On Saturday 11 December and Sunday 12 December we will have services for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Martyr Paramon and 370 martyrs with him in Bithynia (+250 AD).  Matins will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday.  As from 8 November 2021 density limits of one person per two square metres apply to places of worship in NSW – allowing us up to 65 people in church – all who wish to attend these services may do so.  The NSW Government requirement that face masks be worn whilst indoors at public places up until 95 per cent double vaccination or 15 December 2021, whichever comes first, should be noted.  Following Divine Liturgy, the 2021 Annual General Meeting of our parish will be held.

Our 2021 parish Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at 12.00pm on Sunday 12 December.  A formal Notice concerning the AGM is available here.  The Notice includes the AGM agenda, an explanation of why AGMs are held, information about preparation for and participation in the AGM, and an explanation of the role of Parish Councils and Parish Council members.  A nomination form for parish office-bearers is available here.  A form for those wishing to renew their parish membership is available here.

On Saturday 27 November and Sunday 28 November we had services for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Holy Martyrs and Confessors Gurias, Samonas, and Abibus of Edessa (+3rd-4th Century AD).  Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  At both services, our parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michel Matys.  At Divine Liturgy the Prayer in time of Devastating Epidemic was read. Following Divine Liturgy a memorial litia was served for the ever-memorable Archpriest John Lupish (+22 November 1977); our much-loved parishioner Evgenia Thoroughgood (+19 November 2021); and Protodeacon Anatol Daniluk (+16 November 2021), a long-serving cleric of the Białystok and Gdańsk Diocese of the Polish Orthodox Church and a preceptor of Deacon Michel.  Afterwards, an announcement was made concerning the parish Annual General Meeting to be held, God willing, on Sunday 12 December 2021, and a collection was taken up to benefit the Fund for Assistance of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.

Our Summer 2021-22 Schedule of Services - covering December, January and February - is now available in PDF format.  A copy of the English-language Summer 2021-22 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Summer 2021-22 Schedule of Services is available here.  Printed copies in both languages will be available in church from the weekend of 27-28 November.   Services of note will be for the summer feast of Saint Nicholas on 18-19 December; the Sunday after the Great Feast of the Nativity Of the Lord (Christmas) on 8-9 January; the Sunday after the Great Feast of Baptism of the Lord (Theophany) on 22-23 January, a day on which we commemorate Newcastle's former Theophany parish; and the commemoration of the departed on Saturday 26 February.

Updated 28 November: On Saturday 13 November and Sunday 14 November we had services for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Holy Unmercenary Healers and Wonderworkers, Cosmas and Damian of Mesopotamia (+3rd Century AD).  Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  At both services, our parish rector was assisted by Deacon Michel Matys.  Our choir was beautifully augmented on Sunday by a small group of experienced singers from the Sydney parishes visiting the Hunter Valley for the weekend.  At Divine Liturgy the Prayer in time of Devastating Epidemic was read.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon there was a blessing of honey that was afterwards distributed to those present. In his sermon, the parish rector spoke about Saints Cosmas and Damian, saints who were skilled physicians; about unmercenary healers who, recognising their skill as God’s gift, have taken literally Christ’s instruction to “freely give” (Matthew 10:8); about each one of us using our own specific gifts for the glory of God; and about the importance, particularly in our current circumstances, of understanding and accepting that God helps us by means of the medical skill and wisdom that he has given to physicians.  An announcement was made concerning the parish Annual General Meeting to be held, God willing, on Sunday 12 December 2021.

On Thursday 7 October, the Parish Council met by teleconference.  The usual reports on parish life and finances were tabled and discussed.  A decision was made to recommence services in our parish on the weekend of 23-24 October, provided that the 80 per cent vaccination target is reached in New South Wales and vaccination status has no impact on church attendance.  It was further agreed that the 2021 Annual General Meeting of the parish would be convened on Sunday 12 December, and that an architect would be engaged to help the Parish Council develop a Master Plan for ongoing improvements to the parish buildings and grounds.  The Parish Council is due to meet next in November 2021.

On Sunday 7 November Saint Jonah’s Russian Orthodox School Committee, a Sydney-based charitable organisation supporting initiatives in education from a Russian Orthodox perspective, hosted an online forum on home education.  Participating in the forum were Bishop George, Archpriest George Lapardin, members of the Committee, teachers from within the Russian Orthodox community, and parents considering home education.  Presentations were given by two home educators, Katherine Iliuk and our own Matushka Marie Carles.  Matushka Marie, who has over 25 years’ experience as a home educator, spoke about the reasons for home-schooling, the various methods of home-schooling, the practicalities of each method, and the pros and cons for parents and children.  Candidly reflecting on her own experience as a home educator, she emphasised the need to consider the long-term personal, social, and occupational implications of home-schooling for the children involved.  Following the presentations, participants were able to ask questions of the speakers, share their own experiences, and make comments.

In a Jubilee Epistle to the clergy and faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion writes: “In this special year of the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Holy Right-Believing Alexander, that wise diplomat and ruler, and the centennial of the I All-Diaspora Council – which took place from November 21 to December 2, 1921, in Sremski Karlovci – the Russian Orthodox people living in the Diaspora are called to augmented prayer, the doing of good deeds in all respects, and a private examination of the tablets of history, so that, by drawing from it much-needed strength and inspiration, they might continue in fortitude and renewal of spirit the patient bearing of their life’s cross. We celebrate anniversaries in our lives and honour the jubilee celebrant; so must we also unite ourselves in one common assembly and with great zeal confirm ourselves in Holy Orthodoxy, by no means shaming the memory of the Venerable Prince and of our ever-memorable forebears in the Diaspora, or the honour of our dear Mother – the Local Russian Orthodox Church”. The complete Jubilee Epistle can be read in Russian here and in English here.

The October 2021 issue of “Word of the Church” (“Церковное Слово”), the official journal of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, has recently become available in our parishes. This edition continues the beautiful glossy colour format introduced in December 2021.  Content includes, in both Russian and English, Metropolitan Hilarion’s Jubilee Epistle; details of clergy awards and movements; an appeal and a statement from Bishop George relating to the COVID-19 pandemic; ‘Why Keep the Ten Commandments’; material on Saint Alexander Nevsky; ‘About the Power of a Child’s Prayer’; ‘The Beginning of Construction of the First Church [in Australia] in Memory of the All-Russian Wonder-Worker, St John of Kronstadt’; and more.  Copies are $5.00.