St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church
Македонска Православна Црква "Свети Никола"
Makedonska Pravoslavna Crkva "Sveti Nikola"
St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church is located in Melbourne
St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church
St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church
37°43′55″S 145°01′27″E / 37.73195°S 145.02416°E / -37.73195; 145.02416
Location130 Tyler Street, Preston 3072, Melbourne, Victoria
CountryAustralia
DenominationMacedonian Orthodox
WebsiteSt. Nikola Church
History
StatusChurch
Foundedc. 1978
DedicationSaint Nicholas
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architectural typeChurch
Administration
DioceseMacedonian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand
Clergy
Priest(s)Reverend Father Trajko Mojsov
Assistant priest(s)Reverend Father Mile Taleski

The St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church (Macedonian: Македонска Православна Црква "Свети Никола", Makedonska Pravoslavna Crkva "Sveti Nikola") is the Macedonian Orthodox church located in Preston,[1][2] a suburb of northern Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. First consecrated in 1978, after a fire, the church was rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1996.[3] Attendance by parishioners averages at some 200 per liturgy.[1]

History

Church plaque

The Community of St.Nikola, a church organisation was founded (1974) in Preston by the Macedonian community.[4] The St. Nikola community had arisen from the Cyril and Metodius Cultural Association.[5] The initiative committee of the organisation was composed of Gorgi Pisevski, its president, along with Mile Panov, Gorgi Petro and Nikola Vasilevski.[3] The consecration of St. Nikola church took place during 1978 by Archbishop Dositej and the Metropolitan Kiril.[3]

St. Nikola was a wooden building, and a fire (February 1995) left it in ruins.[3] The Arson Squad of Victoria Police considered the fire suspicious and the Macedonian community felt despondent by the event.[3] Tensions existed at the time between the local Macedonian and Greek communities, and within that context the fire was viewed to have been a deliberate act.[3] Some people in the St. Nikola Church Committee attributed responsibility for the fire toward the Greek lobby.[3]

President Pisevski led efforts of the local Preston Macedonian Community to reconstruct the church as a brick building.[3] Funds were collected from the Macedonian community, who assisted by providing labour as well.[3] Following nearly 6 months of reconstruction, the new church of St. Nikola was consecrated (May 1996) by Bishops Peter and Stefan, along with Protogeacon Ratomir Grozdanovski, the Macedonian Holy Synod secretary.[3] The consecration ceremony was attended by over 10,000 people and their donations amounted to some $100,000.[3]

In early 2016, the nearby church residence building caught fire, due to the electrical switchboard being exposed to a water leak and Father Nikodim Solunchev was rescued when he leapt 3.5 metres into the arms of police.[6]

In early 2018, amid efforts by the Republic of Macedonia and Greece to resolve the Macedonia naming dispute, the St. Nikola church was vandalised with racist and violent graffiti.[7][8] The incident was reported by the Macedonian community to Victoria police and the local council removed the graffiti.[8]

The Macedonian community celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the church's founding in late 2018.[9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Najdovski 1997, p. 89.
  2. ↑ "MOC Saint Nicholas – Preston | Австралиско-новозеландска Епархија". Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Najdovski 1997, p. 87.
  4. ↑ Najdovski 1997, p. 86.
  5. ↑ Najdovski, Chris Ico (October 1997). Contested Identity: Macedonians in Contemporary Australia (PDF) (Masters). Victoria University. pp. 86–87. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  6. ↑ Carbone, Suzanne (30 January 2016). "Priest who jumped out of burning building was blessed by police catching him". The Age. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Graffiti at a Macedonian Orthodox Church in Preston, Vic". ABC. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  8. 1 2 Dunstan, Joseph (5 March 2018). "Melbourne's Macedonian community 'shocked' by racist graffiti on community buildings". ABC. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Vasileva, Margarita (27 April 2018). "40 Years of Macedonian Orthodoxy at 'St. Nikola' in Preston". SBS. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
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