Jim Lucas

Age: 47

Ancestry from Greece: My father’s family is from Naoussa and my mother’s family is from Kyparissia. 

Speak Greek? Yes.

Where were you born:  Stockton, California.

When did you begin to get involved with the Greek community?

In 1996, I had just gotten over a relationship and my aunt wanted to me to get past the breakup and attend more Greek events so I would find myself a "nice Greek girl."

I met Fr. Stephen Kyriacou at Annunciation Cathedral and when he found out I had programming skills he said “We need a web site”.  I volunteered to do their web site. Within six months Fr. Stephen introduced me to the late Metropolitan Anthony who at Fr. Stephen’s recommendation wanted me to head the SF Diocesan Internet Ministry. I accepted the position and found myself guiding priests on how to convey an Orthodox Christian message over the internet. I did that for almost three years.

Working with members of our clergy was a very rewarding experience.  I definitely learned to be more patient and my Greek language skills certainly improved.  More business opportunities came my way.

Since then I have been actively involved with the creation of many web sites for churches and ministries within the San Francisco Metropolis. I believe very strongly in giving back to the community that has given so much to me.

It seems as the years went on you got yourself involved more and more in the community.  What organizations are you a part of today?

I serve as a board member of the Bay Area Greek American Business Association (BAGABA, http://www.bagaba.org) and the Hellenic American Professional Society (HAPS, http://www.hapsca.org ).

I also chair Holy Trinity’s historical society. I have a great love of a Greek-American history and am writing a book about the history of Greeks who settled in the San Francisco area. I am hoping to get the work completed and published within the next two years.

You started an email blast for the San Francisco Greek community a while back... How did it come about?

I joke about this now but the SF Announcements List Server was born out of frustration. I would hear about Greek events after they occurred or in not enough time to plan for them.  I wanted to end my frustration by doing something about it.

I wanted to start a list server for the Greek community and open it up to everyone.  I wanted to use the Archdiocesan computers and list server software.  I approached Fr. Michael Pappas at Holy Trinity with the idea and he gave his approval to the Archdiocese and I went to work.

The response was overwhelming. We now have a reach of over 2,000.  I found out that there were a lot of people just like me that shared the same frustration. I was receiving thank you notes from people I did not even know. I actively promote and maintain the list.

The list has brought positive change to the community. As an example, typically members of the San Jose community would have a difficult time hearing about events 60 miles north.  Now they are hearing about events all over the San Francisco area and we are supporting each other in greater numbers.  Instead of being ten separate communities we are moving closer to becoming one community.

Personally, I find the unity refreshing.  My friends are calling our virtual community “Ενωμένοι Έλληνες Αγίου Φραγκίσκου” or “Unified Greeks of San Francisco”. Members of the clergy love what’s happening.  To quote for Fr. Michael Pappas, “I am tending to my garden and my flowers are in full bloom”.

Has youth participation increased because of the increased communication?  What sort of information do you share with the community?

Initially younger members of our community thought that SF Announcements was for churches and they tend to be less interested in the religious announcements.  As soon as I started receiving announcements for SF Greek nightlife as well as a broad cross section of Greek news interest started to pick up. 

The list is open to anyone that has a message for the Greek community. SF area churches, the SF Metropolis, the Greek Consulate, and Greek organizations use the list. I occasionally receive messages from the Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Antiochian Orthodox churches.  I also post announcements for members of our community that have opened up a business or for someone that’s looking for work.

Do you think that print media is becoming a less effective tool for our community?

Even more so now.  We use printed media because that’s the way we have done it for years and it seems like our community does not embrace change easily.  Electronic communication methods are the future and it is the primary way the younger members of our community send and receive information.

Members of our clergy typically do not receive training or have classes available to them on how they can effectively use the internet as a tool to communicate. That has to change.

SanFranciscoGreeks.com is another venture of yours? When did you begin this website and do you wish to accomplish with this?

I started building the site six months ago. In a sense I am building on what I already started by creating a web portal for our community. The site will have an events calendar, discussion forums, a blog, an online store, and loads of resources for our community. I want to take this site a few steps farther by building something truly wonderful.

What do you think is one of the biggest issues facing the northern California Greek communities?

Since the 1930s more members of our community have moved outside of San Francisco to the surrounding suburbs and more members of the Greek community have married non-Greeks.  I think that the biggest challenge our church communities and organizations face is how they will address that change as time passes.

OK, last one....favorite Greek dish?  Spanakopita & the Macedonian version my grandmother made.

Comments/Suggestions for DailyFrappe.com:

Daily Frappe is a beautifully done web site. It’s great to meet Greeks that share the same enthusiasm I have for web.

Best of luck Dimitri!