Parishes in Australia (OCA)
| Parishes in Australia | |
| Jurisdiction | OCA |
| Diocese type | Administrative District |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Current bishop | Metr. Herman, administrator |
| See(s) | n/a |
| Headquarters | Syosset, New York State, USA |
| Territory | Qld and NSW, Australia |
| Liturgical language(s) | Slavonic and English |
| Musical tradition | Russian Chant |
| Calendar | Revised Julian, Julian |
| Population estimate | unknown |
| Official website | Parishes in Australia |
The Orthodox Church in America - Parishes in Australia is the grouping applied to the churches who, in 1971, left ROCOR and asked to be taken under the OCA's protection. It is directly under the Metropolitan of the OCA (currently Metropolitan Herman), and has two churches in Australia.
Contents
History
In 1971, in a split from ROCOR, a group of Orthodox faithful applied to the Orthodox Church in America for acceptance. A parish was formed in Bankstown, NSW, in 1971, under the rectorship of Archimandrite Veniamin (Garshin) and under the patronage of St Nicholas. A second parish in Brisbane, Holy Annunciation Church, was also formed under the rectorship of Fr Gregory Malisheff.
In 1977 a third grouping, later named the Australian Orthodox Fraternity of St Michael, was formed in Sydney for the purpose of purchasing and organising another parish, under the rectorship of Fr Michael Mersher. In November of that year, Mr Verjbitsky contacted the Uniting Church and was offered a surplus Presbyterian church in Homebush. The building was made suitable for Orthodox worship, including an iconostasis, on January 26, 1978. Fr Michael was the rector from 1978-80, Fr Theodore Michaluk from 1980-86, Fr Leopold in 1986, and Fr Igor Chlabicz from 1987 to the present.
Following the repose of Archim. Veniamin in 1994, the Orthodox Church in America was unable to supply a replacement priest for the Bankstown parish. The parish council of St Nicholas approached the Antiochian Orthodox Bishop Gibran and asked if he was able to supply a priest who could celebrate in Slavonic. Hieromonk Andrija (Zoran) Vujisić and later Fr Nicholas Gan assisted on a temporary basis until Fr Mitko Machevski was appointed and commenced services at St Nicholas on 10 August 1996.
The parish later formally changed jurisdictions to the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand. Fr Mitko was appointed rector of the parish, which continues to use Church Slavonic and follow the Julian Calendar.
| This article forms part of the series Orthodoxy in Australasia | |
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| History | |
| Orthodoxy in Australia Timeline Orthodoxy in New Zealand Timeline Antiochian Orthodox Gk Orthodox Archd. of ANZ | |
| Jurisdictions | |
| GOA Aus - Abp Makarios Antiochian - Metr. Basilios ROCOR - Bp George Serbian - Bp Siluan Romanian - Bp Michael GOM NZ - Met Myron | |
| Pan-Orthodox Synaxes | |
| Episcopal Assembly of Oceania SCCOCA | |
| Institutions | |
| Antiochian Orthodox Greek Orthodox (Aus) | |
| Notable Monasteries | |
| Complete List | |
| St Anna Holy Cross Gorgoepikoos O.L. of Kazan Presentation |
Proph. Elias St John Mtn Pantanassa St Sava (Elaine) Transfiguration Archangels, NZ |
| Edit this box | |
Organisation
The OCA Parishes in Australia is an administrative grouping of two churches.
- Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, Woolloongabba, Queensland.
- St. Michael Orthodox Church, Homebush, New South Wales.
The Episcopacy
Current Episcopacy
- Metropolitan Herman (Swaiko) of Washington and New York, administrator of the parishes in Australia.
Previous Bishops
- Sylvester (Haruns), Archbishop of Montreal and Canada, 1963-1981, administrator of the parishes in Australia, 1972-1981.
External links
- Website of the Parishes in Australia (on the OCA website)
- Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church (the church in Woolloongabba, Brisbane, Queensland)
- Saint Nicholas Bankstown (the former parish in this grouping)
