It started with a dream.

62 families came together to create a parish in Wyckoff, New Jersey.

The Beginnings at St. Athanasios Church of Paterson: Before Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of Wyckoff, New Jersey officially became a church, its beginnings can be traced to a small group of families who were members of Saint Athanasios Church of Paterson, New Jersey. Their vision was to establish a Greek Orthodox community for the faithful residing in the local neighborhoods of Northwest Bergen and Northeast Passaic counties.

Formation of the Bergen Greek Orthodox Community, Inc. & Purchase of Land in Wyckoff: After many meetings, the Bergen Greek Orthodox Community, Inc. was formed in November 1969. The key objective of the corporation was to buy land to build a church and community center. After a search of the area, a 5 1/4-acre tract of land, strategically located near Route 208, was found. The purchase of the land was concluded in April 1970. Shortly thereafter, permission was granted by the Wyckoff Board of Education to hold religious services at the Coolidge School gymnasium. Bible and prayer services were held each Sunday under the supervision of Father Demetrios Stephanopoulos (now retired).

Growing the Member Base: In order to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, the Diocese of New Jersey required a membership of 100 families. The current members created a membership drive and made home and business visitations, which resulted in the achievement of the goal by late October 1970. Subsequently, Father Milton Stamatos (the first lay priest of the Archdiocese) joined Father Stephanopoulos in conducting Liturgical Services. Later that year, the community was assigned its first resident priest — Father Nicholas Ksethias.

Services continued at Coolidge School during the school year and at Grace Methodist Church during the summer and other school recesses. Growth in membership continued and a high level of activity focused on the planning, financing, and construction of a multi-purpose building to house the church, fellowship hall, and classrooms.

Construction of the Church Icon Screen System: The commitment and zeal of our parishioners for our church was best reflected during the spring of 1972, when a portable icon screen system was constructed, which contained traditional icons that transformed the Coolidge gym into a church atmosphere. This icon system was put up and dismantled each and every service by a dedicated group of parishioners who owned station wagons and shuttled the sections back and forth for storage in the garage on the church’s property. This ritual continued until the multi-purpose building was constructed.

Groundbreaking of Church Property: The groundbreaking of our church took place on June 4, 1971. The formal cornerstone-laying ceremony took place in December 1972. Other small parcels of land contiguous to the property were purchased for expansion.

Opening of the Multi-Purpose Building, Saint Photios wing: On April 13, 1973 the Thyranoixia (opening) service of the new multi-purpose building took place. Months before, friends of Father Ksethias — Mr. and Mrs. Frank Weinstein — donated $40,000 toward the building. In recognition of their philanthropy, the classroom wing was named the Saint Photios wing.

Naming of the Church: In recognition of the dedicated effort of Father Nicholas Ksethias in the "pioneer days", the community unanimously voted to name the church Saint Nicholas. In the fall of 1973, Father Charles Serelis became the parish priest. He served until October 1975, when Father James C. Moulketis was assigned to the parish.

Construction of Current Church Building: The continued growth of our membership during the following years created the need for a formal church building. In March 1983, the General Assembly voted to start construction of the current church building. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on March 18, 1984, completing the original plan to build a church attached to the multi-purpose hall. Through the generous contributions of our stewards and the dedicated effort of parishioners in fundraising activities, the church was completed in mid-1985, with the Thyranoixia service taking place on November 10, 1985.

Since then, the sanctuary has been embellished with elegant adornments, iconography, stained glass windows, and extensive mosaics, including a Chapel dedicated to the Theotokos in 1993. The completion of the Narthex mosaics in 1998 concluded the final phase of the church building and led to the Consecration of our beloved Saint Nicholas Church on October 11, 1998.

Rapid Growth of Parishioner Base & of Building, Father Jim Moulketis, Father Mark Leondis, Father Basil Gikas: The number of families soared from 100 to more than 425 families today. This rapid expansion called for more room for the growing church. In 2003, the church expanded to create more facilities, such as a gymnasium, new classrooms, larger offices, and a larger kitchen.

Father Mark Leondis soon joined our parish and served under Father Jim. Father Mark grew the youth programs’ numbers by establishing HOPE & JOY programs, and growing interest in GOYA through retreats and lock-ins. He and his family moved to Florida to serve at Saint Mark’s in Boca Raton.

Subsequent to the retirement of Father Jim in January 2012, Father Basil C. Gikas was assigned as presiding priest of Saint Nicholas. Father Jim served with distinction for 37 years and attained the Offikion of Protopresbyter. Father Jim continues to celebrate the liturgy at Saint Nicholas.

2014 Renovation of the Fellowship Hall & Kitchen: As the parish continued to evolve, there was a need to renovate the fellowship hall and the adjoining kitchen. The renovation of the hall began in February 2014 and was completed in September 2014. Since that time, many events such as baptism receptions, wedding receptions, dances, GOYA events, the annual Lenten lecture series and our weekly fellowship hour after Liturgy have been enjoyed in our beautiful new hall. In 2017, the kitchen renovation began, and was completed in December 2018. The kitchen was transformed into a modern catering facility. The cost of both renovations was generously funded by our local AHEPA Ramapo Chapter 453.

Ministries & Outreach at St. Nicholas: To meet the needs of our church family, and to engage our parishioners in prayerful gatherings and philanthropic activities, Saint Nicholas offers more than 25 different ministries for its parishioners to participate in. Throughout the years, we have recognized the need for outreach. Currently, our parish donates 10 percent of our annual profit from philanthropic events (such as our annual festival and golf outing) to charities.

With a simple dream, the families of Saint Nicholas built a Greek Orthodox community in Bergen County. The parishioners of Saint Nicholas have always bonded together to achieve a common goal. As Saint Nicholas continues to welcome new generations of parishioners, it is their faith in God, the love for their church, and the traditions of their Greek heritage that have made Saint Nicholas the vibrant community it is today.

Our Founding Families