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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 as soon as we can. You can also contact us in the same way to arrange baptisms and memorial services. Please note: The telephone number that has been listed on Google is a private number and messages or unknown calls to this number will not be responded to or answered.
Our parish priest, Archpriest James Carles, serves in a voluntary capacity. Like many clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, he has secular employment during the week. In addition to our parish, Father James 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. As a result, his pastoral availability is limited to scheduled services in the three communities and to occasional services such as baptisms, weddings, end-of-life care, and funerals. Confessions are only heard during evening services or before Divine Liturgy. Molebens and memorial services may be arranged after Divine Liturgy on Sundays.
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 Saturday 19 September and Sunday 20 September we will have services for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Forefeast of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and in honour of the Martyr Sozon of Pompeiopolis (+ 304AD). Sunday will also be the Sunday before the Exaltation of the Cross. Matins will be served from 6.00pm on Saturday, and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served from 9.00am on Sunday.
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On Sunday 20 September and Monday 21 September we will have services for the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served from 6.00pm on Sunday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served from 9.00am on Monday.
On Saturday 5 September and Sunday 6 September we had services for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Hieromartyr Eutychius, the disciple of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian (+1st Cent. AD). All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At Divine Liturgy we were joined by friends from Newcastle and Sydney. The customary prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. Following the services on Sunday our Ladies’ Auxiliary served freshly-made piroshki.
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On Thursday 27 August and Friday 28 August we had services for the Great Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Thursday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Friday morning. Our small church was beautifully adorned with blue vestments and with a lovely arrangement of flowers on the Tomb of the Mother of God. Once again, we were joined at both services by friends from Newcastle.
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On Tuesday 18 August and Wednesday 19 August we had services for the Great Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Tuesday evening, and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Wednesday morning. We were joined at both services by friends from Newcastle. At the end of Divine Liturgy on Wednesday, as is customary on this feast-day, there was a blessing of fruit.
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Our Spring 2026 Schedule of Services - covering September, October and November - is now available in digital format. Services of note during Spring 2026 will be for the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God on Sunday-Monday 20-21 September and for Saint Demetrius Saturday, a day of commemoration of the departed, on 7 November. It should be noted that we will have services on the second and third weekends in November rather than on the first and third weekends, as is usual. A copy of the English-language Spring 2026 Schedule of Services is available here, and a copy of the Russian-language Spring 2026 Schedule of Services is available here.
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On Saturday 15 August and Sunday 16 August we had services for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Venerable Isaac (+383 AD), Dalmatus (+ after 446 AD), and Faustus (+ Fifth Cent. AD). All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening, and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At Divine Liturgy we were joined by friends from Newcastle and Sydney. The customary prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. As it was the Dormition Fast, many people confessed and received Holy Communion. In his sermon the parish rector spoke about the history of the Dormition Fast and about the implications of the appointed reading from the Holy Gospel: Matthew 18:23-35, the parable of the unforgiving servant.
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On Saturday 8 August and Sunday 9 August we had services for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Great Martyr Panteleimon (+305 AD), the heavenly patron of our parish. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Saturday evening. The lesser blessing of water was served early on Sunday morning, after which Archbishop George arrived. Friends from Sydney, Newcastle and the Mid North Coast travelled to Gosford to join in our celebrations. Following the greeting and vesting of Archbishop George the Hours were read, during which our parishioner and senior altar-server Matthew Shvetsoff was tonsured a reader. Archbishop George then presided at Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating were our parish rector, Archpriest James Carles; Archpriest Dionisy Halim, the rector of Our Lady’s Dormition Church in Wollongong; and our much-loved former parish cleric, Protodeacon Martin Naef. The choir, strengthened by many visiting singers, sang beautifully under the direction of Nikolai Morozow. Following Divine Liturgy, a brief moleben to Saint Panteleimon was served and a parish award was presented to Parish Council member Anya Nielsen. Protodeacon Martin and his wife Tatiana then presented the parish with a beautiful icon of Saints Cyril, Methodius and Clement, enlighteners of the Slavs. At the conclusion of the services on Sunday there was a festive meal in the church hall for those present.
The August 2026 issue of “Word of the Church” (“Церковное Слово”), the official journal of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), is now available in our parishes. This is the third issue for 2026. Content includes articles in English and Russian on the ninetieth anniversary of the repose of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky); a working bee at Rookwood Cemetery (NSW) organised by the National Organisation of Russian Scouts; Elder Paisius; “Valaam – Russia’s Northern Athos’”; the repose of Protodeacon Boris Evstigneev; episcopal directives; and more. Copies are $5.00.
