Houston’s Oldest Greek Orthodox Church Expands, Embraces Ancient Artistic Tradition
HOUSTON — The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, one of the largest Greek Orthodox communities in the nation, expects to cover each of its walls with colorful Byzantine iconography by the year 2027, hoping to continue expanding as membership grows.
Formed in 1917, the Annunciation community was the first organized Greek Orthodox Church in Houston. The community moved the church to its current location in 1950 because of the growing city and its own expanding membership.
To meet their growing needs and provide a more traditional atmosphere of worship, Annunciation began its $12.5 million expansion project in 2017, which included additional space for the sanctuary, a dome and iconography filling every white space.
Prior to 2017, the cathedral, at 9,690 square feet, could only hold roughly 400 people at a time, causing officials to host two liturgies to accommodate the larger number of people, according to Father Efstratios Magoulias, head priest at Annunciation.
The expansion portion of the project has added 11,744 square feet. Today, the cathedral, at 21,434 square feet, can comfortably house close to 1,000 people, Magoulias said.
“By having one liturgy, it means that people can come together,” he added. “It allows us to have more of a community. Having two liturgies really caused a disconnect, almost. With the way that the city grew and the community was, they didn’t want to build more churches. So, that’s why we expanded rather than build another building.”
Magoulias said he attributes growth in the Orthodox faith to people’s curiosity and a desire for ancient Christian worship.
“As people look through YouTube, they can find a good video that brings them into learning more about Jesus or theologians or apologists,” he said. “Then they ask, ‘what would they believe?’ Oh, they’re Orthodox. So, because people can now research online, they can now learn things and find their way to an Orthodox church. It’s a really beautiful thing.”
In Texas, for example, the dissatisfaction with theological shifts in Protestant churches has led many newcomers in Orthodox communities such as Annunciation. In Houston alone, the portion of Protestants has steadily decreased from 54% in 2009 to 38% in 2024, according to a study by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.
“We are seeing, specifically in Houston, because there are so many Protestant megachurches, when a pastor either passes away, or retires and passes it along to the next person, they’ll change their theology,” Magoulias said. “We hear them often say things like, ‘I was at this church and the new preacher came in and he was preaching something different that I don’t believe in.’ But in the Orthodox church, you can go into any in the world and it is the exact same service passed down through tradition.”
The other half of the expansion includes the Byzantine iconography, which is art originating from the Byzantine Empire passed down through Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Icons can represent Jesus, the Virgin Mary, saints and the Holy Trinity.
The iconography portion of the project will cost about $2.3 million to complete. The Annunciation community has raised $400,000 so far and is still accepting donations on its website.
Manolis Kacallaris, an iconographer from Athens, and his team began working on the art in 2018. While the pandemic slowed down the process, Kacallaris was able to complete the iconography on the dome and the upper north and south walls and ceilings, Magoulias said.
The placement of each art piece is also intentional and follows a mostly chronological order.
“In the highest point, the top of the dome, is an icon of Jesus, then going down we have angels serving the divine liturgy, then we have the 16 prophets of the Old Testament,” Magoulias said. “Then, as we get closer to us, we see the genealogy of Christ from Adam and Eve.”
The icons also serve a purpose within Orthodox worship and teaching. Historically, icons have helped visualize Bible stories for those who were illiterate. Today, they can still provide a visual representation of biblical characters and stories that can create teaching moments.
“We’re visual learners,” Magoulias said. “So to be able to step into a church and see the icons and understand Scripture is crucial. Here we use all five of our senses to worship. We see the icons, we hear the words and hymns, we smell the incense, we touch and kiss the icons and we taste the Holy Communion.”
The ceiling and main walls of the church will soon depict the life of Christ from his birth to his resurrection, saints throughout history and various other biblical stories, he said. The main body of the church, also called the nave, will be finished in 2026, and finally the choir loft in 2027.
“By the end of the project, all the white space will be icons,” Magoulias said.
Myrian Orea is a Religion Unplugged contributor based in Texas.