Parish History

In 1965, Archbishop Iakovos (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Honolulu, marking his firm commitment to establish a church here. Fulfilling the promise of Archbishop Iakovos, Fr. Dean Gigicos arrived in 1968 and the following year, we moved into our first home at 17 Old Pali Place.

Throughout the ‘growing years’ of our Parish, we continued to receive new members from varied Orthodox traditions, as well as through converts and our community took on a unique personality – a ‘home away from home’ for all: those transplanted through work, transient military families, and retirees from the Mainland. 

By the 1980’s we had begun to outgrow our home and were in need of larger facilities. Our prayers were answered through the kind guidance and generous assistance of Mr. William Chirgotis, who would become our great benefactor. In 1988 we purchased our current home, a complex of worship, meeting, social and bookstore/library facilities. In November of 1990, Archbishop Iakovos returned once again to Saints Constantine and Helen. This time he officiated at the consecration of the church, assisted by two metropolitan archbishops, two bishops, two priests of the Parish (past and present), the archdeacon, and hundreds of Orthodox faithful and friends.

Today, we are home to many families of Orthodox Christians – ‘cradle’ Orthodox of Greek, Slavic, and Arabic background – as well as a goodly number of converts to the faith. Given the cultural variety of our community, services are primarily in English, with some Greek and Church Slavonic intermixed.