CHERRY HILL, NJ – Since March 2019, the Saint Thomas Greek Orthodox Church in Cherry Hill, NJ, under the guidance of the Parish Priest, V. Rev. Fr. Christoforos Oikonomidis and the Parish Council President Anastasios Efstratiades, is undertaking a major renovation project that will completely redesign the interior and exterior of the Church.
On May 22 of this year, the Church was closed and services were transferred to the Community Center to allow for this major and historic renovation of the Church. The project will repair the roof and ceiling. A dome has been constructed which will be lifted and attached to the roof of the Church. The project also includes a redesigned Narthex with a curved/vaulted ceiling on the inside and an A-frame on the outside which finishes the facade, completed two years ago. Cultured stone is being applied to the exterior walls of the Church to match the facade and a tiled roof will be installed as well. Finally, a bell tower is being built which will include a small matching dome.
On August 6, 2019, parishioners were invited to view the completed dome and the smaller dome for the bell tower. Parishioners expressed not only their satisfaction with the project but were impressed and in awe of the engineering of the domes. They realized that their beautiful Church was being transformed into a beautiful Byzantine Church to shine as a beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism in Southern New Jersey.
The large dome will be lifted onto the Church roof by a large crane the week of August 11, 2019. It is anticipated that the entire renovation project will be completed by the middle of September. The Church will open soon thereafter for services.
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