The eastern orthodox community had existed in the
port city of Galveston since 1861 as the
parish of Saints Constantine and Helen. By the late 1800s a group of Serbs, Greeks, and Russians appealed to the
Holy Synod of the
Russian Orthodox Church in
St. Petersburg, Russia, and
Tsar Nicholas II for a church. Services were originally held in
Greek,
Russian and
Serbian; however, in 1933 the Greek members of the church voted to create a "daughter parish" of Sts. Constantine and Helen and operate it under the
Greek Orthodox Church, naming their new church Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church. Saints Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Church was the first Serbian Orthodox church in the state and its parish is the oldest Orthodox parish in Texas. The church also holds the distinction of being the second oldest Serbian Orthodox church in the United States. ==Notable clergy==