 Father Nicholas is married to his wife Presbytera Amanda, and they have two children, Scotty and Eleni. Among some of the things Fr. Nick gets excited about are Young Adult Ministries, Camping Ministries, Michigan State Sports, and Superman Ice Cream. Father Nicholas Lionas as born in Rochester Hills, Michigan to James and Helene (Aretakis) Lionas. Father Nicholas has two older brothers, Michael and John. He grew up attending St. John Greek Orthodox Church in Sterling Heights, Michigan. There, Fr. Nick was active in various ministries of the Church, including attending the Metropolis of Detroit Summer Camp, GOYA and taught 4th grade Sunday school when he was just a junior in high School. In 2005, Fr. Nick met his future wife, Amanda and graduated from Stoney Creek High School. After graduation, Fr. Nick went to study at Michigan State University. While at MSU, Holy Trinity in Lansing welcomed him and became a home away from home. Fr. Nick also became a very active participant in Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF). Upon graduating from MSU in 2009, Fr. Nick moved to Indianapolis to work for OCF at the national headquarters. By the beginning of 2010, he enrolled in seminary at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology just outside Boston, Massachusetts. At seminary, Fr. Nick became the Director of the Campus Activity Board, as well as the HCHC Sonia Daly Belcher Ambassadors. He also continued his work with OCF, moving the headquarters to Boston from Indiana. Fr. Nick continued to focus on improving his theology and improving his skills in youth and young adult ministry. On July 31, 2011, Fr. Nick and Presbytera Amanda were married. Before graduating from Seminary in 2013, Fr. Nick was hired in a newly created position as the Young Adult Ministries Coordinator for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. After the birth of their son, Scott, in 2014, Fr. Nick and Pres. Amanda moved back to Michigan where Fr. Nick began his work as the Pastoral Assistant at St. John until 2017. In May of 2018, Fr. Nick and Pres. Amanda welcomed their daughter, Eleni. After continuing to promote young adult ministry, Fr. Nick began work as the Youth Director at Assumption in St. Claire Shores, Michigan until he was called to serve as the Assistant to Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit in June 2020. Having gained a great deal of unique experiences working in different capacities and at different levels of the Church, Father Nicholas was ordained to the Diaconate on June 26, 2021 and to the Priesthood, three weeks later, on July 17th. Fr. Nick began serving as the Parish Priest to the community of St. George in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on August 15th, 2021. |