This weekend, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America rambled out of New York town for the western skies of Cheyenne, Wyoming, marking the city’s first Archiepiscopal visit in nearly five decades.
Wyoming’s roads are lined with roaming cowboys, tumbleweeds, and establishments whose names recall frontier pasts and prairie roses. Warm welcomes are offered freely there and as Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church’s priest Fr. Michael Sergakis notes, that what Cheyenne’s Greek Orthodox community may lack in terms of numbers, they make up for in steadfastness of faith, dedication, and hospitality.
Anticipating the Archbishop’s presence, Cheyenne’s two parishes – Sts. Constantine and Helen and Holy Apostles Orthodox Christian Church – welcomed dozens of visitors this weekend, with faithful traveling from other Wyoming cities of Laramie and Casper as well as parishes in Colorado, Nebraska, and Texas. As they eagerly awaited the Archbishop’s arrival, many Sts. Constantine and Helen parishioners recalled Archbishop Iakovos’s 1976 visit.
The historic visit is well-documented in the parish’s Hellenic Heritage House, as are other significant moments in the community’s history – from the railroad beginnings of Greek-Wyomingites to Cheyenne Greek Festival, which curator Billie Zumo proudly shared is among the state’s largest events, second only to the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. Zumo, a Cheyenne native, says that the archives pay tribute to those who struggled on the frontier to help found the city and “make a name” for Greeks out West.
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Photos: Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman
