Our Clergy
Father Theodore Pantels, Presiding Priest
Phone: (760) 880-5869
Email: fr.theodore@stgeorgepd.org
Fr. Theodore was born in Denver, Colorado on September 5, 1951. When he was twelve years old, his hometown parish priest invited him to join the ranks of the parish altar boys at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Denver. Through the encouragement of his parish priest, he went on to attend seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. Upon graduation, he went to Hellenic College and Holy Cross Theological School, receiving both a Bachelor’s degree (B.Th) and Master of Divinity (M.Div).
In 1976, he served as the parish lay-assistant at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he met Petula Ladis who was a member of the church choir. They both shared a mutual concern for helping the youth learn about Orthodox values and worship. What began as team leading the youth, ended up in a marriage, which took place at St. Mary’s Greek Orthodox Church in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on May 28, 1978. Over the years, Father Theodore and Presbytera Petula have been blessed with a family of four children, Anastasia, Vasiliki, Tatiana and Athansios. They are grandparents to six grandchildren.
Fr. Theodore was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on September 3, 1978 at Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Denver, Colorado.
He was then assigned as an assistant priest at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Jamaica Queens, New York, from 1978 to 1980. He served the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Vallejo, California, from 1980 to 1993. It was then when Fr. Theodore was appointed by Metropolitan Anthony of San Francisco to serve the St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church in Covina, California. This was a newly established, fast growing parish, in need of moving from what was temporary church, to a permanent one. As Pastor Fr. Ted was involved in seeing that a new and beautiful church was completed.
In September 2004, Fr. Theodore received a new appointment to Palm Desert, California to serve the parish of St. George Greek Orthodox Church. He and Presbytera Petula continue to serve this parish to the present day.
Fr. Theordore’s main focus is a one-on-one ministry in helping individuals strengthen their relationship with Christ and with other people in their lives. Fr. Theodore says, “When individuals have a strong relationship with Christ, they have good relationships with family, friends and others. Orthodox spiritual life is the cornerstone of our Church's Sacramental Life, always involving forgiveness, repentance and on-going maturity in practicing spiritual virtues.”
Rev. Deacon Euthym Kontaxis, MD
The Reverend Deacon Euthym Kontaxis MD was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. His home parish of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Portland, Oregon is where he worshipped and was influenced in the formation of his spiritual life. He completed his studies at Oregon State University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics. He then attended Oregon Health Sciences University where he received his MD degree. His medical residency was completed at UCLA. He is a board-certified Emergency Physician with a Pediatric Sub-Board.
During the completion of his internship at University of California San Diego he met and married Krisann Pulos They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2024. Early in their lives and marriage their love for the Lord and the Church was most evident. In 1990 they volunteered with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) serving in Uganda in missionary work. Euthym then served on their Board of Directors from 2000-2005. While in Phoenix from 1990-1996 They both taught religious education at the High School level at Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Dr. Kontaxis was working full time, all the while being an Emergency Physician. His focus was on developing pediatric emergency departments. It was at this time, that he received his “calling” to the priesthood, and enrolled in the Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, where in 1999, he received his Master of Divinity (M.Div.). By now, their family had grown with the addition of three children, Michael, Nicholas and Christian.
Their next assignment was to the Palm Desert, California. There, he was ordained on December 19, 1999 at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, becoming the Reverend Deacon Euthym Kontaxis. He has served as Deacon at St George since that time and taught Sunday School with Diakonissa Krisann for almost 18 years.
As a Doctor of Medicine, he has since worked at Eisenhower Health Hospital, where he is the Medical Director of the Emergency Department, and serving on the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees of the hospital since 2011. He has also served as Chairman of the Ethics Committee and is currently on the Pastoral Care workgroup for the hospital. In addition, Deacon Euthym has focused much of his energies in using the emergency department as a safety net for those individuals who are suffering. Currently over 100,000 patients a year are screened in the emergency department for food insecurity, mental health issues, abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking, addiction, and unhoused individuals. Programs and partnerships have been developed to address the emergent and long-term needs of these individuals through private and public partnerships.
As a Deacon he continues to focus on domestic mission work with the OCMC (Alaska, Montana and Mexico). He continues to be invited to lecture and lead workshops at various parishes throughout the Archdiocese.
