Orthodox Churches in Florida

According to a 2009 survey of each state's first Orthodox parish, Florida's was the Greek church at Tarpon Springs, founded in 1907. Greek immigrants had arrived there in 1905 and grew in number with the sponge industry, and sponge divers funded a larger church by donating part of each harvest. Named for Saint Nicholas, protector of seafarers, the church was completed in 1943 and became a cathedral in 1979.

In Miami, Greek immigrants, some drawn by the warm climate, founded the Saint Sophia parish in 1927. In 1946, when Saint Sophia's new pastor took charge, Florida had only four Greek Orthodox parishes, according to the parish history. His early ministry covered almost half the state and extended to the Caribbean, and many East Coast churches were established during his tenure. St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Coral Gables began in 1949 as a small group of Miami Orthodox Christians and was consecrated as a cathedral in 1967. St. Simeon Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Miami and Russian Orthodox cathedrals at Dania Beach and Deerfield Beach add Slavic traditions.

Panagia Vlahernon Greek Orthodox Monastery at Williston has operated since 1999, through the labor of Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta; its founding monks had come from Arizona and, earlier, Mount Athos. In 2023 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia opened St. Panteleimon Skete at Coconut Creek, a dependency of a monastery in Resaca, Georgia.