Mark Arey

Born in Richmond, VA (1954) and raised outside Washington DC, Arey converted to Orthodox Christianity from the Episcopal Church when he was 22 years old. He graduated in 1975 from the University of Maryland (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) with a BA in Latin Language and Literature. In 1976, he matriculated at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline MA. He graduated in 1979 receiving a M.Div. (with distinction) and was subsequently ordained both deacon and presbyter in October 1979. In the intervening 34 years, Arey served six parishes (last as interim Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral in New York City), as well in national administrative positions (Executive Director of Communications and Ecumenical Officer and Interfaith Director for the Archdiocese. In 2013, he asked to return to the ranks of the laity in order to marry. Arey has one grown daughter, who lives in New York City with her three daughters. In 2014, Arey was invited to be Executive Director of The Hellenic Initiative, Inc. (https://www.thehellenicinitiative.org), a global venture philanthropy organization that does economic development in Greece. In 2019, Arey took a six-month sabbatical to travel on pilgrimage to India, after which he began working as a private consultant in both the fields of venture philanthropy and communications.