Orthodox Christian dating in Alabama
Orthodox Christian dating in Alabama: Greek parishes in Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville, and OCA and Antiochian ones from Anniston to Dothan.
Create your profileAn illustration, not a data map.
- Greek
- OCA
- Antiochian
Short answer
The Greek parishes of Alabama are older than most people guess. Birmingham's goes back to 1906, Mobile's first Liturgy was in January 1912, and in 1926 a Greek businessman in Mobile named James Malbis paid the first year's salary of the city's first permanent priest. Beside those old parishes stand newer Orthodox Church in America missions and an Antiochian parish in the south-east corner of the state.
Nine places are listed below with an address and an official link, from Huntsville to Mobile. Most of them are an hour or two from the next, and Birmingham has two.
This page sits on cana.love, a free site for people who want to marry. It is not an Orthodox-only site, and a later section explains what that means.
Orthodox Christians in Alabama
The Encyclopedia of Alabama gives the Greek dates in order. The first church was established in Birmingham in 1906; a second, Holy Cross, followed there in 1933, and the two merged in 1953 into the cathedral of Holy Trinity–Holy Cross. Mobile's Annunciation parish first celebrated the Liturgy on 26 January 1912. Montgomery's Annunciation parish was founded in 1943, and Huntsville's Holy Cross–Saints Constantine and Helen was established officially in 1964.
James Malbis did more than pay a priest. Before he died in Greece in 1942 he wrote asking for a church to be built on his land in Baldwin County, and his followers spent fifteen years raising the money. The Malbis Memorial Church, near Daphne, opened in 1965.
Orthodox Studies Institute, 2024; national figures, not Alabama's
Who is coming into the Church now? The Orthodox Studies Institute counted converts across twenty parishes, six jurisdictions and fifteen states. Of those received since 2013, two thirds were under forty when they were received, more were in their thirties than in any other decade, and 44 percent were unmarried when they came in.
Those are national figures, not Alabama's, and nobody has published a count for the state. What this page can offer are nine addresses, each taken from the parish's own website on the day it was written.
Where the community gathers
The nine places fall into four parts of the state: Birmingham and its neighbours, the Tennessee Valley, the middle of the state, and the south.
Birmingham and its neighbours
Birmingham and its neighbours hold four. The Greek cathedral is on 19th Street South and St Symeon, an Orthodox Church in America parish, is on Clairmont Avenue about a mile east; St Luke in Anniston serves Calhoun County and east Alabama, and St Herman is a mission in Northport across the river from Tuscaloosa.
The Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley holds Huntsville's Greek parish on University Drive, which has plans and a fundraising campaign for a new church.
The middle of the state
The middle of the state holds two. Montgomery's Greek parish is on Mount Meigs Road, and in Camp Hill, near Auburn, St Joseph of Arimathea describes itself as a small, growing mission whose mother parish is St Symeon in Birmingham.
The south
The south holds two, far apart. Mobile's Annunciation parish is on South Ann Street and runs a young adult ministry. St Michael in Dothan, an Antiochian parish, calls itself the Orthodox Church of the Wiregrass.
Cathedrals and parishes worth knowing
Founded in 1906, which the cathedral describes as making it one of the first Orthodox churches in North America; its Greek festival is held every September.
307 19th Street SouthBirmingham
AL 35233
An Orthodox Church in America parish with Great Vespers on Saturday at five, Matins at half past eight and the Liturgy at ten on Sunday.
3101 Clairmont Avenue SouthBirmingham
AL 35205
An Orthodox Church in America parish for Calhoun County and east Alabama, with Vespers on Saturday at four and the Liturgy at ten on Sunday.
1415 Woodstock AvenueAnniston
AL 36207
An Orthodox Church in America mission serving Tuscaloosa, in the Diocese of the South.
3076 McFarland BoulevardSuite 9
Northport
AL 35476
Established officially in 1964, with the Divine Liturgy at ten on Sunday and plans for a new church building.
3021 University DriveHuntsville
AL 35816
Founded in 1943; its calendar includes a Greek festival and a Labor Day barbecue.
1721 Mt Meigs RoadMontgomery
AL 36107
A small mission of the Orthodox Church in America near Auburn, with a class for inquirers and the Liturgy at ten.
24404 Veterans Memorial ParkwayCamp Hill
AL 36850
Mobile's first Greek parish, whose first Liturgy was in 1912; it has a young adult ministry, and its Greek Fest runs each September.
50 South Ann StreetMobile
AL 36604
An Antiochian parish that calls itself the Orthodox Church of the Wiregrass.
1535 Montgomery HighwayDothan
AL 36303
The Malbis Memorial Church near Daphne has no card. We found no website of its own and no published service timetable, so we could not check when it is open for worship. The Encyclopedia of Alabama describes its mosaics outside and the murals inside, which took more than eight months to paint.
Distances that decide everything
A diagram, not a map. Driving times, as in the text.
Birmingham to Huntsville is about a hundred miles, close to two hours. Birmingham to Montgomery is about ninety miles, an hour and three quarters. Montgomery to Mobile is about three hours, and Montgomery to Dothan a little over two. Birmingham to Mobile, top of the state to bottom, is about four and three quarter hours.
So in practice Alabama divides into several circles an hour or more apart. Two people in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa can meet on a weeknight; two people in Huntsville and Mobile are talking about a move from the start.
That is worth knowing early, and the cana.love form asks it early: where you live, and whether you would move.
The Orthodox year in Alabama
Great Vespers
At five at St Symeon in Birmingham and at four at St Luke in Anniston.
The Divine Liturgy
At ten in Birmingham, Anniston, Huntsville and Camp Hill.
Midweek in Birmingham
St Symeon keeps Compline, an Akathist or Vespers on Wednesday evenings at half past six.
Greek festivals
Birmingham's cathedral and Mobile's Annunciation both hold theirs every September; Montgomery lists one too.
Montgomery's barbecue
The Annunciation parish holds one on Labor Day.
Learning the faith in Camp Hill
St Joseph of Arimathea runs a class for people asking about Orthodoxy.
Dating across jurisdictions, and with converts
Greek parishes that go back a century, Orthodox Church in America missions from the last few decades, and an Antiochian parish in the Wiregrass: Alabama's Orthodox are few and mixed. On cana.love, four things come first.
Twelve jurisdictions on one list
The form lists twelve jurisdictions by name: OCA, ROCOR, Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Carpatho-Russian, Albanian, Catechumen and Other Canonical. Every parish on this page is under one of them, and so is someone still in a class for inquirers.
Practice, asked outright
It also asks what a parish name does not reveal: how often you are at the Liturgy, whether you keep the fasts, whether marriage is the point. The site works in five languages, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Russian.
Checked before it appears
Every profile and photograph is checked before anyone can see it: an automatic check first, and a person for anything it cannot settle. The published rules forbid asking another member for money, and fraud means permanent removal without a warning.
Free, and no password
Joining is free and there is no subscription. There is no password either; you sign in with a one-time link or code sent to your email.
What cana.love is and is not
cana.love is not an Orthodox-only platform.
Catholics use it, and Protestants, and people who are still deciding where they belong but want the same kind of marriage. You set who can see you. In a state where the nearest Orthodox parish may be two hours away, a site that only matched people inside one jurisdiction would leave many with no one at all. What the site promises can be checked: jurisdiction, practice and purpose are questions on the form, and the answers are there to read before you write back. It is run by Cana SpA, a company in Chile, and the About page has the rest.
Meeting safely
- Meet the first time by day, somewhere public, with an agreed time to leave: coffee hour after the Liturgy, a café in Five Points South or downtown Mobile. Tell a friend where you are going, and if it means two hours on the interstate, tell them when you expect to be home. Your address can wait.
- On money there is nothing to decide. Until you have met in person, send nothing, lend nothing and pay for no one's travel, whatever the story. A single report is enough for it to be looked into.
The community guidelines explain how reports are handled and how a decision can be appealed.
Common questions
Which is the oldest Orthodox parish in Alabama?
The Greek cathedral in Birmingham, founded in 1906. Mobile's Annunciation followed in 1912.
Is there an Orthodox church in Tuscaloosa?
Yes, the St Herman mission of the Orthodox Church in America, on McFarland Boulevard in Northport.
I am near Auburn. Where should I go?
St Joseph of Arimathea in Camp Hill is the nearest on this page, and it runs a class for inquirers.
Is there anything for young adults?
Mobile's Annunciation parish has a young adult ministry. Its page gives no age range, so we do not give one.
What is the Malbis Memorial Church?
A church near Daphne built by the followers of James Malbis after his death and opened in 1965. We could not find a service timetable, so it has no card.
Can I use cana.love in Alabama?
Yes, anywhere in the state, from eighteen. It is a website, so there is nothing to install.
Next steps
If you are in Birmingham, spend one Sunday at the Greek cathedral and one at St Symeon before deciding anything; if you are near Mobile, go to the Annunciation's Greek Fest in September. And if you would rather know where someone stands before the first coffee than after it, make a profile on cana.love: it is free, and it asks what a festival crowd will not.
Reviewed on September 23, 2026.