The Archbishop was greeted by the children of the community at the Old Church where the Orthros was celebrated. After the Orthros, and the procession to the front of the New Church, the Thyronoixia ceremony was performed by his Eminence in the presence of many dignitaries, parishioners and friends. Present were Congressman Felix Grucci, NY State Senator Kenneth LaValle, NY State Assemblyman Steven Englebright, Suffolk County Legislator Vivian Fisher, Bell Terre Mayor Vincent Bove, General Consul of Cyprus Mr. Philippou and the representative of the General Consul of Greece Ms. Pentazaropoulou. The Thyranoixia ribbon was cut by Mr. Vasilis Karaftis who is 97 years old and the oldest member of the Church, Mr. Emmanuel Lakios and Mrs. Catherine Katsaros. The Liturgy services were performed at the New Church by His Eminence who was assisted by the pastor of our Church Protopresbyter Fr. George Matsis and by Archimandrite Alexander Kile and Father Vasilios Govits who have both served as Pastor of the Church in recent years. The liturgy was followed by a luncheon at the Community Center, which was attended by approximately 400 people. The luncheon was preceded by the raising of the flags and the American and Greek National Anthems sung by Jean Rigas. At the luncheon, remarks were made by the clergy, guests and members of the community. Mr. Nick Klissas and Mrs. Betty Tufariello served as Masters of Ceremony who did an excellent job. All the introductions by the MC's were delivered in English and Greek. The celebration was culminated by the address of His Eminence whose main theme was that while we are building the New Church, we must not neglect the other activities which are essential to the Church and the life of the community.

The Thyranoixia was a milestone in the history of the Church. All of us felt a great sense of pride and accomplishment. The dream of the community became a reality. The Parish of the Church of the Assumption was founded in 1956 by a handful of people with vision, most of them from the island of Ikaria, who settled in Port Jefferson because of their love of the sea. Even though we love our old Church. we opened its doors on Palm Sunday 1959, it became obvious that its 120-seat capacity was not enough to accommodate the growing Hellenic Community of Northern Suffolk.

In the early 1990s there were many intense discussions about expanding the old Church vs. building a new one. On October 3, 1993 under the leadership and initiative of the President of the Parish Council, Nicholas H. Batuyios, the Special General Assembly the Parish made historic decision to build a new Church. At this Assembly, the members of the Building Committee were selected and the first Building Committee meeting in November 1993, Nicholas H. Batuyios was elected Chairman. After four years of meetings and preparations, the groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 17, 1997 in the presence of the then Archbishop Spyridon. The excavation began on October 1998 and the foundation stone was laid in November 1998.

The new Church was designed by the well-known Architect Chris Kamages of Ekona Architecture & Planning. We are grateful to Mr. Kamages for designing a magnificent Byzantine Style Church resembling the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus of Constantinople. The new Church has a seating capacity of 550 people. To date, approximately three million dollars has been expanded. The Community raised two million dollars and one million dollars was borrowed from the bank. Mr. Leonidas Diamantopoulos has been commissioned to do the iconography. The Platytera was recently completed and has added to the spirituality of the Thyranoixia.

Special tribute should be paid to the Building Committee and its Chairman Mr. Nicholas H. Batuyios for the past nine years and Vice Chairman, Mr. Peter Legakis, to the Parish Councils of the past ten years, to the current President of the Parish Council, Mr. George Kokolakis, to the past presidents of the Parish Council during the planning and construction of the Church, NIcholas H. Batuyios, Nick Aroniadis, George Martinos, to the Fundraising Committee and Chair lady Mrs. Kalliope LaGamma and past Chair lady Penny Besculides, who have contributed towards accomplishing our goal to build the new Church. Also the contributions of our Pastor Father George Matsis, Archimandrites Alexander Kile and Sylvester Berberis and Father Vasilios Govits who have served the Parish during the last ten years, are gratefully acknowledged. Many thanks to Elias Stamatopoulos who have served as President of the Parish Council in the past and as Chairman of the Festival Committee for several years and to the Thyanoixia Committee and its CO-chairs Kalliope LaGamma, Helayne Damianos and Eleni Katsaros Papadimitriou who did a great job organizing the Thyranoixia celebration and editing the successful Thyranoixia journal. Most of all, the credit is due to our parishioners for their unwavering support and generosity during the last ten years.