Orthodox Australia - Missionary and catechesis website Alex Ivanov (

Why do we need one? Australia, like other countries, is rejecting Christianity Catholic and Protestant churches are closing Government policies and law no longer supports Christian values Australian adults grown in Christianity no longer attending the church services Australian youth have absolutely no idea about Orthodoxy

Orthodox Christianity in Australia Largely unknown to Australians Associated with migrant country: Russian Church, Greek church instead of focus on Christ Himself Only 2.6% Australians are Orthodox In the world, Orthodox is the second largest Christian church In Australia, Orthodox is fifth largest behind Catholicism, Anglicanism, Uniting, and Presbyterian/Reformed churches

Website goal 1: Mission Provide a short summary what Orthodox faith is Why we believe Orthodoxy is The Truth Explain why we believe God exists, what are major religions and how they differ from Christianity Explain why Orthodox is the only Church founded by Christ Himself Address “difficult questions” Apologetic information

Website goal 2: Catechesis Basic Orthodox teachings Difference with catholic, protestant Links to Holy Fathers books Living a Christian life

Website goal 3: Linking Orthodox Churches of Australia Build vibrant Orthodox online community Information about Orthodox eparchies of Australia Map of all Orthodox churches and monasteries, with links, photos Calendar of church feast days Bible study groups Pilgrimages Photo gallery Forum on various topics. Apologetics, Q&A etc. Example protestants:

Multi lingual site Initially only English and Russian – full versions Other languages to join later (engage multicultural team) o Greek o Serbian o Romanian o Bulgarian

We are Orthodox Christians of Australia. We come from many ethnical backgrounds. We believe in Lord Jesus Christ according to Nicene Creed (325 AD) Our bishops were ordained by preceding bishops, tracing back to Apostles ordained by Jesus himself. We believe Holy Tradition is an important and distinct source of faith. There are 244 Orthodox Churches and 20 monasteries in Australia.

Social network & Facebook integration Articles have public FB comments enabled Discussion is translated to Facebook user feed Moderation is required Forum with the priest answering questions

Project team Laity not clergy (time consuming) Clergy to review articles Engage Fr. Michael, Fr. Igor, Fr. Nikolai Engage laity from Dandenong, Brunswick, Oakleigh Engage people from national churches

Part 1: Missionary What do YOU believe? o No God: Atheism, agnostics o Buddhism o Multiple gods: Hindu, pagan o Islam o Judaism o Sects o Occult teachings Christian church o Church History o Orthodoxy and Catholics o Orthodoxy and protestants o Orthodox countries in the past and today o Famous Orthodox people

Structure 2: Catechesis Orthodox faith o Holy Trinity o Nicene Creed o Holy Tradition o Holy Scripture o Apostolic succession o Icons o The Divine Liturgy o Saints o Jesus Christ – Man and God o Sin and repentance o Salvation o Church o Judgement and Afterlife Being an orthodox o Prayer o Fasting o Repentance, confession o Holy Communion o Spiritual warfare o Bible studies

Structure 3: Orthodox Australia Orthodox Australia o Orthodox church in Australia o Australian eparchies o Map of all churches and monasteries o Calendar of church feast days o Bible study groups o Pilgrimages o Forum o Photo gallery

Project budget Project is driven by lots of people volunteering their time Content is mostly copied across from other websites, with permission $600 professional design $80 per year hosting $300 custom maps