At 7.00pm on Thursday 26 October we will have a moleben and akathist to Saint Panteleimon.  This service will be entirely in English.  At these services all of our parishioners, benefactors and friends are commemorated by name.  Others wishing to be commemorated at this service – or who wish to put forward names for commemoration – are welcome to contact us.  Our next moleben and akathist in Slavonic will be at 7.00pm on Thursday 30 November.

Our next services will be Matins at 6.00pm on Saturday 28 October and Divine Liturgy at 9.00am on Sunday 29 October, the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost and the day of commemoration of Martyr Longinus, the Centurion who stood at the Cross of the Lord (+1st Century AD).  As Saturday 28 October is Saint Demetrius Saturday, a day of commemoration of the departed, Matins that evening will be preceded by a general memorial service at 5.00pm. This year being the centenary of the Russian Revolution, prayers will be especially offered at this memorial service in accordance with a resolution of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia, for "the repose of the departed servants of God who [during the Soviet years] innocently died, endured suffering and torture, were exiled and imprisoned and tasted bitter death, whose names Thou alone knowest, O Lord".  At the end of Divine Liturgy on Sunday special prayers will again be offered, in the context of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, for God's mercy and forgiveness, for the defeat of all impiety, and for the strengthening of lawful and blessed marriage.

On Saturday 14 October and Sunday 15 October we had services for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Hieromartyr Kyprian and Martyr Justina of Nicomedia (+304 AD).  At the end of Divine Liturgy on Sunday special prayers were again offered for God's mercy and forgiveness, for the defeat of all impiety, and for the strengthening of lawful and blessed marriage.  A prayer of blessing was also read over two new sets of the Menaion - the set of books that contains the services for each day of the month - in Russian rather than Church Slavonic script.  Following the dismissal the parish rector congratulated choir conductor Matushka Marie Carles and parish treasurer Anna Kourbatov on the occasion of their respective name days and thanked them for their contribution to parish life.  ‘Many Years’ was then intoned for them.

On Sunday 17 September our parish held its 2017 Annual General Meeting.  The 2017 Annual Report was presented and accepted and a draft 2017-18 budget was considered.  The plan of the Parish Council to undertake certain improvements to the parish centre at West Gosford – details of which are set out in the Annual Report – was endorsed.  Vladimir (“Rick”) Golovin, Bill Reid, Anna Kourbatov, Reader Paul Douriaguine, Anne Nielsen, and Nina Golovin were again elected to the Parish Council, and Matushka Marie Carles and Alla Karmadonoff were reappointed to the role of Child Safety Contact Persons.

On Saturday 16 September and Sunday 17 September we had services for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia (+1228 AD), Wonderworkers of Murom and patrons of family, love and faithfulness.  Following the Prayer before the Amvon we served a brief moleben to the saints at which all the married and engaged couples in our parish were commemorated by name, also offering special prayers for God's mercy and forgiveness, for the defeat of impiety, and for the strengthening of lawful and blessed marriage.  After Divine Liturgy a collection was again taken up to assist the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and the rector made the final announcement concerning our 2017 Annual General Meeting.

With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop George of Canberra, we will offer special prayers after the Prayer before the Amvon at Divine Liturgy on every Sunday from 12 September until 5 November, the term of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.  These prayers will be for God's mercy and forgiveness, for the defeat of all impiety, and for the strengthening of lawful and blessed marriage.  The prayers of Saints Peter and Febronia of Murom, heavenly protectors of love, faithfulness and honourable marriage, will be particularly invoked.  May God help us!

On Saturday 2 September and Sunday 3 September we had services for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Afterfeast of the Dormition, and in honour of Apostle Thaddeus of the Seventy (+44 AD).  Prior to All-night Vigil on Saturday evening we served a memorial service for the ever-memorable Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of Platina, California (+1982), it being the thirty-fifth anniversary of his repose.  Hieromonk Seraphim was a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia and a writer, translator and publisher whose influence in the life of the Orthodox Church - both during his life and since his repose - has been immense.  On Sunday a collection was taken up to assist the Synodal Liturgical Music Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and the rector again announced that the 2017 Annual General Meeting of the parish would be held on Sunday 17 September 2017.  Following our customary cup of tea on Sunday our rector blessed four beautiful new candlestands for our small church.

Our parishioners and friends who wish to better understand what is at stake in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey are encouraged to visit the excellent Speak up for Marriage website, an initiative of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand.  A great deal of useful information can also be obtained from the Coalition for Marriage and the Marriage Alliance.  In addition, a number of excellent articles concerning the challenges to religious freedom posed by a change to the definition of marriage have been written by distinguished journalist Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large of national newspaper The Australian.

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 10 December - 16 December 2017.  The cost will be $399.00 per person.  For those interested, more information is available here.

This year our Diocese will hold its seventh annual Orthodox Teen Retreat.  Established in 2011, our Diocesan Teen Retreats cater for young people aged 14-17.  This year’s Teen Retreat will be held to the south of Sydney at Stanwell Tops from Sunday 17 December until Friday 22 December.  The programme will include services on 18-19 December for the commemoration of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra in Lycia.  For more information visit www.rocorteenretreat.info.

Under the leadership of Sophia Mikhailovna Boikov, the Sydney-based Russo-Chinese Orthodox Mission is raising funds for the construction of a church in Shonoktui, a small village in the Borzinsky district of the Zabaykalsky Krai.  The Zabaykalsky Krai, or Transbaikal Territory, is a federal subject of Russia that shares borders with China and Mongolia.  The church is to be dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the wonderworker of Myra in Lycia, and will be within the Chita Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The building project has the blessing of the Diocesan authorities in Russia and the collection of funds in this Diocese has the blessing of Metropolitan Hilarion and Bishop George.   In July 2016 a cross was blessed at the site on which the church will be constructed.   Donations can be made at the candle-desk in our church, or by direct deposit to the account of the Russo-Chinese Orthodox Mission (Commonwealth Bank of Australia BSB 062-130 ACN 10484933).  This is a worthy project – please give generously!