About St Nicholas Punchbowl Church / Parish
Father John Shehadie
In 1973, in order to alleviate the problems of one priest
serving all of New South Wales , bishop Gibran
gave a blessing for a new church in the western suburbs of Sydney to be built. Fr John Shehadie,
son of Exarch Nicholas Shehadie, was appointed priest of St Nicholas Church,
Punchbowl, which he served until his 1987 retirement. Father John Shehadie
was the younger brother of the Very Reverend Father Michael Shehadie who served
at St George Cathedral at Redfern.
Father John Shehadie who had also studied at the Balamand
before arriving in Australia,
together with his wife Olga, and children Anthony, Michael and Louise served at
St George Church for a short while, then founded St Nicholas Church in
Punchbowl. The last of a Shehadie generation that entered the Holy Order.
Father Elias Khoury
With the retirement of the late Father Nicholas Shehadie in
1982, Father Elias was ordained a Parish Priest on the 28th of March by his
Grace, the late Bishop Gibran Remlawi and appointed the position of Parish
Priest of St. Nicholas Punchbowl. That year Father Elias left his job at
Outboard Marine Australia and dedicated his time to the parish of St Nicholas,
which up until 1994 spread all the way to the Blue
Mountains.
The Future
St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church is a living and breathing thing that is represented by the people it serves. To allow the church to serve its parishioners more
beneficially it must grow on a number of fronts, including but not limited to the following aspects:
- Spiritually and in fellowship and Unity.
- Leadership and Succession Planning.
- Education.
- Communication.
- Provision of services to our youth and seniors including government schemes and facilities and Charity services.
Mission Statement
The members of the Parish Executive Council of St Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church are committed to:
- Work as one and foster common sense of unity in order for our church to become stronger.
- Implement our vision for the next 1 – 5 and 5 - 10 years for the glory of God and our Church.
- Advance the interests and the common good of the church at all times on a professional basis, with love and harmony and in universalism.
- Re-build our church’s Physical and Spiritual Infrastructures.
- Administer the business of the Church on a professional on a transparent basis at all times to meet the needs of our parish and in order to provide for a better future.
- Re-establish subcommittees to assist with all aspects of running the church and the implementation of various project.
