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Clergy
Rev. Protopresbyter Paul C. Palesty
Rev. Presbyter Theofanis Papantonis
Rev. Presbyter Joakim Valasiadis
Rev. Fr. Paul C. Palesty was appointed as the 4th pastor of St. Nicholas on September 1, 1997. Fr. Paul was born in Hoboken, New Jersey and grew up in Astoria. For a short period of time, he attended St. Nicholas and was an altar boy under the first pastor, Fr. Volaitis before his family moved to Huntington where he finished his schooling. He graduated in 1973 from Hellenic College with Honors. In 1976 he received a Masters of Divinity with High Honors from the Holy Cross School of Theology. Fr. Paul received a Certificate of Graduate Studies in Christology from the University of Geneva, Switzerland where he served as a representative to the World Council of Churches. In1978 Fr. Paul married the former Anastasia Topsidelis. Fr. Paul and Presbytera have two children Christos and Maria.
Archbishop Iakovos ordained Fr. Paul to the diaconate in March 1978 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York. Bishop Meletios of Christianoupolis ordained Fr. Paul to the priesthood in May 1978. He was assigned Assistant Pastor of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose California and subsequently became the Pastor of St. Nicholas (San Jose) in 1980. In 1987, he was assigned Pastor of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lexington, Mass. While serving the parish of St. Nicholas in Lexington, Fr. Paul was chosen by then Bishop Methodios of Boston to be the Director of Campus Ministries at Tufts University, Harvard University and Boston University. Fr. Paul became the Pastor of St. Demetrius, Merrick, New York in 1990. From 1993-1996 Fr. Paul was the President of the St. John Chrysostom Clergy Association for the Archdiocesan District. Archbishop Iakovos chose Fr. Paul to be the co-chair of the 1996 Clergy Laity Congress which took place in New York City.
St. Nicholas's assistant priest, Fr. Theofanis, grew up in Astoria and attended the schools of St. Demetrios through high school. He continued his education at New York University where he majored in Hellenic Studies and Economics. Upon graduation in 2001, Fr. Theofanis went to Holy Cross School of Theology, graduating in 2004 with a Masters of Divinity degree. He came to St. Nicholas as a layman working with the youth of our parish. After his marriage to his Presbytera Maria on October 31, 2004 his ordination to the Diaconate on June 16, 2007 at St. Demetrios in Merrick New York and his ordination to the priesthood took place St. Nicholas on September 17, 2007. At St. Nicholas Father Theofanis is the spiritual advisor to the various youth programs: GOYA, JOY as well as teaching in the William Spyropoulos Day School. Fr. Theofanis also teaches the Adult Greek Language Bible Class. In his little spare time, Father enjoys reading and participating in various sports. Father and Presbytera Maria are the proud parents of Christina and Alexandros.
