St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church | |
---|---|
Македонска Православна Црква "Свети Никола" Makedonska Pravoslavna Crkva "Sveti Nikola" | |
![]() | |
Location in
greater metropolitan Melbourne | |
37°43′55″S 145°01′27″E / 37.73195°S 145.02416°E | |
Location | 130 Tyler Street, Preston 3072, Melbourne, Victoria |
Country | Australia |
Denomination | Macedonian Orthodox |
Website | St. Nikola Church |
History | |
Status | Church |
Founded | c. 1978 |
Dedication | Saint Nicholas |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Architectural type | Church |
Administration | |
Diocese | Macedonian 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]
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]