Vicki Shiroma lifts her hands out of a batch of Greek spinach pie filling and proudly points to her blue hand-me-down apron with a logo that boasts: “We put the phyllo in Philoptochos.”

“Philoptochos” means “friends of the poor,” said Shiroma, who is part of the Aloha Chapter of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society.

The women’s auxiliary at Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific in Makiki raises funds for local and national charities, mostly through holiday bake sales and the annual Greek Festival at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Shiroma, Suzanne Akiona and Frances Rizzo Lee are the club’s head bakers, turning out Greek specialties throughout the year in the church’s commercial kitchen. They’re now prepping pastries for their Easter “agape (love) picnic,” which is set for 1 p.m. May 1 at the church, 930 Lunalilo St., following the noon service.

Orthodox Christian churches follow a liturgical calendar that places the Easter, or “Pascha,” later in the year than those followed by other Christian denominations and the secular world.

Last week more than a dozen people spent two days working on 300 servings of spinach pie, or spanakopita, rolling phyllo dough around the filling into a shape resembling a burrito.

With a big crowd expected for the upcoming holiday picnic, it will be easier to serve this way than from the customary casserole dish, Shiroma said.

“Everyone rolls it a little differently,” she said, “but that way you know it’s definitely handmade.” Each spanakopita is filled with one-third cup of mixture of spinach, eggs, feta, onions, herbs and seasonings, a recipe tweaked from the family recipes of the church founders, said Shiroma, whose family was part of the church even before it was officially founded 51 years ago.

Parishioners and other volunteers — sometimes foodies who just want to learn how to make Greek delicacies — help bake large batches of food for the small church, she said.

“We’re so thankful our friends come to help us. They just come for the love of it,” said Shiroma, whose mother was Greek. Shiroma learned how to bake from women who had been doing it for decades and inherited her apron from one of them — “I love to wear it,” she said.

The paper-thin sheets of phyllo can be difficult to work with because they tear easily and dry out quickly. But longtime baker Regina Mass said, “Those of us who have worked with it awhile just learn how to get around anything that happens. If the phyllo breaks, you just paste it with butter and move on.”

Mass and her husband have been members since 1978. About 70 families make up the parish. “It’s a pan-Orthodox community, with Greeks, Russians, Serbians, Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos. It’s like going to the United Nations, just like every church in Hawaii,” Mass said.

Regarding the Easter agape service, the Rev. Alexander Leong said, “We call it the ‘service of love.’ We read the gospel in different languages — that is to proclaim that the good news of the resurrection is for the whole world.”

The picnic that follows is also a cause for celebration because it breaks a 40-day Lenten fast from meat, poultry, fish and dairy products.

Among the church’s traditional Easter foods are roasted lamb, koulourakia butter cookies and bright red boiled eggs. Ever-popular favorites such baklava pastries and, of course, spanakopita will also be served up at the picnic.

After enjoying holiday treats, Shiroma said, the “kids and adults will get up and just have a good time dancing in the parking lot,” skipping, swaying and joining hands to folk tunes.

Shiroma said she loves the multitude of Greek rituals and delectable foods associated with each liturgical season. The Philoptochos bakers are also available to make Greek specialties, including savory dishes like moussaka (eggplant casserole), for weddings, parties or any occasion, she said.