 Fr. Michael Varlamos was born in Highland Park, Michigan on August 14, 1962. He graduated from Livonia Bentley High School in 1980. He pursued studies in electrical engineering at Schoolcraft College and Lawrence Technological University. Before completing his engineering studies Fr. Michael decided to seek studies in Orthodox Theology at the Hellenic College in Brookline, MA where he received several academic honors. He graduated in 1987 as Valedictorian of his class with a BA in Religious Studies. In 1988, while a student at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology he married Presvytera Tina. In addition to his studies, Fr. Michael served as assistant to the Dean of Admissions for Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology for four years. In January of 1989 he was ordained a deacon and served the bishop of Boston, and the Assumption parish of Lowell, MA. In May 1989, Fr. Michael graduated from Holy Cross with high distinction receiving a Masters of Divinity. Immediately after graduation Fr. Michael was ordained a priest by his Grace Bishop Timothy of Detroit on May 28th, 1989 and assigned as the Proistamenos to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary parish in Plymouth, MI. In March 1994, Fr. Michael received the Offikion of Economos.
In 1999, he was appointed by His Grace Bishop Nicholas of Detroit as Chairman of the Diocesan Greek Language and Culture Committee. On July 27, 2003 His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas assigned Fr. Michael as Proistamenos of the Assumption Church in St. Clair Shores, MI. In the fall of 2007, Fr. Michael was accepted to the graduate school of Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, where he pursued a Masters degree in Classics (ancient Greek and Latin) and ancient civilizations of the Greeks and Romans. On September 13, 2009, Fr. Michael was elevated to the ecclesiastical rank of Protopresbyter by His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas. In May 2010, Fr. Michael completed his graduate studies in Classics with his second master’s degree. In 2012, Fr. Michael began doctoral studies in history at Wayne State University, which he completed in August 2018. A year later, Wayne State University offered him an adjunct professorship where he continues to teach classes in Classical Civilization of the ancient Greeks and Romans, while continuing to serve as Proistamenos of the Assumption parish. Fr. Michael and Presvytera Tina have four children, Nicholas, Olymbia, Stavroula, Panayiotis, and two grandchildren Sofia and Michael. |