Fr. Luke Veronis Heads Missions Institute

Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) Board Member Father Luke A. Veronis, formerly of Lancaster, recently became Director of the newly established “Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity” at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. The appointment was made by Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou, President of Holy Cross. Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America announced the appointment at a special dinner for the occasion in Brookline on April 29.

The Missions Institute was inaugurated with an initial endowed gift of one million dollars from EFOM (Endowment Fund for Orthodox Missions), a Lancaster based charity connected with the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Lancaster. EFOM was created in 1981 by friends of OCMC Board Member Fr. Alexander and Pearl Veronis in honor of their ministry. Mr. Lou and Mrs. Helen Nicozisis (also an OCMC Board Member) of Lancaster, presented the one million dollar check to Holy Cross.

In addition to endowing the Missions Institute, EFOM has promoted missions

1) by sponsoring an Annual Missions Lectureship at Holy Cross for 25 years,
2) by granting annual scholarships to mission-minded seminarians,
3) by financially underwriting noteworthy mission projects.

As Director of the Missions Institute, Veronis will continue to teach courses in world missions and evangelism at Holy Cross, as he has been doing for the past five years.

Prior to his present position, Fr. Luke and his wife Faith (Stathis) Veronis, also of Lancaster, served as OCMC missionaries in Kenya and Albania for twelve years. Veronis was Dean of the Resurrection of Christ Orthodox Theological Academy in Durres, Albania where he taught courses in theology.

Veronis is the author of three books related to Orthodox Christian missions: Go Forth: Stories of Missions and Resurrection in Albania (Conciliar Press), Lynette’s Hope: The Witness of Lynette Katherine Hoppe’s Life and Death (Conciliar Press), and Missionaries, Monks and Martyrs: Making Disciples of All Nations (Light and Life Publishing).


Fr. Luke is the son of Fr. Alexander & Pearl Veronis, who have been serving the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Lancaster for the past 49 years.

He is a graduate of McCaskey High School (1983), Pennsylvania State University, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of World Missions.