Due to political and social instability that existed in Greece, many Greeks in the early 1900’s began to search for a better life abroad, therefore immigrating to the United States. During the first decade of the 1900’s, many Greek immigrants that lived in the city of Paterson and neighboring cities, felt the need for more meaning and purpose in their lives.  They believed that this would be possible only if they could worship their God with the Orthodox beliefs they were taught while they were growing up. In addition to fulfilling their religious and spiritual needs, they also yearned for the continuation of their Greek culture, language, and traditions in the new country. Even though many of these immigrants that resided in Paterson and the surrounding areas attended Sunday Liturgies, at St. Nicholas in Newark, their dream was to have their own community. The dream for these Greek immigrants to have their own Church and School came to fruition in the mid 1900’s, when Stavros Sinopoulos found a small room in a building on Market Street in Paterson, which would be used for the Greek Language School.  The Greek School teacher was Mr. Nasis. This was the beginning of the Greek Community of Paterson. 
   On October 31^st, 1921, the small building on 230 Market Street became the first official Greek School and Church for the Greek immigrants of Paterson, NJ.  On Sundays, various priests offered the body and blood of Christ to the faithful, one of these priests being Fr. Agelopoulos. On January 17^th, 1922 the first parish council of St. Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church, with the presiding president, Spiro Papaioannou, officially asked the residing Exarch of America and Canada, Metropolitan Germanos of Monemvasia and Lakethemonia, to ordain Mr. Demetrios Mesiris, theologian, as presbyter of the community, and so he became the first pastor of St. Athanasios in the beginning of 1922.
   The community of St. Athanasios gradually began to grow and soon it became necessary to relocate.  In order to continue its mission, in the beginning of 1923 parishioners Peter Bakos, Constantine Rogokos and Andreas Rogokos donated a property on 22-26 Southard Street in Paterson for the construction of the new Church and School. The above men were responsible for the various fundraising events that were needed for the finances of the construction. These individuals donated much of their time and effort, as well as gave financial support, so it was decided that the name of the patron saint of the Church “St. Athanasios” would be given in memory of Peter Bakos’ son, who had passed away at the very young age of 18. Even though the construction of the church continued, on March 26, 1925, Rev. Fr. Dimitrios Mesiris was reassigned to Albany, New York. On June 5, 1925 the very Reverend Archimandrite Arsenios Saltas took over as pastor of St. Athanasios, along with the parish council President Spiro Papaioannou, Vice President John Karvelos, Treasurer Peter Bakos, Secretary Efthimios Tsilios and Assistant Secretary John Votsis. The parish council, along with August Rogokos, William Roulias, Dimitrios Lanaris, and Charlie Moutzouroulias continued with great effort and faith the struggle for the raising of financial contributions that were needed. On December 23, 1928, the very Rev. Archimandrite Arsenios Saltas, along with Parish Council President Peter Adams, and many distinguished guests, attended the cornerstone ceremony, which was performed by the Archbishop Alexander of America and accompanied by many Orthodox priests, as well as the Ambassador of Greece Harry Simopoulos and the Greek General councilman Mr. Maheria. Also it is worth mentioning the zealous efforts during this time, of the faithful parishioners: Timolean Stasinopoulos, Dennis Cacoliris, Christos Zorbas, Nicholas Saramis, John Thebos, Petros Manikas, Constantinos Actipis, George Drenios, John Votsis, John Arnopoulos, Petros Simopoulos, Louis Anastasopoulos, Dimostenis Giorgopoulos, Mr. Loukides, and Mr. Savvas. Mr. Zenon, Mr. Baziotis and Sam Arrow who made the completion of the building of St. Athanasios Church and School a primary goal in their lives. After the Very Rev. Arsenios Saltas left on October 2, 1930 the presiding President Peter Adams asked the Exarch of America, His Eminence Metropolitan Damaskino, to bring in Fr. Dimitrios Stephanopoulos from Richmond, Va. as the new pastor. Fr. Stephanopoulos then took over and showed a tremendous amount of devotion and dedication towards the community. He became the only pastor who remained at the community of St. Athanasios for so many years. Fr. Stephanopoulos, with President Constantine Actipis, Nick Saramandis, Dimostenis Carras, Peter Adams, Dennis Cacoliris, Athanasios Roumeliotis, Theodore Constatinis, Andreas Rogokos, and Christos Vasilakopoulos expanded the building of St. Athanasios. On October 20, 1939, began the interior design of the church. The iconographer Mr. Constantinos Triantaphillou did the iconography of St. Athanasios. Archbishop Athenagoras of North and South America consecrated the church of St. Athanasios in the mid 1940’s.  Fr. Dimitrios Stephanopoulos, Mr. Iconomidis,  Andrioniki Petriti, Theano Mouzani, Angela Plouni, Anastasia Actipis, Chryssie Gregoriou, Andriana Gregoriou, and Toula Misothoulaki were assigned as the Greek language teachers of St. Athanasios. The church and school were completed and the community of St. Athanasios flourished and played a very active role in the community of Paterson, NJ
   On September 30, 1962, at the Suburban restaurant during a farewell dinner honoring Fr. Stephanopoulos and his ministry, Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America, called him a very spiritual individual, a tireless worker, and a very loved clergyman.
   On June 1, 1962, the new pastor assigned was Fr. John Psillas. Fr. John remained with the community of St. Athanasios, until September 15, 1967. Fr. John, together with President George Stathakis and the entire parish council, put a great deal of effort into increasing the membership of St. Athanasios which had already reached a peak of over 600 members.
   The deterioration of the city of Paterson, due to the increase of violence and crime, soon became a crucial issue for the community of St. Athanasios. This caused many members of the community to become more cautious and less involved in the activities within the community. This increase in criminal activity caused a decline in membership and brought on financial hardship to the community. Fr. John Psillas forsaw the dramatic change that would become necessary in the community, and began to discuss among the members, the possibility of relocating the community to Bergen County.
   On October 1, 1967 Fr. George Stavrianakis took over as pastor of St. Athanasios. He entered the community at a time of turmoil and had to confront many problems because not only was the membership declining, but so was the financial stability of the community. This brought about even more emphasis on relocating and so with President Savas Veros, they soon began their search for a new location. Fr. George tried to keep the spirits of the parishioners alive.  After successfully celebrating the 50-year Anniversary of the community, he encouraged the parishioners to continue their support for the community and their efforts to relocate to Bergen County. On June 23, 1972, which was also the 50-year anniversary of the community, Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America gave the medal “Apostolo Pavlos” to all the community members who donated their time, money, and efforts. The President, Nicholas Constandelis, then announced to Archbishop Iakovos, the community’s decision to relocate.   On October 1, 1974, Fr. George Stavrianakis was reassigned to California. On February 1975, very Reverend Archimandrite Athenagoras Zacopoulos joined the community as the new pastor. Together, with President Nick Gagis, the property was purchased for the future location of the community. Fr. Zacopoulos, with his extensive background, took over the responsibilities for the selling of the old church and took charge of the fundraising efforts for the new church and community center. In the meantime, it became necessary to find a temporary place to hold the Liturgical services until the new church was built. Fr. Zacopoulos made arrangements with St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Fairlawn, to hold services. St. Ann’s Church was very generous and not only offered the church for services, but also their classrooms for Sunday and Greek school classes.  In the summer of 1978, Fr. Zacopoulos left for Greece and soon after was ordained as the new Metropolitan Fokithas.  On October 15, 1978 the new pastor of St. Athanasios became Fr. George Longos. Fr. George continued the fundraising efforts for the completion of the community center.  Construction began in 1976. During the last months of 1980, the community center was completed and Fr. Longos took the temblor and all the icons from the old church of Paterson and transferred them to the new community center, and soon liturgical services began. The president at this time was Mr. John Betts. The new community of St. Athanasios begins its new mission in Paramus, NJ. Soon after, Fr. George Longos was reassigned to a new community in Chicago and the new pastor became Fr. John Argyros. His mission was very difficult because of the necessity to bring back many of the parishioners who had left the community because of the difficulties in Paterson. Fr. Argyros, with the cooperation of President John Betts, tried to reestablish the community, stabilize its’ finances, and repay the mortgage of the community center that had reached over a million dollars.
   Towards late 1985, Fr. Argyros was reassigned to a community in Long Island. Fr. George Gallas was assigned to take over the position of pastor of St. Athanasios. Fr. George was a strong leader and a charismatic servant of God, who realized very early after taking the position what the community needed. He wanted to unite all the parishioners and make the community one of the most progressive spiritually, as well culturally, in Bergen County. Along with the president Antonios Emmanouilidis, they began to study the plans for the building of the church.  With the help of architects Taki Langas and Steve Papadatos, as well as many parishioners, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the church was performed in mid 1989. This ceremony was officiated by His Excellency Metropolitan Silas and many other priests from the area. The new fundraising effort for the construction of the church had now begun. The cost of the construction was estimated at over 1.5 million dollars. Finally, after much effort, the construction was completed in 1992. Many participated in order to accomplish this goal including the building committee and many parishioners who donated their time, talents and efforts. April 19, 1992 was a blessed day that marked the history of the community of St. Athanasios of Paramus. Metropolitan Silas officiated the ceremony of the new Byzantine church. Besides Fr. George Gallas, many other Orthodox priests participated in the ceremony. Fr. George had finally fulfilled one of his dreams.  He continued his spiritual job to the community as well as putting much effort into bringing in new members. In the summer of 1999, Fr. Gallas retired, leaving behind a history of great leadership and contribution. The new pastor assigned to St. Athanasios was Fr. Apostolos Panos.  Fr. Paul was a young priest with a great deal of love and compassion for his community. He continued with the work needed for the completion of the interior design of the church, he organized various youth organizations, and put much effort towards raising funds for the iconography and various other needs of the community.
   In 1999, after catastrophic weather, flooding caused huge destruction to the community center. The lower level, which included the classrooms and offices, were severely damaged. The community was in dire need of financial support. Fr. Panos and President Kathie Terodemos, along with the help of the Kapsaskis family, introduced the community to the well known Greek American businessman, Dr. Christos Cotsakos, former CEO of E* trade and former parishioner of St. Athanasios in Paterson. During his childhood, Dr. Cotsakos was an altar boy and student of the afternoon Greek school in Paterson. With great generosity, he donated to St. Athanasios  $1,080,819 dollars for the recovery of the flood damage, the new iconostasis, the payment of the mortgage for the church and community center, as well as Festival relief and the balance for the church’s marble floor . This money was given from 1999-2001. Dr. Cotsakos never forgot the help that he received in order to continue his studies from the church and the AHEPA organization. Fr. Panos, was reassigned to Long Island in May of 2004, where he presently remains. The new pastor assigned is Fr. Panagiotis Lekkas. Fr. Lekkas’ dream is to raise the community to the heights it deserves.
   We must not forget the contributions, time, and effort given to the community by Sam Langas, Stavros Theohari, Milton Scour, Panagiotis Laskarakis, Gregory Anastos, Constantine Naragias, and Charlie Caravoulias.  I would like to ask for your understanding and apologize if any parishioners who contributed were not mentioned above.  We hope to publish a more extensive documentation of the history of St. Athanasios. This was a brief description. All the documents used were obtained from the Archdiocese.