Русская Версия

Introduction

Welcome to the website of the St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Canberra. The cathedral parish is part of the Australian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (Abroad). We hope that your visit will be of benefit.

The dean of the cathedral is Archpriest Alexander Morozow.

For general enquiries please email enquiry@stjohnthebaptist.org.au. For information and enquiries about hiring the parish hall, please see the contact page.

Our parish website also has web pages in Russian with different content.

Updates Related to COVID-19

The further relaxation of restriction on gatherings starting on Friday 19 June allowing more worshipers to attend church services is very welcome but continues to pose some difficulties for us to ensure we comply with the four square meters per person rule. This means that the maximum number of worshipers in the church we can have at any time is 25. As painful as having services behind closed doors has been, it would be no less painful for someone to come to church only to be told there are already 25 people attending and that they cannot enter.

After again reviewing this changing situation, Father Stephen and I have agreed that for the time being we will continue to ask that anyone wishing to attend Sunday services notifies me (Father Alexander) in advance on 0411165925 and does not just come along on Sunday morning without warning. We will give priority to those who wish to receive confession and communion and also to those with special needs.

Weekly services are being held on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings at the usual times. As attendance on Saturday evenings is usually considerably less than for Sunday liturgy, prior notice for these Saturday evening services is not required.

Sadly, the continuing COVID restrictions will mean that this year we will be unable to celebrate our parish feast day as we would like or to have Bishop George serve in our church. We will observe the feast of St John the Baptist on the actual day it falls (vigil on Monday 6 July at 6.00pm and liturgy on Tuesday 7 July at 8.30 am). If you wish to attend liturgy on the feast day, please let me know in advance in the same way as for Sundays.

God willing, there will be further relaxations on church gatherings in the coming months.

Father Alexander

Please also see:

• A pastoral letter on the current situation from Archpriest Alexander Morozow and
• some practical advice from Priest Stephen David.

To help us through this period, we ask you to consider a regular monthly financial contribution to our parish. Contributions directly into our parish bank account is the easiest way to make your donation. Our bank account details are as follows:

BSB: 032719
Account: 602930

Other updates for the parish community and communications from the parish clergy will be published here. Please check back regularly.

Easter Greeting

Easter Greeting from Archpriest Alexander.

Our Journey Towards Easter

Fifth Sunday of Lent – St Mary of Egypt

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday

Holy (Passion) Week

Great (Good) Friday

For updates to the service schedule and other parish events, follow us (@stjohn_baptist) on Twitter or on Facebook.

Parish Life

Faith and Wisdom

A new ministry will begin in our church called 'Faith and Wisdom'. These talks/discussions will help our congregation to better understand their faith and to grow in their faith. This is open to all adults and will cover all aspects of our faith including the basic concepts of Orthodoxy. Details are as follows:

These classes are now held online at 1:30 pm - 2:15 pm on Sunday afternoons. Please see our Facebook page for the link.

Daniel and the Three Youths Ministry

This is a new service for the children of our parish aged between 5 and 8 years old. The purpose of this service is to teach the next generation the foundation of our faith, including beliefs and practises, as well as church hymns that will enable them to participate in the liturgy.

Class will begin and end with prayer and will be conducted according the the following format:

• Church hymn lesson
• Religious lesson
• Lesson activity

These classes are now held online at 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoons. Please see our Facebook page for the link.

Bible Study

The bible study continues at 6:30 pm on Monday evenings (except when this coincides with a church service). These classes are now held online. Please see our Facebook page for the link.

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