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 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 Thursday 18 December and Friday 19 December we will have services in honour of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia (+342 AD). All-night Vigil will be served at 6.00pm on Thursday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Friday.
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On Saturday 20 December and Sunday 21 December we will have services for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Saint Patapius of Thebes (+7th Cent. AD). 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.
On Saturday 6 December and Sunday 7 December we had services for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, for the Afterfeast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, and in honour of Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria (+c. 305 AD) and Great Martyr Mercurius of Caesarea (+3rd Cent. AD). All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. For the first time since Pascha 2025, we were joined for Divine Liturgy by Protodeacon Martin Naef. At the end of the service, our parish rector congratulated Father Martin on his appointment as second protodeacon at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield and thanked him for his long and faithful service to the parish. As a token of gratitude from the parish, he was presented with a gold set of new protodeacon’s vestments: an embroidered sticharion, double orarion and cuffs. 'Many Years' was then sung for Father Martin, his Matushka Tatiana, and for our long-serving Parish Council member Katherine Marcotrigiano who was celebrating her name-day. Following the service, a festive lunch was served in Father Martin’s honour.
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On Wednesday 3 December and Thursday 4 December we had services for the Great Feast of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves was served on Wednesday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Thursday morning. Our church was beautifully vested in blue. At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. Following Divine Liturgy on Thursday a light memorial meal was served in memory of our parishioner, Tatiana Elgin-Borodin (+ 5 December 2014).
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On Sunday 16 November our parish held its 2025 Annual General Meeting. The 2025 Annual Report was presented. A discussion of various aspects of parish life followed. A report on the Twenty-First Diocesan Assembly prepared by parish delegate Reader Alexey Douriaguine was also tabled and accepted. Nina Golovin, Anna Kourbatov, Anne Nielsen, and Kate Marcotrigiano were elected to serve on the 2025-26 Parish Council together with the parish rector and our Warden, Vladimir ("Rick") Golovin.
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Our Summer 2025-26 Schedule of Services - covering December, January, and February - is now available. A PDF copy of the English-language Summer 2025-26 Schedule of Services is available here, and a Russian-language copy is available here. Printed copies are available in church. Services of note over the summer will be the Great Feasts of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple on 3-4 December, the Nativity of Christ (Christmas) on 6-7 January, the Baptism of the Lord (Theophany) on 18-19 January, and the Meeting of the Lord on 14-15 February.
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On Saturday 15 November and Sunday 16 November we had services for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Martyrs Acepsimas the bishop, Joseph the priest, and Aeithalas the deacon of Persia (+376-380 AD) and in commemoration of the dedication of the church of Great-Martyr George in Lydda (Fourth Cent. AD). Matins was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. As Saturday 15 November was a day of commemoration of the departed, a general panikhida was served immediately before Matins. At the panikhida we commemorated our departed founders, benefactors, parishioners, family members and friends. As an act of kindness in memory of their departed ones, those attending the panikhida brought non-perishable foods to be passed to a local charitable organisation for relief of the homeless. At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land, and six newly-baptised Orthodox Christians received Holy Communion for the first time. Following Divine Liturgy, an announcement was made concerning the Annual General Meeting to be held that afternoon.
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On Saturday 8 November and Sunday 9 November we had services for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of Martyr Nestor of Thessalonica (+306 AD). All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At both services we were joined by enquirers wishing to learn more about Orthodox Christianity. At Divine Liturgy prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. At the Prayer before the Amvon, prayers of blessing were read over a beautiful new mitre and an ornate new set of protodeacon’s vestments (a sticharion, double orarion and cuffs). The mitre was to be a gift from the Gosford and Wallsend parishes and the Mid North Coast Mission to Archpriest Nikita Chemodakov on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination – it was given to him at a festive gathering in Sydney later that day. The vestments are to be a gift to Protodeacon Martin Naef in recognition of his long service to our parish – they will be presented to him in December. At the end of the Sunday services an announcement was made concerning the parish Annual General Meeting to be held on Sunday 16 November 2025. Across the two days, a collection was taken up to benefit the family of newly-reposed Archpriest Alexander Skorik (+25 October 2025); $880 was collected, and a further $120 has been contributed from parish funds to make our donation $1000.
