The Greek-Orthodox Community of Leeds & Surrounding Districts was established on the 16th of September 1962 by Archimandrite Methodios Fouyas, who - at that time - was the Priest in charge of the Greek Community of Manchester.
Archimandrite Methodios Fouyas assembled all the known Greek habitants of Leeds at the Anglican Church of St. Matthew's, held the Divine Liturgy and at the end he appointed the first Administrative Committee, which consisted of:
* Michalis Papaioannou - President
* Neofytos Ioannou - Vice-President
* Filippos Evdokiou - Treasurer
* Andreas Paraschos - Secretary
* Takos Georgallis
* Andreas Efthimiou
* Paraskevas Kyriakou
* Christos Mastichis - Members
During the first two years from the establishment of the Community, the Mass was held in Leeds once a month, at the Anglican Church of St. Matthew's by Archimandrite Methodios Fouyas, who used to come from Manchester especially for this purpose. On the 1st of June 1964, the first regular Priest In Charge - father Kyriakos Ioannidis - was appointed and about a month later the Mass started to be held regularly every Sunday at the church of St. Matthew's.
On March 1965, the Community Committee, under the presidence of Neofytos Ioannou, managed to acquire its own church, by buying the church on Harehills Avenue. The opening service was held on the 30th of January 1966 by the then Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain, Athenagoras, who dedicated the Church to the Three Hierarchs. Since then the church has been functioning regularly and is the religious centre of the Community.
On December 1966, Archimandrite Sofronios Papadopoulos was appointed Priest In Charge of the Community and he worked untiringly until 1999 - when he retired - together with the various Committees for the development of the Community. In his days, the church was re-decorated, the School and the Community Centre were founded and the Community obtained and retained its current character.
Today our community is served by Presbyter Fr Samuel Kouspoyenis who took over as priest-in-charge in October 2002. Fr Samuel and his wife presvytera Eleni observe all the traditions of our Greek Orthodox Church and contribute to the continuation of Fr Sofronios' work. Fr Samuel is assisted in the church by Presbyter Father David Carnelley and Steward Paraschos Kyriacou.
The Greek-Orthodox Community today has got around 380 families registered in the community database and is a very live and active part of the wider Leeds region.
Apart from its permanent members the community is also reinforced by professionals and scientists who come from Greece and Cyprus for short periods of time for work or studies. They too contribute to the preservation of the Greek character of our community. The hundreds of students from Greece and Cyprus who study at our region's Universities also contribute to the same end.
