St. Demetrios Welcomes Fr. James Kumarelas and His Wife, Presvytera Vasso

On Sunday, October 18th, our community celebrated the first Divine Liturgy with our new assistant priest, Fr. James Kumarelas and his Presvytera, Vasso. 

Assigned by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, Fr. James officially began his ministry as the 2nd priest at St. Demetrios on October 15, 2020. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on October 10th and the Holy Priesthood on October 11th   by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos at Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Oakland, CA, the home parish of Fr. James.

Fr. James is a graduate of Holy Cross, class of 2020, and Hellenic College in 2017. Born and raised in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension, in Oakland California, Fr. James had been highly involved in the life of his parish, serving the youth as dance director and summer camp staff member. He has a background in lighting and electrical for the film and television industry, and also served his community by handling all the electrical needs for their Greek Festival. Married in 2018, he and his wife Vasso, a Physician Assistant, spent two years living on campus in the married student village. They feel blessed to have had the opportunity for building friendships and developing their cooking skills, in addition to their spiritual formation while at Holy Cross. Fr. James and Presvytera Vasso both enjoy the outdoors, which is unmatched by Pacific Northwest, an are excited to begin a new chapter in their life together in serving Christ and His Church. Welcome, Fr. James and Presvytera Vasso! AXIOS!