Our Parish
St Paul's Antiochian Orthodox Church is home to a rapidly growing Christian community in Melbourne's south-east. Our Church is located at 32-34 Plunkett Road, Dandenong South, Victoria 3175, and is overseen by its parish priest, Fr Jean Mawal. The Church holds to the Tradition of the Orthodox Christian faith, and conducts all services on this basis. Services are bi-lingual, being conducted in Arabic and English to serve our historic and local communities.
St Paul’s Antiochian Orthodox Church prior to 2017
St Paul’s during Holy Week 2024
His Eminence Metropolitan Archbishop Paul Saliba, of Thrice-blessed memory, established St Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in 2001 as a ‘Mission’ Church with a vision for an innovative Church and a Community Centre for the Antiochian Orthodox families and young people, strategically located in the southeastern suburbs, the fastest growing region on Melbourne. The Church has since blossomed, acquiring its present building in the centre of the city of Dandenong in 2003, and is now home to nearly 400 families.
Metropolitan Archbishop Paul Saliba (of Thrice Blessed Memory)
Presently our Church is governed by His Eminence, Metropolitan Archbishop Basilios, who succeeded Metropolitan Paul of Thrice-Blessed Memory as Primate of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines after his falling asleep in the Lord on 1 July 2017. We give thanks to God for our Metropolitan Archbishops and for the blessings of the flourishing Australian Orthodox identity and community they have fostered.
His Eminence Metropolitan Basilios at St Paul’s in January 2023
St Paul’s function hall during the Church’s 20 year anniversary celebrations in June 2024
Our Church has a strong youth presence and provides innovative spiritual education, responding creatively to the needs of families and young people. It has a multi-purpose building where we can worship as Antiochian Orthodox Christians and a social meeting place for our families and young people. The Church provides an Orthodox setting for the performance of the Sacraments of the Church and its services, including:
Divine Liturgy; Baptism; Holy Matrimony; Funeral & Memorial Services;
Religious Education, Bible Studies & Sunday School;
Functions (Weddings, Birthdays, other Celebratory Events)
Pre-Marriage Counselling, Family Awareness Programs and other Counselling Services;
Kids Playgroups;
Byzantine Music Lessons, and Language Classes.
St Paul’s circa 2024
To find out more information about services and functions, please speak to Fr Jean at our parish or send a message below.