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. He is also presently undertaking full-time tertiary study. 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 strictly limited to scheduled services in the three communities and “needs” 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. Father James can be contacted by email here.
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 Wednesday 20 May and Thursday 21 May we will have services for the Great Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served at 6.00pm on Wednesday and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served from 8.30am (not 9.00am as indicated on the schedule) on Thursday.
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On Saturday 30 May and Sunday 31 May we will have services for the Great Feast of Pentecost. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves will be served from 6.00pm on Saturday, and the Hours and Divine Liturgy will be served from 9.00am on Sunday. Divine Liturgy will be immediately followed by Vespers and the special "kneeling prayers" appointed to be read on this day.
On Saturday 16 May and Sunday 17 May we had services for the Sixth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Blind Man. 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 Sydney and Newcastle and prayers were offered for Orthodox unity and peace in Ukraine. As it was nineteen years to the day since canonical communion was re-established within the Russian Orthodox Church, the Prayer for the Prosperity of the Russian Church was read.
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On Saturday 2 May and Sunday 3 May we had services for the Fourth Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Paralytic. All-night Vigil was served on Saturday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. At Divine Liturgy our choir sang under the direction of Ludmilla Alexandrovsky and the customary prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.
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On Saturday 25 April and Sunday 26 April we had services for the Third Sunday of Pascha, the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers. 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 Sydney, Newcastle and the Mid North Coast, and the customary prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land.
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This year, our parish again had a number of traditional services for Holy Week and Pascha. Matins was served in the evening on Sunday 5 April, Tuesday 7 April, and Wednesday 8 April. All-night Vigil was served in the evening on Monday 6 April and the Hours, Typika and Vespers with Divine Liturgy were served on the morning of Tuesday 7 April for the Great Feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God. Hours, Typika and Vespers with Divine Liturgy were served in the morning on Great Thursday, 9 April. On Great Friday, 10 April, Vespers with the bringing out of the Shroud of Christ was served at midday and Matins with Lamentations before the Tomb of Christ was served in the evening. In the morning on Great Saturday, 11 April May, Hours, Typika and Vespers with Divine Liturgy were served. The Paschal Hours and Vespers was served late in the morning on 12 April, the Sunday of Pascha, with our small church full to overflowing. Easter baskets with cakes, eggs and other festive foods were blessed following Vespers.
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On Saturday 4 April and Sunday 5 April we had services for the Sixth Sunday in Great Lent, Palm Sunday. All-night Vigil with the blessing of wheat, wine, oil and five loaves and the blessing of pussy willows and palms was served on Saturday evening. The Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Sunday morning. Our small church was full to overflowing on Sunday morning, with visitors from Newcastle joining us and a great many people receiving Holy Communion. Following Divine Liturgy a collection was taken up to benefit the suffering Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem. Following Divine Liturgy the church was prepared for our Holy Week services.
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On Friday 3 April and Saturday 4 April we had services for the Sixth Saturday of Great Lent, Lazarus Saturday. Matins was served on Friday evening and the Hours and Divine Liturgy were served on Saturday morning. A great many people confessed on Friday evening and Saturday morning so as to receive Holy Communion. At Divine Liturgy the customary prayers were offered for Orthodox unity, peace in Ukraine, and peace in the Holy Land. Receiving Holy Communion for the first time were two newly baptised Orthodox Christians, both adult converts to Orthodoxy, David and George. At the end of Divine Liturgy on Saturday our church was beautifully decorated with palm branches in anticipation of Palm Sunday.
The March 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, is now available in our parishes. This is the first issue for 2026. Content includes articles in English and Russian on the blessing of land for a new church in Tweed Heads; an article about the Diocesan Youth conference (“Syezd”) held in Adelaide in December 2025; a report on an event in November 2025 commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the text of a paper given there; episcopal directives; and more. Copies are $5.00.
