About Us
Many Orthodox churches were established to serve the needs of an immigrant population, and to faithfully transmit and preserve the rich cultural heritage, traditions and language of a specific nation of origin.
We at Holy Cross Orthodox Church, however, are a classic American community of ordinary people from many different ethnic and cultural groups, and our services are entirely in English. We are a very warm and open community and we welcome all visitors.
Our Parish History
On September 14, 2005, the day the Church commemorates the Elevation of the Holy Cross, a small group of families from Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point, NC met to discuss the need for a new Orthodox Mission church for the Triad Metropolitan area, and prayerfully decided to work diligently to establish such a mission. Father Marcus Burch of Greenville, SC and Father William Mills of Charlotte, NC generously helped, serving Vespers services every other week at All Saints Episcopal (Greensboro, NC) and some Divine Liturgy services. The first Divine Liturgy was held at Saint Matthew's Episcopal Church in Kernersville, NC on March 12, 2006.
In May 2006, the Mission learned that it was given the name of Holy Cross, commemorating the Elevation of the Holy Cross (the first day the founders all met). Later in May, we joyfully learned that Father Christopher Foley was assigned to our church. Father Christopher came to us directly from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary after graduating that year.
Our Bishop, His Eminence Archbishop Dmitri, first visited our parish on September 22, 2006. Vladyka Dmitri encouraged us not to be ashamed of the Gospel and to proclaim with boldness Jesus Christ, who is the fulness of what it is to be man and what it is to be God. His visit was a real blessing to us at this early stage of our mission.
September 30, 2006 brought Fr. Ted Pisarchuk to our community for a retreat/workshop on church growth. He is the missions director for the diocese of the South. He really challenged us to step out in faith and be open to God's direction as we continue the search for a more permanent location. He reminded us that the Church is more than just a building, it is the people of God gathered around Christ at the altar. He gave some very practical advice to us for the building up of this vineyard in the Triad area.
Looking for a more permanent home, we leased and renovated an unused Fellowship Hall at Christ Presbyterian Church in High Point. On December 24, 2006 we celebrated our first Divine Liturgy in our new home. What a wonderful Christmas gift for us at Holy Cross. God is good!
Since that time, we have acquired a new iconostas and continue to work on the interior of our church. Our parish continues to grow. We would love to welcome you into our parish family!
Our Mission was Featured on the Diocesan web site:
January 25, 2007
(Greensboro, NC) First, a great deal of work to plant the new community. Then, the challenge of what it will take to attract a full-time priest. Next the priest arrives, fresh out of seminary, and begins his work and now the original location for the mission is too small and a larger meeting place is needed.
These are some of the steps that Priest Christopher Foley and the faithful members of Holy Cross Mission here have accomplished for the Glory of God in less than one year. "It is amazing to see what people of faith and commitment can do," says Fr. Foley. "There does not seem to be any challenge too great. They want this mission to grow and not only be their spiritual home but be a spiritual home for all those searching for Orthodoxy."
The population movement to the Carolinas is not lost on His Eminence, Archbishop DMITRI. "The missionary commitment in the Carolinas Deanery is not being overstated because the opportunities for growth are right before us," states His Eminence. "To not respond to what the Lord is giving us would not only be a lost opportunity, but a sin!"
The small but determined group of missionaries at Holy Cross Mission seized the chance to move up and occupy unused space at Christ Presbyterian Church in Greensboro. "God has blessed our new mission with a great new space for worship. We had previously been using a meeting room at a local hotel," says Fr. Christopher. "We have been in our new building now for a month and have been very busy remodeling and painting." This is mission life in the DOS.
The new Holy Cross location will allow the mission to expand its liturgical service schedule just in time for Great Lent and to accommodate their continued growth which now has topped 50 on a Sunday. It is only a matter of time before this mission will outgrow its current location and will set its sights on building their own church.