Greek Orthodox Church of St. George

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Des Moines, Iowa is a parish of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America located in the Drake Neighborhood near Drake University.The church building was originally built as Elmwood United Presbyterian Church in 1906 in a Classical Revival architectural style. The Elmwood congregation included the family of Henry Cantwell Wallace, editor of Wallaces' Farmer and United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1921 to 1924. In 1926, the Elmwood congregation merged with another Presbyterian church and sold the building to a Baptist church. The Baptists were unable to attract a congregation in the neighborhood and disbanded in 1930, returning the building to the merged Presbyterian congregation.In 1924, the Greek community in Des Moines and central Iowa formed a kinotis, or Greek society. In 1928, the immigrants organized a Greek Orthodox parish named for St. George the Great Martyr, which held services with visiting priests on an irregular basis in rented spaces. In 1929, the parish fought U.S. immigration authorities to bring Fr. Meletios Kestekides from Greece to be its first regular priest.In late 1930, the parish purchased the former Elmwood United Presbyterian Church building and immediately converted it into an Orthodox church by erecting an iconostasis in front of the altar. The parish held its first Divine Liturgy in the building on Christmas Day, 1930. Orthodox icons have been added to the interior over time, but the building retains many artifacts of the original Presbyterian congregation such as the stained glass windows. These windows preserve the names of their original donors.