Rev. Andrew Demotses, Pastor Emeritus

Biography 

Rev. Andrew Demotses, St Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church of Pabody, Pastor Emeritus

Fr. Andrew Demotses was born in Connecticut, the eldest son of Odysseus and Helen (Savas) Demotses. Raised in the small town of Stratford, he attended public schools there and graduated high school in 1959. He then matriculated at Holy Cross School of Theology, the national seminary of the Greek Orthodox Church. After completing the 6-year course of study, he graduated in 1965 as valedictorian of his class, with a degree in classical studies and theology. He returned to Connecticut to pursue graduate studies at Yale University, and received the degree of Master of Sacred Theology, Cum Laude.

In October of l966, Fr. Demotses was ordained to the priesthood and was assigned to Holy Trinity Church in Bridgeport, CT. After only three months, he was asked to assume the duties of pastor of St. George Church in Norwalk, CT. At the end of that same year, he was transferred to the Diocese of Boston and became pastor of St. Vasilios Church in Peabody, in what was then described as a "short, transitional assignment." That assignment continued for 39 years until his retirement on December 31, 2006.

Fr. Andrew was always active in both church and community affairs. In years past his service has included an appointment as a founding delegate to the National Council of Presbyters of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, 12 years of service on the Ecclesiastical Court of the Diocese of Boston, 5 terms as a trustee of Hellenic College / Holy Cross during which he served as a member of the executive committee, a member of the adjunct faculty of Holy Cross, and as the director of its spiritual fathers program.

His service to the larger community included 15 years as a trustee of the American Red Cross, service as the chairman of the Clinical Resource Committee of the North Shore Children’s Hospital, 14 years as a trustee and chairman of the combined board of Health and Education Services and Health and Residential Services, the largest provider of comprehensive out-patient mental health services on the North Shore, as well as of residential treatment programs for acutely troubled adolescents throughout the Commonwealth. In addition Fr. Andrew served for 18 years as a trustee of the North Shore Medical Center and as a founding member of its ethics committee.

Since his appointment in 1976 by then Mayor Nicholas Mavroules, Fr. Andrew has continuously served as a member of the Board, and since 1983, as chairman of the Peabody Council on Aging, a department of the city which provides a wide range of social, recreational, educational, nutritional and transportation services to the elderly of Peabody. Throughout the 39 years of his pastorate, Fr. Andrew’s service to the community extended over the terms of five mayors. They in turn asked him to serve on many commissions and task forces such as the Mayor’s Citizen Advisory Committee, the Peabody Advisory Commission for Adult Education, the Community Development Citizen’s Participation Committee, the Peabody Health Center Advisory Committee, the Peabody Equal Employment Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee for the Peabody Meadows Golf Course, and many others too numerous to mention here. For many years he also served as a corporator of Salem Hospital, and later, of Partners Healthcare. 

He is a member of the Yale Club of Boston, the Holy Cross Alumni Association, the New England Clergy Brotherhood, the Peabody Clergy and Ministerial Association and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Married to the former Mary Poulos, they are the parents of two sons, James, an attorney and Andrew, the operations manager of Northeast Nursery, and have four grandchildren.

Following his retirement from active parish service, Fr. Andrew has concentrated on the writing and recording of devotional materials for the Archdiocese website.  As a result of this effort the website currently has several hundred of his sermons on the Sunday Gospels, as well as over 500 sermonettes or meditations in both written and recorded formats. These materials are used by priests throughout the country to augment their parish and Sunday worship bulletins, and are featured on the weekly chapel segment of the Archdiocese website.  In addition Fr. Andrew has granted permission, at their request, to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Presbyterian Church of America to use his recorded and written materials.