Greek Orthodox church to hold first service in Attleboro Sunday

BY SUSAN LaHOUD SUN CHRONICLE STAFF -25/1/13

ATTLEBORO – The only Greek Orthodox church in the city will open its doors for the first time on Sunday.
It will be the first church of its denomination in Attleboro, said the Rev. Gregory Otis of Taunton.

The congregation, coming from Roslindale, will get its first look at the building on 6 Park Ave., the former site of Iglesia El Divino Redentor church, when the church holds its first service at 8 a.m. Sunday.

Otis said the building, listed by the city as being built in 1900, had been vacant for about three years before it was purchased by his church about 1 1/2 years ago.
He said the brick exterior building “is sound, but was badly run down.”

The church, about 3,130 square feet in size on 0.13-acre in a neighborhood off Park Street, has been renovated to include new windows, new front stairs and a new roof, Otis said.
He said the church had been looking for a new site, “and we found this property.”

There currently are about 60 congregants, many of whom live in Randolph and Jamaica Plain, with some from Rhode Island, Otis said.

The closest Greek Orthodox churches are in Mansfield and Pawtucket.
Otis said he hopes to grow the congregation to 120 with the new location.
The church is in a neighborhood of single- and multi-family homes.
Parking is planned on Park Avenue and Park Street, he said.

Otis said the property purchased also includes a rectory “that has to be renovated in the near future.”
Otis has been a priest for 28 years, 23 of them in Roslindale. He said he was trained in Athens.
“I think we will grow quickly,” he said of opening the new church in the city.

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