Please read the newspaper clipping from The Southampton Press.  We are very honored to have such an article penned about our new Sanctuary.

-Father Alex

The Best House In Town
by The Southampton Press

New churches and temples are founded from time to time, and a new house of worship is built, or established, with some degree of frequency as well. Each is a moment of celebration, and a sign of new life in a community. But rarely is a place blessed with something like the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, the magnificent new structure in Shinnecock Hills that had its inaugural service last week.

It took some 12 years and more than $12 million to create this stunning new complex, which is certain to become a South Fork landmark. It’s a remarkable combination of old and new: The building features state-of-the-art technology, such as solar shingles and high-definition cameras for live internet webcasts, but also has created places of honor for pieces from the Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, which was built in 1985 and demolished to make way for the new church. The former church, which was a lovely structure as well, has contributed its striking stained glass windows, for instance, to a heavily trafficked walkway linking the sanctuary to the Johnides Family Cultural Center and church offices.

Work is still continuing on the building: A mosaic is being created in Pisa, Italy, for the front facade of the sanctuary, and under the 60-foot dome some of the more spectacular details are still to come. Construction also is under way on the Nicholas S. Zoullas Hellenic Center, which will be a marvelous gathering space. But the church, which was patterned largely after the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, already is a marvel of wood, copper, marble, granite, limestone, mosaic and works of breathtaking art.

In a region with so many beautiful houses of worship, the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church still might be rivaled only by the Basilica of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Southampton and the Jewish Center of the Hamptons in East Hampton. Together, the three now make up an enviable trio demonstrating the best of man’s attempt to pay tribute to the Almighty—and reason enough, perhaps, for a South Fork pilgrimage for worshipers and architecture buffs alike.