Fr. Dean Hountalas
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Father
Konstandinos Christos Hountalas was born on January 26, 1953, in Aurora, IL.
Father Dean earned a Diploma with Honors from the Marmion Military Academy in 1971 and a BA with Honors from Aurora College in 1975. He attended the Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, MA, earning a M.Div. with Distinction in 1980. He completed further studies at the United States Army Chaplain School at Ft. Monmouth, NJ in 1992 and Counselor Training at Financial Peace University in Brentwood, TN earlier this year.
In 1980, Father Dean married Olga Gikas of Portland, ME. The Hountalas family includes two sons, Christos and Stefanos.
Father Dean was ordained to the Deaconate at St. Andrew’s Church in Chicago in November 1980 and a week later into the Priesthood at St. John the Baptist in Des Plaines, IL by Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago. Offikia bestowed upon Father Dean include Father Confessor, December 1990 by Metropolitan Methodios of Boston; Economos, April 1995 by Bishop Timothy of Detroit; and Protopresbyter, September 1999 by Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit.
Father Dean first served as an Assistant Priest at St. John’s from 1980 to 1986. From 1986 to 1992, he served the faithful as the Priest of St. Nicholas Church in Portsmouth, NH.
Father Dean served as the Brigade Chaplain of the U.S. Army Reserve, 76th Division, HQ, from 1989 to 1992, earning an Army Achievement Award, and as Chancellor, Metropolis of Detroit, from 1999 to 2011. Throughout the years, he has been a member of the Archdiocese Council, Detroit Metropolis Council, Archdiocese Presbyters Council, Clergy Syndesmos Boards and Diocese Youth Commissions in Chicago, Boston and Detroit; and Pan Orthodox Councils in Chicago and Detroit. He has written numerous articles and given speeches and testimonials of the Orthodox Faith, including: Orthodox Wellness Plan in Byzantium, Christ’s Last Events, Orthodox Prayer Life, Creation & Evolution, The Holy Lands, Holy Week Cycle, Iconographic Features Explained, Scripture & Holy Week, Lent and Eucharist, The Shroud of Turin, The Mystery of Death, Orthodoxy – A Missing Link and Why Different, and Orthodox Christian Practices.
Father Dean is currently the Presiding Priest of Holy Cross Church in Farmington Hills, MI as well as the newly appointed Vicar General of the Metropolis of Detroit.
