Greek Orthodox Church

In a historic move that signals a new era for Orthodox Christians in the West, leaders of the Orthodox Church reached into the ranks of American-born prelates last week and elected an Ohio native, Metropolitan Spyridon of Italy, to head the newly created Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Spyridon succeeds Archbishop Iakovos, who ruled the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America for 37 years.

Father George Stephanides, 63, influential pastor of the large St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine. He led the congregation's growth from the 57 families when he arrived in 1978 to 700 families today. Born in Boston, Stephanides earned degrees in religion, the classics and theology from Hellenic College-Holy Cross Seminary, Boston University and Princeton Theological Seminary. He also studied at the University of Athens in Greece, and at Harvard and Rutgers universities.

Father George Stephanides, influential pastor of the large St. Paul's Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine, had died at age 63. He led the congregation's growth from just 57 families when he arrived in 1978 to 700 families now. Born in Boston, Stephanides earned degrees in religion, the classics and theology from Hellenic College-Holy Cross Seminary, Boston University and Princeton Theological Seminary.

It was a crucial moment in American history. The 1965 memorial service had just concluded for a Boston minister beaten to death in Selma, Ala., by white toughs who could not abide the idea of a white man defending a black man's cause. Standing beside Martin Luther King Jr., the bearded, black-veiled Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos seemed like a visitor from another world, another time.

Dockside "blessing of the waters" rites in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, highlighted by young divers jumping into the cold water after a cross tossed by a clergyman, will be held at Ventura Harbor on Sunday and at Long Beach Harbor on Jan. 14. Priests usually lead the ceremony on a Sunday near Epiphany, Jan. 6, when Orthodox churches commemorate John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.

Archbishop Spyridon was enthroned as the first U.S.-born head of the Greek Orthodox church in America, promising to build a Christian ministry relevant to life in a multiethnic country. "We must love those who are different," he told a congregation of more than 1,000 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Spyridon, 51, succeeds Archbishop Iakovos, 85, who retired in July after serving 37 years as spiritual leader of 2 million Greek Orthodox faithful in North and South America.

Archbishop Geron Iakovos, a catalyst for ecumenism among the world's Christian religions and the spiritual leader of 2.5 million Greek Orthodox believers in North and South America, will step down next summer after a storied 36-year career.

In this time-stood-still land, where oxen still power many plows and donkey carts jostle with automobiles on the pitted roadways, progress is measured in tiny steps. For blacksmith Tomorr Halili and this impoverished mountain community, it is the newly opened forge where Halili uses a primitive furnace, a sledgehammer, an anvil and other simple tools to repair his neighbors' farm equipment.

To outsiders, the cathedral-like, gold-domed Greek Orthodox church sitting on a knoll in Northridge appeared unshaken by the January, 1994, earthquake. But, in fact, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church sustained $1.7 million in interior damage to its soaring mosaics, walls and windows. Only this month has its 1,100-family congregation been able to worship without scaffolding blocking the view of its Byzantine-style artwork.