Rev. Fr. Paul A. Kaplanis, Dean

Fr. Paul Kaplanis, son of Anthony, (fallen asleep in the Lord) and Nitsa Kaplanis was born in Danbury, Connecticut is the youngest of three brothers.

He graduated from Western Connecticut State University in 1979, with a B.S. Degree in Social Science and History. In September 1979, he entered Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

On June 27, 1982, Father and Presbytera Evi (Spiliopoulou) Kaplanis were married at the Dormition Greek Orthodox Church in Danbury. In 1983, he graduated with his Master's of Divinity Degree and upon receiving the Taylor Scholarship, enrolled in the Master's Program at the University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

After one year, he returned to the U.S and was ordained by His Grace Bishop Philip to the Holy Diaconate at his hometown parish on October 28, 1984 and to the Holy Priesthood on November 11, 1984 at the St. George Greek Orthodox Church of Clifton, NJ. He was assigned to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church as Assistant Priest, where he served for 7 1/2 years under Fr. George Nicozisin. On August 2, 1992, he was assigned by His Grace Bishop Philip of Atlanta to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Raleigh, NC where he served for over 18 years. In February of 1993, His Grace Bishop Philip, elevated him to the Offikia (offices) of father confessor and stavroforos. On September 15, 2002, His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta elevated him to the Offikion (office) of Protopresbyter and on December 20, 2010, he was assigned as the Dean of the Annunciation Cathedral in Atlanta, GA.  On January 18, 2014, Metropolitan Alexios bestowed upon him the Offikion (office) of Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Over the years, Father served on the Youth Committee of the Metropolis. He held the offices of secretary (2000-2008), Vice President (2018-2022) and he is currently the President (2022…) of the Archdiocese Presbyter's Council.

He also served as the only priest representative for Greek Orthodox Archdiocese on the Charter Revision Committee (2001-02). Recently he was appointed by the Eparchial Synod to the mixed commission for the establishment of a New Charter of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

He served as the Spiritual Advisor for the Metropolis of Atlanta Philoptochos from 2011-2014. Presently he is a member of the Archdiocese Council and also served from 2012-14. He has also served as the spiritual advisor for the Metropolis Family Life ministry program, a member of the Metropolis Strategic plan Committee, President of the Metropolis of Atlanta Clergy Syndesmos (2016-2021). In 2022, he was appointed by His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios as Vicar for the Central Conference. Fr. Paul also serves on two school Boards, Hellenic College/Holy Cross and the Annunciation Day School. 

Father’s hobbies include, playing and/or watching sports, old movies and reading.

Father and Presbytera Evi have three children, Michael, Katerina and Christina and five grandchildren, Vivi, Maximos, Eirianna, Emilia and Evie.

Rev. Fr. Christos P. Mars, Protopresbyter

Fr. Christos Mars was born and raised in Palos Hills, Illinois a suburb of Chicago.  He grew up in the Community of S.S. Constantine and Helen under the spiritual and priestly guidance of Fr. Byron Papanikolaou of blessed memory.

Upon completion of High School, Fr. Christos attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and earned his Bachelor’s degree in English. Fr. Christos then attended Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he earned his Master’s of Divinity in 2006.  From 2006-2007, Fr. Christos completed his coursework for his Master’s of Theology, with a specialty in liturgics.

While studying at the Seminary, Fr. Christos met and married Presbytera Marilisse, who is from Athens, Georgia, and was completing her undergraduate degree in Religious Studies at Hellenic College.  They married on the feast day of St. Phanourios, August 27, 2006 in the chapel of the Holy Cross there on campus in Brookline.

Fr. Christos was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on May 21, 2007 at his home parish of S.S. Constantine and Helen in Palos Hills, Illinois, and thirty three days later, was ordained to the Holy Priesthood, again at his home parish on the feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 2007.

Before coming to the Annunciation Cathedral in Atlanta, Fr. Christos served the parish of the Annunciation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Fr. Christos was given the Offikion (office) of Father Confessor by His Eminence Metropolitan ALEXIOS on November 14, 2010. Following that, he was given the Offikion (office) of Sakellarios by His Eminence Metropolitan ALEXIOS on November 10, 2013. His Eminence Metropolitan ALEXIOS also bestowed the Offikion (office) of Typikaris of the Metropolis of Atlanta to Fr. Christos on December 25, 2021, and finally His Eminence Metropolitan ALEXIOS bestowed the Offikion (Office) of Protopresbyter on November 13, 2022. Fr. Christos is the Vice-President of the Metropolis of Atlanta Clergy Syndesmos as well as the President of the Atlanta Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood. He was a member of the Archdiocese National Coordinating Committee for the 200th Anniversary of Greek Independence.  He was a member of the Metropolis Council and currently chairs the Acolyte Training Committee and the Program for Continuing Education for Permanent Deacons as well as the Liturgical Text Committee for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta. He also serves as liturgical chair for many Metropolis youth events and serves on the Annunciation Day School Board.

Fr. Christos and Presbytera Marilisse love to spend time with their one son, John. They also enjoy time with other family, friends and their two dogs, Duke and Mor’du.

Elizabeth Thomas, Pastoral Assistant

Elizabeth Thomas was born and raised in Mumbai, India and grew up in a fusion of diverse Indian cultural settings.

She attended Wilson College, one of the oldest and well renowned colleges in Mumbai, India affiliated to University of Mumbai and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History in 2007.

During her studies at Wilson College, she made her first short documentary film as part of the coursework in Mass Communications, on the topic of anti-smoking, titled, “Kick That Butt…Before It Kicks You!” From there, she developed a strong passion for filmmaking and decided to pursue it as her career.

She did her post-graduation studies in Film, Television, and Video Production at Xavier Institute of Communications, a unit of St. Xavier's College, one of the prestigious colleges of Mumbai, and got professionally trained as a Filmmaker. She has worked on several projects which includes Bollywood films, television commercials with brands like Mcdonald's and Nestlé, corporate films, promotional videos, docudramas on sensitive humanitarian topics like human trafficking, child abuse, Hijras (Eunuchs), and HIV/AIDS.

Elizabeth is also an award-wining filmmaker where one of her short films, ‘Anand’ that she directed and co-produced, was recognized in an international film festival and received the accolade for the ‘Best Foreign Film’ at the Universal Film Festival in Kansas City, Missouri.

Growing up as an Orthodox Priest’s kid, she always wanted to know what’s God’s purpose in her life. In 2013, during her time in Hawaii, USA, Elizabeth interacted with a couple of Greek friends and was fascinated by the Greek culture. Through them, she learned about Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts where she earned her Master's of Divinity degree in 2019.

One of her favorite courses during her theological studies was the ‘Lives of Saints’ where she got a deeper understanding of how to be a light of Christ in this world and hopes to help shape people’s lives through films.

During her studies at seminary, she interacted with Military and Hospital Chaplains. She was moved to hear some touching stories and the services they do to society. Elizabeth completed Clinical Pastoral Education and served as a Hospital Chaplain at John Muir Health in California.

Over the years, Elizabeth served in a wide variety of activities/ jobs/organizations across the globe that includes but is not limited to: short term missionary to Albania, Indonesia, Mexico with OCMC, Youth With A Mission,  Taizé Community in France, The Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Orthodox Christian Network, Seminarian Representative for Ecumenical meeting of National Council of Churches in the USA and Senior Communicator (Online) for the 11th Assembly of World Council of Churches held at Karlsruhe, Germany.

Elizabeth enjoys traveling, exploring, hanging out at cafes, meeting new people, and spending time with family/friends. She also loves Byzantine music chanting, playing musical instruments, and doing any kind of work/activity that boosts creativity.