Saint Panteleimon's is an Orthodox Christian parish of East Slavic tradition serving the New South Wales Central Coast and the northern suburbs of Sydney. Our parish includes Orthodox Christians of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, and other backgrounds. We are a parish of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church, is completely independent in pastoral, educational, administrative, management, property, and civil matters. Our parish is doctrinally Orthodox, liturgically traditional, and welcoming to all. In our services we use English, the language of this country, together with Church Slavonic, the liturgical language of the Slavic peoples. Established in 2000, our parish is one of the newest in our Diocese.
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We have services on the first and third Sundays of each month and on the preceding Saturday evenings. We also have services on some major feast-days during the week. Our current Schedule of Services can be viewed here. Our church is generally only open when we have services. Visitors are always welcome! If you would like to contact us before visiting, it is best to send an email. We check this inbox regularly and will respond to messages within 24 hours. You can also contact us in the same way to arrange baptisms and memorial services. Please don't hesitate to reach out!
Our parish priest, Archpriest James Carles, serves here in a voluntary capacity. He has part-time secular employment during the week and is presently undertaking full-time tertiary study. In addition to our parish, he has responsibility for Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Newcastle and Saint Symeon of Verkhoturye Orthodox Mission on the New South Wales Mid North Coast. During study periods (in 2025, 17 February-12 July and 21 July-15 November) his pastoral availability is strictly limited to scheduled services in the three communities; individual “needs” that arise in connection with these scheduled services (e.g. confessions, molebens, and memorial services); essential parish administrative tasks; and end-of-life care and funerals. Father James is available to talk after Divine Liturgy on the Sundays when we have a service. He can also be contacted by email.
Our parish is a small one that relies on community support and the voluntary service of our clergy to make ends meet. If you find this website to be of interest or of assistance, please consider helping us. Donations may be made directly to our bank account:
St Panteleimon Russian Orthodox Community of Gosford
BSB: 032-596 Account number: 140923
May the Lord bless you!
On Wednesday 28 May and Thursday 29 May we will have services for the Great Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served at 6.00pm on Wednesday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Thursday.
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On Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June we will have services for the Seventh Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. All-night Vigil will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday.
Our Winter 2025 Schedule of Services - covering June, July and August - is now available. Services of note during this period include those for the Apostles Peter and Paul on 11-12 July; for our patronal feast of Saint Panteleimon on Friday-Saturday 8-9 August; and for the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Monday-Tuesday 18-19 August. A copy of the English-language Winter 2025 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Winter 2025 Schedule of Services is available here. Printed copies in both languages are also available in church.
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On Saturday 17 May and Sunday 18 May we had services for the Fifth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. All-night vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. On Sunday morning, prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. At the end of Divine Liturgy prayers of blessing were read over a set of beautiful new white covers for the Holy Table, Table of Oblation, and icon stands. The new covers, the work of the sisters of Saint Elizabeth Convent in Minsk, Belarus, will be used for the first time on the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord in August this year.
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Our parishioners and friends will be saddened to learn that as of 29 April 2025, long-serving parish cleric Protodeacon Martin Naef has been formally transferred to Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield. Father Martin was ordained to the diaconate in January 2008 and, apart from a two-year period from 2012-2014 during which he and his family lived in Europe, he has served in our parish ever since. As he will now be travelling abroad until August 2025, a formal farewell is being planned for September 2025.
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On Saturday 3 May and Sunday 4 May we had services for the Third Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers. All-night vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At both services the parish rector served alone, and at Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.
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This year, our parish had a significant number of traditional services for Holy Week and Pascha. Matins was served in the evening on Sunday 13 April, Monday 14 April, Tuesday 15 April, and Wednesday 16 April. Divine Liturgy was served in the morning on Great Thursday, 17 April, with everyone present receiving Holy Communion. On Great Friday, 18 April, Vespers with the bringing out of the Shroud of Christ was served at midday and Matins with Lamentations before the Tomb of Christ was served in the evening. In the morning on Great Saturday, 19 April, Divine Liturgy was served. Midnight Office was served late that evening, with Paschal Matins and Divine Liturgy following in the early hours of 20 April, the Sunday of Pascha. At the midnight services the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef. Paschal Vespers was served late in the morning on 20 April, the Sunday of Pascha. Easter baskets with cakes, eggs and other festive foods were blessed following Matins and Vespers.
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On Friday 11 April and Saturday 12 April we had services for the Sixth Saturday of Great Lent, Lazarus Saturday. Matins was served on Friday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Saturday morning. At the end of Divine Liturgy on Saturday prayers of blessing were read over a small number of pussy-willows in anticipation of Palm Sunday.
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On Sunday 6 April and Monday 7 April we had services for the Great Feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Sunday evening, and the Hours, Typika, Vespers and Divine Liturgy were served on Monday morning. At Divine Liturgy we were joined by friends from the Wallsend parish and prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.
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On Saturday 5 April and Sunday 6 April we had services for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent. All-night vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. The regular Sunday services were preceded by the Lesser Blessing of Water and followed by a moleben to Saint Tikhon the Confessor, Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America (+7 April 1925). At Divine Liturgy on Sunday the parish rector was assisted by Protodeacon Martin Naef and prayers were offered for peace in Ukraine. In his sermon, the rector spoke about Saint Mary of Egypt and about Saint Tikhon. Following Divine Liturgy the church vestments were changed to blue and the church was decorated in preparation for the services for the Great Feast of the Annunciation.
“Let us appreciate and sincerely give thanks unto God for His great loving-kindness and mercy shown towards fallen mankind by redeeming us from sin through His suffering on the cross and glorious Resurrection, making us heirs of His heavenly kingdom. … Let us not be tempted by the so-called pleasures and riches of this temporal world, but let us always strive for spiritual riches which do not fade away. Our way of life now will have eternal consequences. Archbishop George’s Epistle is available in full in English here and in Russian here.
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“May the present celebration, for which we have been preparing with prayer and fasting, renew the right spirit, that is, a healthy spirit, in our hearts, in order to understand the mystery of Christ's Resurrection, to enjoy the "riches of goodness" of which Chrysostom writes, and to anticipate "eternal joy"! ... May our feast be united with the general yearning of the faithful to God for peace and for the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onouphry of Kiev and All Ukraine. For "if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it," says the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 12:26).” Metropolitan Nicholas’s Epistle is available in full in English here and in Russian here.
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The April 2025 issue of “Word of the Church” (“Церковное Слово”), the official journal of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, is now available in our parishes. This is the first issue for 2025. Content includes the 2025 Paschal Epistle of Archbishop George in Russian and English; articles in Russian and English concerning the March 2025 Pastoral Conference of our Diocese convened at the Holy Protection Cathedral in Brunswick (Melbourne), Victoria, during Great Lent; the text in Russian and English of a paper presented at that conference by Archpriest Nicholas Karipoff, ‘The Image of the Pastor: The Bible, Vitae of the Saints and Pastoral Theology’; announcements concerning various awards bestowed on Diocesan clergy by the Synod of Bishops and by Archbishop George; articles in Russian marking the centenary of the repose of Patriarch Tikhon; articles in Russian and English about the December 2024 Diocesan Youth Conference (“Syezd”); a colour supplement of photographs from Chersonesus (near Sevastopol, Crimea); and more. Copies are $5.00.
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The Twenty-First Diocesan Assembly of our Australian-New Zealand Diocese is to be held at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW, from the evening of Thursday 23 October until the afternoon of Sunday 26 October 2025. As all Diocesan clergy will be participating in the Assembly, the only services in our Diocese on Saturday-Sunday 25-26 October will be at the Strathfield Cathedral. A news article about the Twentieth Diocesan Assembly may be read here. A delegate from amongst the laity to join the parish rector in representing our parish at the Assembly will be chosen at a parish meeting to be convened on Sunday 17 August 2025. Further information about the parish meeting and the Twenty-First Diocesan Assembly will be made available in due course.
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This year, 2025, is the centenary of the repose of two great hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church: Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (31 January 1865 - 7 April 1925, canonised 1981) and Saint Jonah, Bishop of Hankow (17 April 1888- 20 October 1925, canonised 1996). In recognition of this significant anniversary, the Synod of Bishops of our Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia has called upon the bishops and clergy to make a particular effort to remember these two holy bishops. To this end, they are to be commemorated at the dismissal of each Divine Liturgy up until the Great Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (4 December, the day of the Patriarchal enthronement of Saint Tikhon in 1918) and to remember Saint Tikhon in a sermon and with a moleben on Sunday 6 April, the Fifth Sunday in Great Lent and the eve of the anniversary of his repose. We will also serve a moleben to Saint Jonah on Sunday 19 October, the Ninenteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the eve of the anniversary of his repose. Holy Hierarchs Tikhon and Jonah, pray to God for us!
