Greek Orthodox Church Moves to Carmel

Rev. Anastasios Gounaris

Beginning in Indianapolis with several families in 1910, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church has grown to over 2000 members and on Christmas Eve 2008 held their first services in a newly constructed Byzantine Temple in Carmel. I recently had the opportunity to sit down in this truly beautiful structure and talk to the Reverend Anastasios Gounaris.

Reverend Gounaris tells me that they have owned the twenty acres of land at the corner of 106th Street and Shelbourne Road since the late 1990’s. The Reverend tells me that even before he had arrived at Holy Trinity Church there had been talk of relocating the Parish northward from Indianapolis. Reverend Gounaris shared, “The majority of our Parishioners had pretty much moved north from where the church was formally located,” he goes on to say, “There are not a plethora of Orthodox Churches in Indianapolis, we are in the position of having to go to or be closer to where many of our parishioners live.”

Photo by Jonathan Haag

Holy Trinity is still in the process of getting their feet firmly planted in Carmel, but they are grateful and excited to be a part of the city. They offer many events and resources to the community, most notably GreekFest.

The Holy Trinity Parish will be holding the 37th annual GreekFest this coming summer. GreekFest is a time that the community can come together and celebrate diversity and culture. GreekFest has added a rich cultural element to Central Indiana that for many years was lacking. Reverend Gounaris tells me, “It was really the Holy Trinity Greek Festival that was one of the early events in Central Indiana that opened people’s minds and palates to the whole idea of foreign cuisine.”

This summer’s GreekFest will be the second year it will have been held at their new Carmel location. Last year’s GreekFest was an overwhelming success with the location change, although some may remember traffic jams, long lines, and lack of parking. Reverend Gounaris says they have been working on the logistics of GreekFest so that these problems will be kept to a minimum. The Parish encourages the entire community to come out and celebrate the Greek culture with them at the 37th annual GreekFest this year and in the years to come.

As for the future of GreekFest in Carmel, Reverend Gounaris says, “In the future we definitely want to introduce more activities that are of a cultural nature. We have that now with the food and the dancing, but we’re looking into expanding those offerings so that we can bring in artists and artisans from Greece that do all kinds of things from pottery to weaving and traditional arts and crafts, so as to expand and broaden the range of things we offer to those coming here to the Festival.”

GreekFest is by far not the only thing Holy Trinity Church has to offer. Reverend Gounaris adds, “We welcome all people to not only sit in on our worship, but to participate in the increasing range of activities we are going to be offering in this Parish in the years to come.”

Holy Trinity invites everyone from all backgrounds to visit them. On Sunday’s they hold Morning Prayers at 8:15 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 9:30 p.m., and on Wednesday’s, they hold Paraklesis, a supplication service to the Theotokos, at 6:30 p.m.

You can visit them at 3500 W. 106th Street Carmel, Indiana 46032 or online at www.holytrinityindy.org.