Clergy and Parish Leadership

 

Fr. Alex Chetsas, Presiding Priest

Office: (508) 337- 9986

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fellow Parishioners and Friends:

I grew up in Newburyport, MA (Annunciation Church) and have been happily married to Brandy Elser since 1996—we met in graduate school at Salem State and have been inseparable ever since. We have lived in Millis, MA since 2011 and have three children: Phoebe, 21; Abraham, 18; and Roman, 10. Like so many other parents, we are currently trying to figure out how to make our household “go” in the age of COVID-19, from supporting our children’s educational efforts to grappling with the myriad questions of literal and figurative “bandwidth” at our home.

I was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios in 2001—and to the Holy Priesthood by His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony, of blessed memory, in 2002. I’ve served at parishes in Los Angeles, CA, Tallahassee, FL, Weston, MA and Nashua, NH, before coming to our beloved Saint Gregory Church in September of 2020.

Throughout my ministry, I’ve been especially drawn to certain aspects of Church life: youth ministry, marriage counseling, the intersection of popular culture and the tenets of our faith, social action/community outreach (which many of us have been contemplating in new and challenging ways since March 2020) and the possibility for institutional transformation within the Church—specifically, how can we better actualize the great time, talent and treasure of our faithful and look more and more like the dynamic Church described in the Book of Acts.

In the end, I love parish life—the Sacraments, programs, ministry endeavors, outreach, sense of community, friendships … the people. And I believe in personal and communal striving, pushing ourselves for the sake of the Gospel. Further, I feel when we open the arms of the Church and embrace the greater community with open minds and abounding love, everything just gets more hopeful, more exciting, more inviting and more like what it should be: a true foretaste of the Kingdom of God.

With love in the Lord,

Fr. Alex

Parish Council 2024

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2024 PARISH COUNCIL & OFFICER TEAM


Officers:
Pres., Phil LaFond
Vice P., Lou Douvris
Treas., Joe CaraDonna
Asst. Treas., Stephen Drugas
Sec., Kristin Lewis
Asst. Sec., Brian Kaufman

Members:
Dean Jumes
Stephan Katinas
Stacey Mullert 
Frank Sousa
Maria Sweten