Parish History

Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church is a parish community strongly committed to an active life in Christ. We are a growing community, sharing a desire to live the Orthodox faith with purpose and joy. We seek to spread the Light of Christ to all people through worship, fellowship and service. Our members span all demographics, and we seek to serve all. Many of our members are Greek, while others are Russian, Romanian, Serbian, and still many others are so-called “converts” from other backgrounds into Orthodoxy.

Christ the Savior is a relatively new parish with an unusual history. The first Greek Orthodox community in the Tri-Cities dated back to the early 80’s, in the mid-90’s finding a permanent home here in Bluff City and taking the name Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. In the late 90’s an Antiochian Orthodox community was established in Johnson City, named Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church. For several years the two small communities co-existed, occasionally joining together for special worship services or events. In the summer of 2013 it was decided by the overseeing bishops—Metropolitan Alexios for the Greek Orthodox and Bishop Antoun for the Antiochian Orthodox—that the two communities should be united into one, so they may be stronger together than apart.

It was an unprecedented action, and a difficult transition, but on the feast of Pentecost in June of 2013, the united community celebrated their first Divine Liturgy on this property. Fr. Stephen Mathewes had been transferred in from the Antiochian parish, and the name Christ the Savior was adopted for the new community. We have been a united (and ever-growing!) parish ever since.