St. George Greek Orthodox Church, Adelaide
Encyclopedia
Mile End, South Australia
Mile End is an inner western suburb of Adelaide, located in the City of West Torrens, around 2 kilometres from the Adelaide city centre. It has a census area population of 3,918 people...
, in the South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n capital of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. It is under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.- Archbishop of Australia...
and spiritual direction of Archbishop Stylianos of Australia and is the largest Greek Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
church in Adelaide. This is partly due to the high population of Greek Australian
Greek Australian
Greeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2006 census, 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity....
s in the area, mostly from Thebarton
Thebarton, South Australia
Thebarton is a suburb of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore Street to the south, and South Road to the west....
, Torrensville
Torrensville, South Australia
Torrensville is a middle-class suburb, two kilometres west of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It was named after Irish-born colonial premier Robert Torrens....
and Mile End
Mile End, South Australia
Mile End is an inner western suburb of Adelaide, located in the City of West Torrens, around 2 kilometres from the Adelaide city centre. It has a census area population of 3,918 people...
.
Greeks of North-East West Torrens
The "Greek Orthodox Community and Parish of Saint George Thebarton and Western Suburbs Inc." was formed in 1960 to help the expatriate Greeks, and in 1965 the members of that community built St. George's church.
Today, the suburbs of Torrensville
Torrensville, South Australia
Torrensville is a middle-class suburb, two kilometres west of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It was named after Irish-born colonial premier Robert Torrens....
and Thebarton
Thebarton, South Australia
Thebarton is a suburb of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore Street to the south, and South Road to the west....
have a significant Greek Australian population, with 4,471 Greek Australians living in the area, that is 18.7 per cent of the total population, according to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
in 2001.
Church Services
Sunday services begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at approximately 11:00 a.m. Weekday services are held sporadically between 8:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
Services are especially solemn and are the highlight of the Orthodox Church calendar.
The Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
evening service, which is officiated by the Assistant Bishop to the Archbishop, His Grace Bishop Nikandros of Dorileum, includes an anticlockwise procession on the streets with an epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
being carried from the church at approximately 9:30 p.m. Police accompany the clergy and crowd for the entire procession, and close down the southbound lanes of South Road while the crowds walk behind the clergy and the epitaph.
On Holy Saturday evening, the midnight office begins at 11:00 p.m. At midnight the priest lights the trikeri (three candles) and invites the people to "Come, receive the Light from the light that is never overtaken by night". The people rush to be first to receive the flame in order to pass it on until the entire crowd (inside and outside) have their candles lit from the holy flame. This is followed by the priest going outside on to a temporary stage to read the Paschal gospel and the traditional Paschal hymn "Χριστός Ανέστη". The Paschal Sunday service continues until approximately 2:30 a.m.
School services are held four times a year, where all students and teachers from St. George College
St George College, South Australia
St George College is the first Greek Orthodox school in Adelaide, South Australia. The co-educational college, established in 1983, operates under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and is the direct responsibility of the Greek Orthodox community. The original school, now...
attend a liturgy for communion. As the number of students at the college exceed the seated capacity of the church, the school now holds separate liturgies for the school. One for the primary students and one for the high-school students.
Publications
The Community and Parish publishes a quarterly magazine, "St. George Community News".Attendance
Sunday morning service attendance is approximately 300 - 500, which is the approximate capacity of the church. Celebrations such as the feast day of St. George usually have over 1000 people attending, and the outdoor sound system is turned on for the benefit of the hundreds outside. By far, the Good FridayGood Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
evening service and the midnight Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
service have the greatest attendance of the year, with upwards of 5000 having attended in the past.
People who serve in the church
The current Head Chanter at the church is Mr. Ilias Frangoulis, Archon Protopsaltis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.