GECB

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.

We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves, except by His mercy. We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save.

We believe His choice is based on His grace, not on any human individual merit. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation. We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His promises.

We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him. We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself. We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Our Purpose

The purpose of our Church is to publicly worship our Lord, to teach the Word of God, to lead the lost to Jesus Christ, who is “the way and the truth and the life,” and to offer Christian fellowship, love, and encouragement.

The aim of the Church of Christ is to preach the gospel to all creation. The call of the gospel, then, is an invitation for every soul to come to Christ. It is the call that Christ Himself made inviting people to come near Him: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11: 28).

This call from Christ conceals within itself all of the mercy, love, forgiveness and grace of God, because it is addressed to people who are weary, burdened, discouraged and afraid. This invitation is addressed to sinners who He calls neither to punishment nor defense, but to repentance for their sins, to faith in Christ Himself, to salvation, to rest, to forgiveness, to a real and full life.

This heavenly and divine call is addressed to all. The response is that we personally go to Christ, because only Christ saves. He died for our sins, and was resurrected for our justification (Romans 4: 25). In the Holy Bible we read, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by whom we must be saved.” (Acts 4: 12)

OUR PASTOR

Pastor Kostas Emmanouilidis was born in Akropotamos, Thessalonica and at the age of eleven he moved with his parents to the city of Thessalonica. After his military service God touched his heart in a wonderful and blessed way calling him not only to become His child but also to serve Him as a Pastor.

Before the end of his studies, first at the Bible school in Athens and later at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam, he was invited to work as a Pastor at the Greek Evangelical Church of Mylotopos, were he served for seven years, from 1992 to 1999. From 1999 to 2004, he served the Greek Evangelical Church of Nikea in Athens and by the end of July 2004, after accepting the invitation of the church; he has become the Pastor of the Greek Evangelical Church of Boston in USA.

OUR ELDERS

OUR DEACONS

HISTORY

The Greek Evangelical Church originates spiritually from the Apostolic Church that Jesus Christ Himself founded and historically from the Reformation of the 16th century. The Greek Evangelical Church in Boston was founded in 1963 by Greek Evangelicals who had immigrated to America. We derive our name “Evangelical” from the Greek word “Ευαγγέλιο” for the entire Holy Bible, which makes up the sole canon of our life and faith. We worship God with the propriety and devotion that is suitable for Him and with the simplicity of the first Apostolic Church.

The first group of Greek Protestant believers met as a small gathering of immigrants led by Rev. Michael Kantarges in the early 1960’s. At that time, these believers set up formal services in various buildings in Boston Area Churches, namely The First Congregationalist Church on Newbury Street. The Greek Evangelical Church of Boston was incorporated on July 20, 1964 with 80 members, 40 men and 40 women. In 1970, the local radio program was established under Rev. Argos Zodhiates where sermons in the Greek language were recorded and broadcasted on AM radio. This radio program continues to this day.

The established Greek Evangelical Church of Boston set out to find a permanent church building to purchase and occupy. In 1972, the Greek Evangelical Church of Boston purchased the First Church of Newton from the First Congregational Church of Newton. In 1978, the Greek Evangelical Church of Boston built an addition above the chapel of the church to add new classrooms and two apartments. The apartments provide housing for theology students from Greece and America who come to Boston to study at local seminary schools and upon graduation enter into the ministry. In 1980, the Koraes Greek Institute (School) was established and later the Greek School began for promoting the Greek Language within the church.

The church continues to worship in the Greek language as well as in the English language. In 1996, the Greek Evangelical Church participated in the first Greek Independence Day parade of Boston. In 1997, the Church established two scholarship funds in memory of Rev. Argos Zodhiates and Lazarus Kantarges at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In 2001, the Church’s parsonage was completed on the side of the Church building on Bowen Street to house the pastor’s family.