Orthodox Christian dating in Australia

Orthodox Christians in Australia

Sydney first, because the archdioceses are there. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia lists its churches by district, Sydney, Melbourne, Northcote, Adelaide and Darwin, Perth, Brisbane, Canberra and Tasmania, and the Sydney list runs to four pages: the cathedral in Redfern, Holy Trinity on Bourke Street in Surry Hills, St Spyridon on Gardeners Road in Kingsford, St Sophia on South Dowling Street in Paddington, Sts Constantine and Helen in Newtown, St Nectarios in Burwood, St Euphemia in Bankstown, the Transfiguration in Earlwood, All Saints in Belmore, and out to Parramatta, Blacktown, Liverpool, Wollongong, Newcastle, Gosford, Dubbo, Orange and Tamworth. St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College sits on the cathedral's own block. The Antiochian archdiocese keeps its cathedral of St George on Walker Street in Redfern. The Russian Church Abroad's Australian and New Zealand diocese, under Bishop George of Sydney, has its cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Strathfield and parishes at Cabramatta, Fairfield, Blacktown, Carlton, Croydon, Centennial Park, Wallsend, West Gosford and Wollongong, with the Kazan Convent and the Skete of St John the Baptist at Kentlyn, the monastery of the Archangel Michael in Marrickville and the Holy Transfiguration Monastery at Bombala on the Monaro. The Serbian Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand governs from Nance Avenue in Cabramatta, where its cathedral of St George stands, and its Sydney church of St Lazarus is known simply as the Lazarica.

Then Melbourne, where the Greek archdiocese needs two districts, Melbourne and Northcote. The Annunciation of Our Lady on Victoria Parade in East Melbourne, the Evangelismos, is the old church of the city; the Holy Cathedral of Our Lady Axion Estin on Hartington Street in Northcote has a monastery attached; and the list goes on through Richmond, Prahran, South Yarra, where a Russian-speaking parish of the Holy Virgin's Protection belongs to the Greek archdiocese, Oakleigh, Clayton, Springvale, Dandenong, Box Hill, Templestowe, Coburg, Brunswick, Preston, Thornbury, Footscray, Yarraville, Sunshine, and out to Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Mildura. The Russian Church Abroad's Holy Protection Cathedral on Albion Street in Brunswick East was founded as a parish in July 1949, bought the Anglican St Saviour's in Collingwood in 1954, laid the foundation of its present complex on 5 November 1989 and was fully consecrated on 24 September 2006; the diocese also has parishes in Dandenong, Bell Park and Williamstown and the Sts Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute. The Serbs have St Sava Monastery at Elaine, past Ballarat.

Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the capitals complete the map. In Brisbane the Greek St George on Edmondstone Street in South Brisbane and the Russian St Nicholas Cathedral on Vulture Street in Kangaroo Point, on the Queensland Heritage Register since 1992, stand two kilometres apart across the river bend, with Greek parishes at Mount Gravatt, Taigum, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns and Toowoomba and Russian ones at Woolloongabba, Rocklea and Tweed Heads. In Adelaide the Greek archdiocese has St George in Thebarton, Prophet Elias in Norwood, St Spyridon in Unley, St Anthony in Prospect and a dozen more, and the Russian Church Abroad has St Nicholas in Wayville and the Monastery of the Prophet Elias at Monarto South. In Perth, Sts Constantine and Helen on Parker Street in Northbridge, the Annunciation in West Perth, the Pantocrator in Churchlands, and the Russian Sts Peter and Paul in Bayswater. In Canberra, the Greek St Nicholas in Kingston, opposite Telopea Park, and the Russian St John the Forerunner; in Hobart, the Greek St George on Antill Street in South Hobart and the Russian Exaltation of the Holy Cross; in Darwin, St Nicholas.

The people filling the mission parishes have been counted, though not here. The Orthodox Studies Institute surveyed twenty American parishes across six jurisdictions and reported, of the converts received since 2013, that two thirds were under forty at their reception, that people in their thirties outnumbered every other decade, and that 44 percent were single when they came in.

Those are American figures, and no Australian survey of the same kind is quoted on this page; but the person they describe is at the coffee hour in Brunswick East or in Kingsford: raised Anglican or Catholic or nothing, received as an adult, English-speaking, not yet married. The Antiochian cathedral, the Russian Church Abroad's parishes and the Greek archdiocese's newer suburban churches have all made room for that person, and the archdiocese runs a youth ministry, GoYouth, alongside its parishes.

Four jurisdictions cover the continent. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the largest by far, with districts in every state, a cathedral in Redfern and monasteries at Yellow Rock, Mangrove Mountain and Mangrove Creek in New South Wales and Axion Estin in Northcote. The Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines has its cathedral in Redfern and parishes in the cities. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia's Australian and New Zealand diocese has cathedrals in Strathfield, Brunswick East and Kangaroo Point, parishes in every state and four monasteries. The Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Australia and New Zealand has its seat in Cabramatta and the monastery at Elaine.

Where the community gathers

Australia's Church gathers where Australians do: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, then Adelaide and Perth, then the capitals.

Distances that decide everything

The Orthodox year in Australia

Dating across jurisdictions, and with converts

A kilometre separates two cathedrals in Redfern; twelve, the Greek one from the Russian; a flight, Sydney from every other city on this page. The cana.love form was written with those distances in mind; here is how it behaves.

Meeting safely

• Send money to no one you have not met in person; on cana.love asking for it is a reason to report, and the one who asked is removed for good.
• Meet first in a public place, tell someone you trust where you are, and keep the conversation on the site until you yourself decide to take it elsewhere.

How reviews, reports and appeals work is written on the guidelines page.

Common questions