Father Constantine to Retire
After serving 27 years as parish priest of the Nativity of Christ Greek Orthodox Church, located in Novato, Reverend Constantine Efstathiu will be retiring on August 28, a date that also marks the 45th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. After presiding over the Sunday Divine Liturgy, he will be honored by the parish at a luncheon and reception sponsored by the Ladies Philoptochos Society of the church. In the evening the church parish council will host a Celebratory Banquet in Father Constantine’s honor.
Father Constantine, a native of Los Angeles, graduated from the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA, in 1965. Following graduation, he and his wife, Kay, nee Stylianopoulos, of Seattle, Washington, were married. They traveled to Greece where Father did graduate work at the University of Thessalonica Theological School for one year. Upon their return to the United States, he was ordained a deacon on August 27, 1966, at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles, and a priest on August 28, 1966 at St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Church in Pasadena. He served as an assistant priest for one year at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco, and in 1967 was assigned to the St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church in Stockton, where he served 17 years before being appointed to succeed Father James Adams, the Marin church’s first parish priest, who was transferred to Los Angeles to serve the St. Sophia Cathedral parish.
During his tenure at Nativity of Christ Church, Father Constantine has focused on the Liturgical life of the Church, the Sunday School program and related youth activities, stewardship, missions, outreach, and philanthropy. Under the Petaluma resident’s watch, the church membership grew to 300 plus families and the Sunday School expanded to more than 100 children. While serving in Marin, Father Constantine oversaw the building of the parish’s 400-seat Community Center. The new facility enabled the church-sponsored Marin Greek Festival to move from the Marin Civic Center to the parish grounds, and provided a basketball court for Marin youth leagues and a welcoming space for parish fellowship. A priest who believes in giving to the community, Father Constantine has inspired the parish to make philanthropy a substantial line item in the ministry budget and to give a percentage of the earnings of the annual Marin Greek Festival to a local charity. A few of the Marin organizations who have benefitted are the Novato Youth Center, Marin Advocates for Children, Marin Food Bank, and most recently, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Bay. Fundraising for mission work in Africa, Central America, and Albania has been a cornerstone of each Lenten season during Father Constantine’s ministry. The consecration of the church edifice, a major milestone in the life of the parish and an occasion requiring more than a year of extensive preparation, took place in 2003 under Father Constantine’s guidance.
Peter Eliades, Parish Council President, echoes the sentiments of the parish community, saying, “Our Parish of The Nativity of Christ approaches Father Constantine Efstathiu’s retirement with such bittersweet emotions. The love and spiritual guidance he has offered each and every parishioner will be sorely missed, as will his heartfelt spirituality as evidenced every Sunday while presiding over the Divine Liturgy. On the other hand, we are so happy that his hectic everyday schedule will be greatly eased, and he will have the opportunity to spend more time with Presbytera Kay and their beloved family.”
When asked about his impending retirement, Father Constantine responded: “I have many mixed emotions, of course. I’m extremely grateful to God for His many and bountiful blessings and for the privilege to serve Him as a priest these past 45 years. I’m deeply indebted to my wife, Kay for her love and unflagging support in my ministry. I’m also very grateful for the love and respect of the parish and of the many parishioners whom over the years I have had the privilege to work with and serve. I pray the parish will show my successor the same love and respect they have shown me and my family. By God’s grace, I hope to continue to serve the Lord as He sees fit. I’m retiring not from the priesthood but from the everyday responsibilities of the parish. It is time to turn the reins over to younger hands.”
At Father Constantine’s celebration of 40 years in the priesthood, the Marin parish gave him a trip for two to Greece, which Father and Presbytera Kay will take in September, an encore to the honeymoon trip they made to Greece in 1965.
Friends of the parish are welcome to partake of the retirement festivities by attending the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, August 28, followed by a reception on the deck. Reservations may be made by calling the church office at 415-883-1998.
