Reverend Dr. George Regas

Reverend Dr. George Regas was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, where his father, a Greek immigrant, ran a popular restaurant.

Regas studied at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., and Cambridge University; he received his doctorate from the Claremont School of Theology.  His first parish, on the eve of the Civil Rights Movement, was in Pulaski, Tennessee, the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1967, he was chosen to be the Rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena. He served All Saints for 28 years, until his retirement in 1995. The predominant focus of Dr. Regas' 28 years at All Saints in Pasadena was in the arena of peace and justice. He led the congregation to oppose the Vietnam War, the escalating nuclear arms race, and the Gulf War. He established many programs of responding to human needs: an AIDS Service Center, a medical program for uninsured children, a shelter for the homeless, and the Coalition For A Non-Violent City. George Regas is now The Rector Emeritus of All Saints Church. 

Under Regas's leadership, All Saints, Pasadena, became one of the largest Episcopal Churches in the United States, established the largest service center for serving HIV and AIDS victims in the San Gabriel Valley, and started Union Station for assisting the homeless. Dr. Regas also led the foundation of the Young & Healthy program, which helps uninsured and under insured children. He was the president of the Coalition for a Non-Violent City and co-founder of the Interfaith Center to Reverse the Arms Race.

He subsequently serves as executive director of the Regas Institute, which was established in 1998. The Institute is dedicated to the study and examination of Progressive Religion which will seek to be a counter-balance to the dominance of the Religious Right in the public arena.

He is a founding member of the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, a group established in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy to oppose war.