In conjunction with the Nineteenth Diocesan Assembly of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, all Diocesan clergy will concelebrate Divine Liturgy at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Strathfield, on Sunday 17 November.  His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada will preside at Divine Liturgy together with His Grace Bishop George of Canberra.  The meeting of Archbishop Gabriel will take place at 9.00am on Sunday.

In parishes of our Diocese a collection is generally taken up every year during November to help the work of the Fund for Assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  The Fund for Assistance supports the moral-spiritual education of our youth, provides aid to our clergy, and distributes emergency relief to the missions of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  This year, the collection will be taken up in our parish on Sunday 24 November.  Collection envelopes will be available in church from Sunday 10 November.  Those who wish to make a donation but who are unable to be in church on this day may make a direct donation to the Fund for Assistance here.

On Saturday 23 November and Sunday 24 November we will have services for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Martyrs Menas of Egypt (+304 AD), Victor at Damascus (Second Century AD), and Vincent of Spain (+304 AD), together with Venerable Theodore the Studite (+826 AD). Matins will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday morning.

On Saturday 9 November and Sunday 10 November we had services for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Saint Job of Pochaev (+1651 AD). Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  After the Prayer before the Amvon a moleben was served before a copy of the “Unburnt Bush” Icon of the Mother of God for the deliverance of the New South Wales Mid North Coast and other place from cruel fires.  In His sermon the parish rector spoke about the significance of Saint Job of Pochaev and the Pochaev Monastery in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and people.

On Saturday 26 October and Sunday 27 October we had services for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, convened in Nicaea in 787 AD. Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning. In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the view of the Holy Fathers that images of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Mother, the saints, and scenes from sacred history would lead the faithful to more fervently contemplate holy things. He noted the particular importance of this in our own times when unprofitable images are so prevalent.

On Saturday 26 October our parish rector served the funeral of Christine Georgiou.  Christine, who was born in Greece in September 1933, departed this life on 17 October in Gloucester, NSW, after having received Holy Communion and Anointing with Oil.  She was afterwards laid to rest on the family property in Dewitt, NSW, near Barrington Tops.  We offer heartfelt condolences to Christine’s daughter Nitsa, and to her many friends.  Memory eternal!

On Thursday 17 October our parish rector served the funeral of Nina Diamante (nee Kowalczuk).  The responses were sung by Readers Nektary Kotlaroff and Eustratius Papageorgiou of the Russian Orthodox Male Choir of Australia.  Nina, who was born in Minsk, Belarus, in 1936, departed this life on 10 October at 83 years of age.  She was afterwards laid to rest in a crypt at Sandgate Cemetery alongside her beloved husband Silvio.  We offer heartfelt condolences to Nina's children Maria, Anna, Peter and Paul and their families, and to her sister Maria and wider family.  May God grant His newly-departed handmaiden rest with the saints and life everlasting!

On Sunday 13 October our parish held its 2019 Annual General Meeting.  The 2019 Annual Report was presented and accepted.  Irene Lupish, Olga Bogacheva, Lucea Szabunia, Anu Kinnunen, Dean Crawford and Paul Pereboeff were elected to serve on the 2019-20 Parish Council.  Subdeacon Luke Goura and Elise Goura were elected Child Safety Contact Persons, and Paul Pereboeff were chosen as the parish delegate to the Nineteenth Diocesan Assembly.

On Saturday 12 October and Sunday 13 October we had services for the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Hieromartyr Gregory, enlightener of Greater Armenia (+c.335).  Matins was served on Saturday evening and Divine Liturgy was served on Sunday morning.  In anticipation of the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, the patronal feast of the first Orthodox church in the Hunter Valley, Divine Liturgy on Sunday was preceded by a blessing of water and followed by a moleben to the Mother of God with a procession around the church.  At the end of the moleben Many Years was sung for Matushka Marie, who had celebrated her name-day on the previous day.  Following the service the 2019 Annual General Meeting of our parish was convened.

Our 2019 Annual Report, including the independently audited 2018-19 Financial Statements, is now available.  The 2019 Annual Report will be presented to our parish Annual General Meeting (AGM) this coming Sunday, 13 October 2019.  A copy of the report is available in PDF form here.  Copies will be emailed to parish members this week .  We encourage our parishioners and friends with questions or comments in relation to our Annual Report to contact us.

On 29 May 2019 His Grace Bishop George of Canberra advised parish rectors and monastic superiors that the Nineteenth Diocesan Assembly of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese would be convened at the Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW, in November 2019.  Commencing on the evening of Thursday 14 November and concluding on the afternoon of Sunday 17 November, the Assembly will coincide with Diocesan celebrations of the thirty-fifth anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s consecration to the episcopacy on 10 December 1984.  As all Diocesan clergy will be participating in the Assembly and associated commemorative activities, the only services in our Diocese on Saturday-Sunday 16-17 November will be at the Strathfield Cathedral.  Information about the Eighteenth Diocesan Assembly, held in Cabramatta in November 2016, is available here.

A group of young families working under the auspices of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin parish in Cabramatta, NSW, is again organising a camp for Russian and other Orthodox children and young people aged 8-17 to be held in Toukley, NSW - here on the Central Coast - from 15 December - 20 December 2019.  The cost will be $425.00 per person, or $399.00 if payment is made by 30 September 2019.  For those interested, more information is available here.