With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, a group of around 30 members of the Greek Orthodox Christian Society and their families, visited the parish of St Nicholas, Darwin, on the weekend of July 1-3. The group was very warmly received by Fr Joel Xanthos and the entire parish community. On the Saturday, the group took part in the Divine Liturgy commemorating St Kosmas and St Damianos, in which the President of the Society and lay-preacher, Dr John Psarommatis, delivered the sermon. After vespers on that day, a talk was given on the topic of “Spiritual Life”.

During the Sunday Liturgy, following another sermon, four Sunday School classes were held for different age groups, and were very well attended by the local children. On the Sunday evening, a presentation including a play, songs, video and a talk on the “Orthodox Christian Family” was given. The visit concluded on Monday with a talk on “Contemporary Issues facing the Orthodox family”. All talks were very well attended, giving ample opportunity for formal and informal discussions to take place. The Society is extremely thankful to Fr Joel and the parish community for their hospitality and the love shown towards the group. We pray that the Christian friendships formed during this visit will continue for the mutual benefit of both group communities.