Our Church—History

Beginnings

Saints Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church began in 1974 when Metropolitan Vladimir of blessed memory made contact with Orthodox faithful in Colorado Springs. At the time, liturgical services were periodically held at the Air Force Academy by Orthodox chaplains. Encouraged by the response, Metropolitan Vladimir asked Father John Schreiber, then assistant priest at Saint Innocent Church in Tarzana, CA, to consider starting a mission in our city. While on vacation in August of 1974 Father John stopped in Colorado Springs. One month later he moved here and began work with the mission.

First Service: September 8th, 1974

The first “official” service took place on September 8, 1974—the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, and the beginning of the liturgical year... truly a fitting and appropriate beginning for a new Orthodox community. In those early days, Metropolitan Vladimir dedicated the community in memory of the heavenly patrons Saints Constantine and Helen. Divine Liturgy was celebrated every Sunday morning in various donated facilities, while Vespers and Feast Day services were held in Father John's apartment. In August of 1975, a little less than one year after the start of the mission, the Church was incorporated and an acre of land was purchased on North Chestnut Street.

At the Annual Meeting of January 1977, the parish discussed the possibility of a building program. A series of meetings were held with representatives of a church finance program, as the council explored selling bonds to build a Temple. All issues regarding such a program passed unanimously, the week of September 15th was declared “Bond Week”, and the entire issue of $40,000 sold in only four days! On October 2, 1977 Father John conducted the ground-breaking ceremony. Nine months later, on July 22, 1978 Great Vespers was held in Colorado Springs' first Orthodox Christian Temple, followed by Divine Liturgy the next morning....

Growth

It has been many years since those exciting days. Many people have come and gone, reflective both of the military influence, and the local economic “booms and busts”, of Colorado Springs’ past. Begun as a “pan-Orthodox” community, Saints Constantine and Helen has become a haven for those from other religious backgrounds. Visiting today, you will find us approximately 100 or so people struggling to live the fullness of Christian life together as it has been preserved and handed down to us. More than half of us are relatively new to Orthodoxy, a third of us range from new-born to young adult, we are not just a few young families, while many of our respected original founders are among us to this day. We are Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian... we are also South African, German, Anglo, Hispanic... Texan, Californian, Pennsylvanian... “American”. You will find us regularly participating in our Liturgical Life as a community. We have our Sunday fellowship meals, our social activities, our fund-raisers, Church Schools, Camps, and Retreats. We keep the fasts, we celebrate the Feasts. We struggle, we pray, we take to heart the Lord's commandment: “deny yourself, take up your cross... come and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). We seek to be evangelists by acquiring the virtues of Christ, becoming the “savour” of acceptable sacrifice (2 Corinthians 2:15; Matthew 5:16). We work to love one another (I John 4:12). We strive to be faithful. In September 2001, SS Constantine and Helen Church was blessed to break ground on a second new and glorious temple—reflective of both the quantitative and qualitative growth of Orthodoxy in southern Colorado. Not only is it larger, to accommodate growth, but it witnesses to the world the beauty, majesty, and fullness of Orthodox faith and our life together in Christ. The new “Theophany temple” was completed in June of 2002.