Leadership 100 Members Support Major Renovation of Rye, New York Church (by Revekka Papadopoulou)
(L to R) Theodore Mathas, John Lykouretzos, Fr. Elias Villis, Archbishop Demetrios, Michael Psaros and Nick Balidis cut ribbon at renovation of building at Church of Our Saviour, Rye, New York.
Leadership 100 members, Michael G. Psaros, co-Founder and co-Managing Partner of KPS, and Theodore Mathas, Chairman of the Board and CEO of New York Life Insurance Company, along with John Lykouretzos, Founder and CIO of Hoplite Capital Management, were recognized for their generous support of a major renovation project of Church of Our Saviour in Rye, New York at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday, May 6, 2018.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios officiated at the Divine Liturgy and the Agiasmos service (Blessing of the Waters) for the newly and fully renovated buildings of the Community Center prior to the ceremony. His Eminence was assisted by the Presiding Priest, Protopresbyter Fr. Elias Villis, Archdeacon Panteleimon Papadopoulos and Deacon Evlogios Champas of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
"This is a great achievement of this community and you deserve the warmest congratulations and blessings" said Archbishop Demetrios adding that "as I was coming here in the morning I thought how many times Archbishop Iakovos of Blessed Memory took this route from Manhattan to Rye and back and how much Rye was influential in the life and activities of Archbishop Iakovos."
"I can't believe this day has finally come", said Michael Psaros. "We embarked about five years ago on our iconography project that created a diamond, a "byzantine jewel" in the Church itself. As soon as we completed our project, the rest of the 44,000 sq ft complex, which is quite large, really looked 60 years old and we knew we had to do something about that and as of today, we have a Church that is set in all respects for the next 50 years from every perspective and it is the blessing of blessings,” he noted.
"It's been a collective act of prayer for our community and I am so proud of our parish, so proud of Fr. Elias, and I am humbled by our donors," said the Parish Council President Nick Balidis.
"We are blessed today to have the Agiasmos for the recent renovation of our church facility. The Marros Hall, our classrooms, our offices, the kitchen and every bit of space was completely renovated and refurbished", said Fr. Elias Villis thanking the Archbishop for being with the community, the benefactors and all the donors "who made that dream possible".
John Anastasiou, an architect at Lothrop Associates LLP and a parishioner of Our Saviour, who supervised the $6.5 million renovation project which took five years to complete, said, "It's been a tremendous journey from the beginning, from the planning stages, working with this community, they are a wonderful community.”
