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Saint St. Nicholas Parish in Bankstown, NSW, was formed in 1959 and worshipped in premises the parishioners built on land leased from NSW Government Railways. In 1971 , it was under the rectorship of [[Archimandrite ]] [[Veniamin (Garshin)]] who had resigned as dean of the ROCOR Cathedral in Sydney and departed from that [[jurisdiction]]. At that time they petitioned OCA for their acceptance under the [[omophorion ]] of the OCA Metropolitan. Their petition was quickly granted.
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website=[http://oca.org/CAdioceseAU.asp?SID=8 Parishes in Australia]
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The '''Orthodox Church in America - Parishes in Australia''' was the name applied to the [[church]]es who, [[ROCOR and OCA#1970: Autocephaly for the OCA|in 1971]], left [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|ROCOR]] and asked to be taken under the [[Orthodox Church in America|OCA]]'s protection. The parishes were administered directly by the Metropolitan [[metropolitan]] of the [[OCA]].
{{orthodoxyinaustralia}}
== History ==
In 1971, in a split from [[Diocese of Australia and New Zealand (ROCOR)|ROCOR]], a group of Orthodox faithful applied to the Orthodox Church in America for acceptance.
A second [[parish]] in Brisbane, Holy Annunciation Church, was formed under the rectorship of Fr . [[Gregory Malisheff]] and following the example of the Bankstown parish petitioned OCA and was also quickly accepted.
In 1977 , a third group, later named the Australian Orthodox Fraternity of St . Michael, was formed in metropolitan Sydney for the purpose of purchasing and organising another parish, under the rectorship of Fr . [[Michael Mersher]]. In November of that year, Mr Verjbitsky contacted the Uniting Church and was offered a surplus Presbyterian church in Homebush. The building was made suitable for Orthodox worship, including an iconostas[[iconostasis]], on [[January 26]], 1978. Fr . Michael was the [[rector]] from 1978-80, Fr . [[Theodore Michaluk]] from 1980-86, Fr . Leopold in 1986, and Fr . [[Igor Chlabicz]] from 1987.
Following the repose of Archimandrite Veniamin in 1994, the Orthodox Church in America was unable to supply a replacement [[priest]] for the Bankstown parish. The parish council of Saint St. Nicholas approached Bishop [[Gibran (Ramlawey) of Australia and New Zealand|Gibran]], then Antiochian Orthodox Bishop for Australia and New Zealand, and asked if he was able to supply a [[priest ]] who could celebrate in Slavonic. Hieromonk [[Andrija (Vujisic)|Andrija (Zoran Vujisić)]] and, later, Fr . [[Nicholas Gan]] assisted on a temporary basis until Fr . [[Mitko Machevski]] was appointed and commenced services at St . Nicholas on [[August 10 August ]], 1996.
The parish later formally changed jurisdictions to the [[Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand]]. Fr . Mitko was appointed rector of the parish, which continues to use Church Slavonic and follow the [[Julian Calendar]].
In 2009, after five years without services, Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, Brisbane, requested permission to transfer to the ROCOR's Diocese of Australia and New Zealand and, by mutual consensus of Metropolitans [[Jonah (Paffhausen) of Washington|Jonah]] and [[Hilarion (Kapral) of New York|Hilarion]], was received in May 2009.
After the rectorate of Fr . Igor Chlabicz, the Australian Orthodox Fraternity of St . Michael was served by Rev. Fr . [[John Vesic]], a priest of the [[Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand|Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand]]. In March 2011 , the parish received the blessing of Metropolitan Jonah of the OCA to join the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand, with Bishop [[Irinej (Dobrijevic) of Australia and New Zealand|Irinej of Sydney]] placing new antimens in the church on Forgiveness Sunday.
==Current status of parishes==
The OCA Parishes in Australia is now a defunct administrative grouping, having existed from 1971-to 2011.
The following parishes, who originally formed the grouping, moved to:
*St . Nicholas Orthodox Church, Bankstown, New South Wales; now in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
*Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, Woolloongabba, Queensland; now in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia - Diocese of Australia and New Zealand.
*St. Michael Orthodox Church, Homebush, New South Wales; now in the Serbian Orthodox Church - Diocese of Australia and New Zealand.
* His Eminence [[Sylvester (Haruns) of Montreal|Sylvester (Haruns)]], Archbishop of Montreal and Canada, 1963-1981, administrator of the parishes in Australia, 1972-1981.
== External Links links ==
* [http://oca.org/CAdioceseAU.asp?SID=8 Website of the Parishes in Australia] (on the OCA website)
* [http://www.smh.org.au St Michael's, Homebush] (Australian Orthodox Fraternity of St Michael)
* [http://www.antiochianarch.org.au/NSW.aspx#nsw007 Parish listing for Antiochian Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas, Bankstown] (former parish in this grouping)
* [http://www.holyannunciation.net Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church]
*[http://www.spc.rs/sr/nova_parohija_spc_u_sidneju "New Parish of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Sydney"]
[[Category:Jurisdictions|Australia]]
[[Category:Orthodoxy in Australia]]