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For decades, the steep steps and uneven levels of St. Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church in Peabody, Massachusetts were simply quirks of a parish that had grown over a century of ministry.
Fr. Christopher Foustoukos, Proistamenos of St. Vasilios, shares that the campus includes three buildings constructed across more than 50 years: the church, a Greek school building, and an educational center, which includes a gymnasium and additional classrooms.
“Everything is on a different level,” Fr. Chris said.
Accessibility was never part of the original design, but as the community’s needs changed, so too did the parish’s sense of responsibility as its faithful struggled to enter and participate fully in church life.
“Seeing people have to be carried up, come in through the fire exit, or from the back … We wanted everyone to come in the same way, and for everyone to have space,” Fr. Chris said.
The community began with a cement ramp, allowing wheelchair users to enter the church through the front door.
After resolving this issue, however, the community became more aware of additional accessibility concerns.
“When we handled one problem, after a while, we would see that there’s still a problem,” Fr. Chris said. “They could come into church, but they can’t go to coffee hour in the gymnasium.”
“It finally culminated in … ‘We have to make the whole campus accessible.’”
Fr. Chris emphasizes that St. Vasilios’s transformation is not the work of a wealthy parish, but of a dedicated one.
“We just felt like it was something that we had to do,” Fr. Chris said. “Investing for the future.”
Parishioners across generations shared their experiences, from older parishioners with mobility issues to young athletes recovering from injuries. Nearly everyone had a loved one affected by the lack of accessibility.
“That issue became the enemy,” Fr. Christopher said. “Everyone put their shoulder to the grindstone.”
“The parish council and the building committee … realized we’ve got to move with this, make it happen.”
The whole community responded, completing fundraising and securing grants for the renovations.
“We needed to fight … so the church was open to everyone,” Fr. Chris said. “And it just came together. People gave, we wrote for grants, and it happened.”
After securing funds and selecting a builder, the physical work began, with the project taking close to a year to complete. Three months after the final installation, the parish dedicated its fully-accessible campus.
The results are extensive and transformative.
“We cut some pews … so there’s room for wheelchair users to be in with the pews and not up by the solea,” Fr. Christopher said. “So they could be sitting with everybody else.”
Between the Greek School building, the church, and the educational center, the parish constructed a new ramp connecting all spaces smoothly. They also put in an elevator which connects the narthex to lower levels, and installed accessible bathrooms in the community spaces.
“All the buildings now are tied together,” Fr. Chris said. “People, whatever their challenges are in mobility, can go from building to building.”
“A lot of people who couldn’t negotiate getting into church, or could get into church but then it was just too much to get into the educational center … would just go home,” Fr. Chris sads. “Now … it’s eliminated that challenge for them.”
Able to move between the community’s three buildings independently, every parishioner can now participate fully in the life of the church: liturgy, ministries, coffee hour, fellowship, and community events.
The goal was never convenience, but communion.
“The enemy was not having everyone in church,” Fr. Chris said.
Through faith and determination St. Vasilios has conquered that enemy—ensuring that every parishioner can enter, worship, and belong.
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