The reason this church looks nothing like typical Orthodox churches is that it was originally a Methodist Episcopal Church, built in the summer of 1909. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church bought the building in 1956 after a large fund raising effort extending to other Orthodox churches throughout the country.
Leading up to 2010 the church had done without a full time, permanent priest for more than two years. When, in March of 2010, the church acquired a new priest, the Missoulian published the following article concerning the event.
Missoula parish reaches out to community,
celebrates full-time priest
March 20, 2010 12:30
After a hiatus of more than two years, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church now has a full-time priest. Father Walter Smith arrived in November 2009, joined by his wife, Presvytera Nancy Smith.
During the past two years, the church has been served by visiting priests who could only come to Missoula about once a month. The parish now has a full slate of services, including Divine Liturgy on at 10 a.m. Sundays and evening service of Vespers every Saturday at 5:30.
During the current season of Lent, the parish will offer services every day during the upcoming Holy Week and Pascha (the Greek Orthodox name for “Easter.”)
Other programs have also begun, including Bible and religious discussion groups at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday mornings and 7:30 p.m. Monday evenings as well as church school for children and an inquirers’ meetings for those interested in learning more about Orthodox Christianity.
Smith most recently served at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. Before that, he served at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Macadoo, Pa.
Smith’s first career was as a professor of art history and art gallery curator/director. He has taught and directed art galleries in Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Mississippi. A convert, he was received into the Orthodoxy at Holy Trinity Church of Kansas City, Kan., in 1996. In 2001, he took up full-time study at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary in South Canaan, Pa. Smith was ordained a priest in 2003, and graduated from the Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in May 2004.
Presvytera Nancy Smith, who received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Chicago in 2000, taught art history at Marywood University in Scranton Pennsylvania from 2001 to 2006. She has also trained as a painter and iconographer, and is currently producing icons for Holy Trinity Church in Moose Jaw. Father Walter and Presvytera have one daughter, Flora, who is currently a graduate student at the New School in New York City.
From The Missoulian