. This is especially true of the inept and insincere minions he shamefully appointed to serve his agenda.

To distance our church from further controversy, we were determined to join the mainstream of the majority of respected churches under the Archdiocese. The current "board" is against this. Our prayers have been answered (to their dismay) through the great efforts of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros. We believe this will be finalized next month and look forward to returning our church to a true house of God and worship.

Thankfully, our church is now presided by the very respected and affable V. Rev. Archimandrite Gerasimos Maroulas. He shares our determination, dedication and hopes for the future for the church. He is embraced by our established and newer parishioners who look forward to attending his services for years to come. Not many people are entering the priesthood nowadays. To have a young clergyman serve our church on the end of Long Island is a blessing.

This church is a cherished fixture in our community to congregants, neighbors and visitors alike. To remain as such, we must preserve its integrity and continue to work towards its success for future generations.

06/04/2023

I am grateful for the continuing trust and encouragement from His All-Holiness and the Synod in the process of revising the Charter. This ongoing commitment to a transparent and collaborative review underscores the importance of the Charter as a guiding document for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. I am equally thankful to His All-Holiness for the responsibility of nurturing the parishes and metochia of Chrysovalantou as they join our Archdiocese.
[📷 Brittainy Newman, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, June 7, 2022 - See comments for press release]

06/03/2023

The story of Pentecost is found in the book of The Acts of the Apostles. In Chapter two we are told that the Apostles of our Lord were gathered together in one place. Suddenly, a sound came from heaven like a rushing wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting. Then, tongues of fire appeared, and one sat upon each one of Apostles. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as directed by the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).

This miraculous event occurred on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, celebrated by the Jews on the fiftieth day after the Passover as the culmination of the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10). The Feast of Weeks began on the third day after the Passover with the presentation of the first harvest sheaves to God, and it concluded on Pentecost with the offering of two loaves of unleavened bread, representing the first products of the harvest (Leviticus 23:17-20; Deuteronomy 16:9-10).

Since the Jewish Feast of Pentecost was a great pilgrimage feast, many people from throughout the Roman Empire were gathered in Jerusalem on this day. When the people in Jerusalem heard the sound, they came together and heard their own languages being spoken by the Apostles (Acts 2:5-6). The people were amazed, knowing that some of those speaking were Galileans, and not men who would normally speak many different languages. They wondered what this meant, and some even thought the Apostles were drunk (Acts 2:7-13).

Peter, hearing these remarks, stood up and addressed the crowd. He preached to the people regarding the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He spoke about Jesus Christ and His death and glorious Resurrection. Great conviction fell upon the people, and they asked the Apostles, "What shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38-39).

The Bible records that on that day about three thousand were baptized. Following, the book of Acts states that the newly baptized continued daily to hear the teaching of the Apostles, as the early Christians met together for fellowship, the breaking of bread, and for prayer. Many wonderful signs and miracles were done through the Apostles, and the Lord added to the Church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

06/02/2023