SGIOC - Church History

Beginning of the milestone We thank God for His choicest blessings and guidance. Psalms 127 teaches us "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain". The church is an integral part of the Christian life and is established to serve the religious and spiritual needs of the community. Majority of our Orthodox Church members migrated to Adelaide, South Australia in the early 2000 and some came even before. After a few years the flow of migrants from Kerala, South India went up steadily. Most of the migrant Malayalee families missed the absence of a place of worship of their own faith. The Orthodox families were no exceptions. It is our spiritual culture to spend Sunday mornings visiting churches and other places of worship relevant to individual faiths.

The main worry among the Orthodox Christian families is about their children because of the absence of Sunday Schools which are normally conducted soon after the Sunday morning worship. This frustration led a few Orthodox families to think about forming a congregation at Adelaide at the earliest possible time. As a result of some serious meetings by Mr. Saji Verghese, Mr. Jinse P. Jose and Mr. Isaac Varghese (Singapore), it was decided to contact our spiritual leaders for further guidance. In the meantime, a survey was carried out among the Malayalee Community in search of Other Orthodox Families or individual members.

After receiving the necessary spiritual blessings from our Diocesan Bishop H.G. Dr. Yakob Mar Irenaios, it was decided to hold the first Holy Qurbana (Mass) on 10th Nov 2007.

The Very Reverend Father Nikola Gligorovski of the Macedonian Orthodox church was kind enough to allow us to hold the service in their church. Very Rev. Joseph Thalliaparambil Cor-Episcopa of the St.Mary's Orthodox Church, Melbourne was more than happy to conduct the Holy Qurbana with the kind support of Melbourne Orthodox Church Management Committee and members.

It is only appropriate to express our sincere gratitude to Mr.Alex John (Thambi Uncle), member of the St. Mary's Orthodox Church, Melbourne who accepted our special invitation to be here with us at Adelaide and to serve as an alter assistant.

All the necessary arrangements were made and most of the Orthodox families and members gathered at the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Crittenden Road on 09th Nov 07 for the evening prayer. Soon after the evening prayer, it was decided to hold the first meeting to discuss the future plans of the congregation.

V. Rev. Joseph Cor-Episcopa addressed the gathering with a brief introduction of the Orthodox faith and explained the need of a church or congregation at every place where the Christian community is settled.

It was unanimously agreed by all the members present to name the new church as "St.Gregorios Orthodox Church, Adelaide".

A committee was formed to run the day to day affairs of the church and the following members were unanimously elected :-

Trustee: Mr. Jinse P.Jose

Secretary: Mr. Saji Verghese

Members: Mr. A.P. Poulose

Mr. Abraham Palakat

Mr. Mathew Samuel

Prayer Group Coordinator: Mr. Gemmy Varghese

Sunday School Coordinators: Mrs. Sheeba Saji, Mrs. Lisa Abraham.

The morning prayers were started at 8.30am on the 10th Nov 2007 and V.Rev.Joseph Talliaparambil Cor-Episcopa celebrated the first Holy Qurbana at Adelaide. Most of the Orthodox family members, their friends and members of other Christian faiths of Kerala attended the service which ended at 11.00am.

A short public meeting was also held immediately after the service and V. Rev. Joseph Cor-Episcopa, in his opening speech thanked our Lord God Almighty for this gracious occasion and extended the blessings of the Diocesan Bishop H.G.Dr.Yakob Mar Irenaios.

10th Nov 2007 was a joyous occasion for many of the Orthodox Church Members at Adelaide as they made history. It was like settling an account that was over due for many years. All the elected committee members were introduced to the congregation.

All those present were served with snacks and refreshments.

We humbly offer our thanks and praise to God Almighty who has constantly provided for His people. We also honor our patron saint and request his intercession for continued blessings and guidance in our daily lives and the continued prosperity of our church.