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!
Our 2025 parish Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at 12.00pm on Sunday 16 November. A formal Notice concerning the AGM is available here. The Notice includes the AGM agenda, an explanation of why AGMs are held, information about preparation for and participation in the AGM, and an explanation of the role of Parish Councils and Parish Council members. A nomination form for parish office-bearers is available here. A form for those wishing to renew their parish membership or become parish members is available here. All members of and regular worshippers at our parish are encouraged to attend the AGM.
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On Saturday 15 November and Sunday 16 November we will have 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 will be served at 6.00pm on Saturday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served at 9.00am on Sunday. On Sunday the third and final announcement will be made concerning our Annual General Meeting to be held that afternoon. As Saturday 15 November will be for us a day of commemoration of the departed, Matins will be preceded by a general panikhida at 5.00pm.
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.
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Our 2025 Annual Report, including the independently audited 2024-25 Financial Statements, is now available. It includes some parish history, an overview of our governance arrangements, and a summary of our activity and accomplishments in 2024-25. A copy of the report, which will be formally presented to our parish Annual General Meeting on Sunday 16 November 2025, is available here. We encourage our parishioners and friends with questions or comments concerning our Annual Report to contact us.
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On Saturday 18 October and Sunday 19 October we had services for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Holy Apostle Thomas. 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 Wallsend parish and the customary prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. As it was the eve of the centenary of the repose of Saint Jonah, Bishop of Hankow (17 April 1888- 20 October 1925, canonised 1996) a moleben to the saint was served following Divine Liturgy. At the completion of the Sunday services an announcement was made concerning the parish Annual General Meeting to be held on Sunday 16 November 2025.
On Saturday 25 October and Sunday 26 October services for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost and in honour of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God and the Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council were held at Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW. All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. As almost the entire complement of the clergy of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese was in Sydney for the Twenty-First Diocesan Assembly, most of our parishes and missions had no services. Our parish rector served at the cathedral together with Archbishop George, Archbishop Gabriel of Montral and Canada, and forty-nine priests and deacons from across the Diocese. On Sunday morning a number of clerics received ecclesiastical awards. At the end of Divine Liturgy a moleben of thanksgiving was served for the work of the Diocesan Assembly and a litia was served for Archpriest Alexander Skorik, a cleric of the New Zealand Deanery who had reposed on Saturday evening.
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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!
