This is a timeline of the Orthodox presence in New Zealand.

*1850s: Massacres of Orthodox Christians by the Ottoman Turks in Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, Syria, and other parts of the Middle East see a great displacement of Orthodox from these regions.

*1860s: Numbers of Arabic speaking Orthodox arrive in Australia and some move from there to New Zealand.

*1902: [[Church of Greece]] seizes responsibility for Greek Orthodox parishes in Australasia from the [[Church of Jerusalem]].

*1908: [[Church of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarchate]] arbitrates, prohibits any language other than church Greek in these churches, and assigns jurisdiction of Greek Orthodox parishes in Australasia to the Church of Greece.

*1910: [[Hieromonk|Hmk]] [[Nicholas (Manavitch)]] (Russian under Antioch), the first Orthodox priest to reside in New Zealand, arrives.

:: First Orthodox church in New Zealand, dedicated to St Michael, purpose built in Dunedin.

*1911 Jan 11: Free of debt, Saint Michael Dunedin is consecrated by Archimandrite Nicholas (Manavitch).

*1913: Fr Nicholas Shehadie appointed Patriarchal [[Exarch]] for Australia and New Zealand by His Beatitude Gregorious Haddad Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.

*1916: Exarch Nicholas Shehadie visits New Zealand for 2-3 months. Conducts services throughout New Zealand. After his departure, again there is no Orthodox priest in New Zealand.

*1917: Bolshevik revolution in Russia sees large numbers of Russians and allied peoples displaced and fleeing genocidal massacres there and in satelite countries over the next 10 years. Many flee to western Europe, and then the Americas; others, via Asian Russia, flee to China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australasia.

*1920s: Millions of people displaced due to genocidal massacres in modern Turkey following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Large numbers of Orthodox flee to the Americas and Australasia.

*1924 Mar 7: Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand established by Ecumenical Patriarchate.

*1947 Apr 22: Archimandrite [[Theophylactos (Papathanasopoulos) of Australia and New Zealand|Theophylactos (Papathanasopoulos)]] elected Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand (Greek) by Ecumenical Patriarchate.

*1948 Nov: [[Bishop]] [[Theodore (Rafalsky) of Sydney|Theodore (Rafalsky)]] (ROCOR) arrives in Australia.

*1948 to 1955: Following the Second World War large numbers of Orthodox are again displaced from their former homelands. Arabic speaking Orthodox move out of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt to the new world, especially where their compatriots had already established settlements generations before. Greek speaking Orthodox move out of mainland Greece, and especially the Aegean Islands, and from Egypt, to previously populated new world countries. Many move to New Zealand.

*1958 Aug 2: Metropolitan Theophylactos (Papathanasopoulos) killed in car accident in Melbourne.

*1959 Apr 27: Metropolitan [[Ezekiel (Tsoukalas) of Pisidia|Ezekiel (Tsoukalas)]] newly elected Greek Metropolitan of Australia and New Zealand arrives in Australia.

*1969: Metropolitan Iakovos of Philadelphia, [[Exarch]] of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, arrives in Australia to consider future of the Greek churches of Australia and of New Zealand.

::First Antiochian Orthodox hierarch, Bishop [[Gibran (Ramlawey) of Australia and New Zealand|Gibran (Ramlawey)]] of [[Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand|Australia and New Zealand]], arrives in Australia.