Changes

In 1997, Dcn Nabil was ordained to the priesthood; closely followed by his 1998 elevation to Archimandrite. This made him the first person in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese to have been be elevated to Archimandrite in Australia. During this time, he continued to serve at St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, East Melbourne.

Archimandrite Nabil, with Fr Dimitri Baroudi, reinvigorated the Sunday School, established a youth group and a senior citizen's group, and had provided strong representation of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in a number of inter-faith forums. In 1999, Archim. Nabil was elected president of the Victorial Victorian Council of Churches, the first Orthodox to do be so.