HIS GRACE
BISHOP DIMITRIOS OF XANTHOS

ASSISTANT OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA

BIOGRAPHY :

His Grace Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos (born James Couchell) is a native of Greenville, SC, born in 1938, and attended Northwestern University and graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1963.  Following a year of studies at Yale Divinity School, he was employed to initiate a Campus Ministry program for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.  This resulted in the establishment of the Campus Commission, under SCOBA, and the publication of “Concern” magazine, a quarterly for Orthodox Christian college students.  He visited nearly 1,000 campuses during this period, establishing contact with several thousand Orthodox students and faculty, and more than 100 Orthodox Christian Fellowships.

From 1971 to 1977, he served on the Executive Committee of SYNDESMOS, the World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth, and in July 1977, was elected President of Syndesmos and served one three-year term.

In September 1971, he was appointed the first English Editor of the new biweekly newspaper of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the “Orthodox Observer,” with a circulation of 120,000.  During this period, he served as an officer of the Orthodox Theological Society in America, on the Board of Directors of the Associated Church Press, and represented the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in various capacities at the National Council of the Churches of Christ.

In May 1981, still a layman, Mr. Couchell was appointed Executive Director of the St. Photios Foundation in St. Augustine, FL, and charged with completing and opening the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine.  The shrine opened in February 1982. 

In 1983, Mr. Couchell was ordained to the holy diaconate and to the holy priesthood.  He was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in 1985.

In January 1985, the work of the Shrine was expanded to include the mission work of the Archdiocese.  This work grew so rapidly that a separate Department of Missions was established, with its own staff and facility.  Meeting a great need within the Orthodox world, the work of the Mission Center expanded to include mission efforts around the globe.  In 1994, it sought and received the blessings of SCOBA, and the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) became the Mission and Evangelism Agency for all the SCOBA member jurisdictions.  Fr. Couchell served as the Founding Director of the OCMC and the St. Photios Shrine through August 1998.

He was elected to the episcopacy by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on May 18, 1998, and was ordained as Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos at St. George Cathedral, Philadelphia, PA, on Sunday, May 31, 1998.  As an Auxiliary to the Archbishop, he assumed duties as Ecumenical Officer of the Archdiocese and General Secretary of SCOBA in September 1998.  During this period, he served on the Governing Board of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, the Steering Committee of Christian Churches Together, the Committee of Religious Leaders of New York City, the Council of Churches of the City of New York, the Board of the St. Catherine Monastery  Foundation, the Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir's Seminary and is still serving as Co-chair of the Joint Commission of Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

He was the Ecumenical Officer of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the General Secretary of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) from 1998 to 2007. Since his retirement in May of 2007, he is a Special Consultant to His Eminence Archbishop Dimitrios of America, on Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs.

Bishop Dimitrios was invested in 1980 as a member of the Order of the Holy Lamb of the Orthodox Church of Finland, is listed in Who’s Who In Religion 1985, and received the Alumni Citation from Holy Cross in 1990.  Bishop Dimitrios is also the father of one adopted son, Nikita, from Ethiopia whom he brought to the United States in 1987, at the age of 13. 

Address:

10 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075
USA
Tel. +1.212/570.35.13
Fax: +1.212/774.02.51
Email: chancellor@goarch.org
Web: www.chancellor.goarch.org

Nameday: October 26

Date of ordination: May 31, 1998