greekorthodoxchurch

The foundation stone of Townsville's Saints Theodores Greek Orthodox Church was laid on 16 March 1947. In June 1950 this Church was officially opened and dedicated, though the religious practice had commenced from 1948 while the building was still being completed.[1] It is named after three saints called Theodore.[2] Some of the earliest Greek migrants to Australia arrived in the 1850s. Many of these were sailors or deckhands who jumped ship after arriving aboard sailing vessels at the various Australian port cities. In the Australian Colonies, these early Greeks found employment generally in mining, seamen aboard coastal shipping, or as wharf laborers.[1] In Queensland, little evidence exists of a Greek presence during the greater part of the 19th century, but the first Greek to this Colony to be naturalised was Christopher Arsenios in 1868. Arsenios was a Greek Orthodox Priest who heralded from Corfu, who settled in Clermont.[1] The first real wave of Greek migration to Australia did not take place until the early part of the 20th century, in the years leading up to the commencement of World War I. By the turn of the 20th century, the number of Greeks in Australia was insignificant. Even in the major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, Greeks only composed a very small group. By 1915 though, some 1000 Greeks were estimated as residing in Sydney alone, and in Queensland 400, with fifty in Brisbane. In Queensland evidence suggests that the major place of origin of these Greek migrants by 1915 was from Kythira.[1] One of the main reasons for these Greek arrivals in Australia was the political unrest at home in the period prior to World War I, as it was to occur again in the 1920s. The Balkan Wars took place during 1912 and 1913, involving Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Turkey. In order to escape the effects of this conflict many Greeks left Macedonia and other northern regions and came to places such as Australia.[1] After the end of World War I, another spur to Greek migration was a subsequent war between Greece and Turkey over Smyrna that broke out during 1921–1922. As a destination for Greek migrants, Australia was to become an even more obvious choice from 1924, due to the United States of America instituted a severe quota limit on migration into that country. The subsequent Greek arrivals in places such as Queensland accelerated the proliferation of Greek cafes and other eating places in Brisbane and the country. The new arrivals found that the path to success had already been carved out by the pioneers of the first two decades. One history of Greek migration to Queensland surmised:[1] In Townsville, Greeks began to arrive and settle in this locale in approximately 1916. Amongst the first arrivals recorded were Spyros and Vasilios Makris, Raftopoulos, Maltepes, John and Dimitrios Hondros, and Nicholas and George Voyatzis. Though these early Townsville Greeks did not establish a formal Greek Community until the 1940s, they nonetheless periodically organised social, cultural, and religious activities in celebration of their Greek origins. To meet the interim religious needs of this developing Townsville Greek community, a visiting priest from Innisfail conducted services in St James' Cathedral, as did Metropolitan of Australia Timotheos Evangelinidis when visiting this community. Metropolitan Timotheos was also to be instrumental in establishing the Greek Community in Townsville.[1] Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Theodores_Greek_Orthodox_Church

The Greek Association of Brisbane was established in 1913. In May 1921 it purchased Concordia Hall at 44-48 Charlotte Street and renamed it Hellenic House to be used as a gathering place for the Greek community.[2] Greek Orthodox services in Brisbane were initially conducted in St Luke's Anglican Church (also in Charlotte Street) and the Wharf Street Congregational Church,[3] [4] until St George's was officially opened as the first Greek Orthodox church in Queensland in front of Hellenic House on 30 March 1929.[5] [6] However, the growth in Brisbane's Greek population, particularly after World War II, resulted in a need for a larger church. A new St George's Greek Orthodox Church was built at 33 Edmondstone Street (corner Besant Street) at South Brisbane and opened on 24 April 1960.[7] A new Greek community center (now the Greek Club) was built beside the South Brisbane church, opening in 1976. The Charlotte Street property was sold in 1981 and the Greek buildings on the site no longer exist.[8] Source: everything.explained.today/Charlotte_Street%2C_Brisbane/

11:37 ??

St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Cathedral, 1848

maps.app.goo.gl/iYK9tCmuh1XqiMNE7?g_st=ic

13/04/1910 postmark in Fairbanks, Alaska ===> 17/05/1910 Dublin postmark. Not bad for pre airmail.

In the 1920s(?) via EspressoBuzz
Lots of photos on Flickr - www.flickr.com/search/?text=sitka+cathedral

Burned down in 1966, and rebuilt - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Michael%27s_Cathedral_(Sitka,_Alaska)

The original church burned to the ground in 1966, losing its handmade bells, the large icon of the Last Supper that decorated the top of the royal doors, and the clock in the bell tower. Also lost was the large library containing books in the Russian, Tlingit, and Aleut languages. Although the church was restored to its original appearance, one exception was its clock face, which is black in photographs taken before 1966, but white in subsequent photos. ...
From - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitka,_Alaska

"Anthony (Bashir) of New York (1898-1966) Metr. Antony (Bashir) of New York His Eminence the Most Reverend Anthony (Bashir), Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America, was the ruling bishop of the North American archdiocese of the Church of Antioch from 1936 to 1966. He successfully led the splintered members associated with the Church of Antioch into an efficient, tightly-knit, and financially sound organization. He recognized early the need to introduce English in the American milieu and accept converts into the Church including ordaining many to the priesthood. [...] In 1922 the Patriarch of Antioch sent him to the United States where for the next thirteen years he was active organizing societies, building churches, and serving Syrian (Arab) parishes of the "unchurched Syrians in America." I orthodoxwiki.org/Anthony_(Bashir)_of_New_York

"Archimandrit V. Abouasly" is most likely: "Victor (Abo-Assaley) of New York His Eminence the Most Reverend Metropolitan Victor (Abo-Assaley) of New York was the first primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of New York. He was consecrated by the Patriarch of Antioch and assigned to organize the Syrian parishes in North America into a common diocese following the disorder created by the breakdown of the Russian North American diocese. Victor was consecrated on September 11, 1924, and began his efforts in the United States shortly thereafter. Metr. Victor's efforts were met with limited success among the Syrian parishes led by Bp. Aftimios Ofiesh within the Russian North American diocese. The majority of parishes remained loyal to Bp. Afitmios. Bp. Victor died on April 19, 1934. After his death the parishes loyal to him were administered by Archimandrite Anthony Bashir who had come to the United States independently in 1922 as "a missionary to the unchurched Syrians of America."" orthodoxwiki.org/Victor_(Abo-Assaley)_of_New_York

"Archbishop G. Messarra" is Metropolitan Gerassimos (Messerah) of Beirut. See orthodoxwiki.org/Antiochian_Western_Rite_Vicariate "Metropolitan Gerassimos (Messerah) of Beirut received a Western Rite movement in England before World War I" and orthodoxwiki.org/Diocese_of_Los_Angeles_and_the_West _(Antiochian) "When he first stepped onto American soil in 1920, little did Archdeacon Anthony Bashir know that he would plant the seeds that would blossom into the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West. That year, the future Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America came to Portland, Oregon on a visit with Metropolitan Gerasimos (Messara). Shortly thereafter, Archdeacon Antony was secured to minister to the Antiochian flocks yearning for Jesus Christ throughout the United States and Canada as a priest and hierarch. As the latter, Metr. Antony, organized and established the collection of parishes in the west as the Western Region, the predecessor of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West."

They were on their way to the September, 1922 meeting of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of America at Portland, Oregon. A similar photo of the three ran in the New-York tribune for August 24, 1922, with the caption: "Greek Prelates Here for Conference Front left to Right: Archdeacon Antony Bacher, His Eminence R. E. Archbishop Terasimos Messara, of Beirut, Syria, and the Rev. Archimandrite Victor Abnasly, all Greek Orthodox priests, who arrived here on board the steamship Majestic on their way to Portland, Ore., to confer with American dignitaries of the Greek Orthodox Church." chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1922-08-24/ed-... A photo of priests marching in a Portland procession ran in the New York herald of September 17, 1922 with the caption: "Some of the foreign prelates in their ceremonial robes marching in the solemn procession at the opening of the forty-seventh triennial session of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church of America at Portland, Oregon. Left to right: Metropolitan Archbishop Gerassimos Messara of Beirut, Syria; Father Boris, Chaplain Secretary to Bishop Aptimios; Bishop Aptimios, head of the Syrian Church in America; Bishop Gorazd of the Serbian National Orthodox Church; Father Karahales, head of the Greek Church in Oregon; Archdeacon Anthony Bashen, Chaplain to Archbishop Messara. New York Herald Photo." chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045774/1922-09-17/ed-...

The Archbishop's message in Portland was described in the Washington DC Evening star, September 10, 1922: "A message. of unity between the Christian churches of the near east was brought to the church In the United States by Archbishop Panteleimon of Neopolis, representing the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Archbishop Gerasimos of Beirut, Syria, representing Gregory IV., Patriarch of Antioch. They were formally received by the house of deputies, the former addressing the house in Greek and the latter in Arabic. Archbishop Gerasimos delivered the apostolic benediction of the Patriarch of Antloch." chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1922-09-10/ed-...