Sisterhood & Brotherhood

Within the Orthodox Church, one of the constants of its inner life is the volunteer spirit that we see within the ranks of the community, that shine a light on the faith and works of the faithful.

The Church best presents the people’s love in the selfless activities of the Sisterhood and Brotherhood.

The history of these groups goes back to Holy Scripture in the New Testament.

The Sisterhoods work and love, is best seen in the Myrrh-bearing women who loved our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ during His life, and showed fearlessness when confronted with His death. It was to them, that our Lord first revealed Himself Risen. It is the fearlessness in the face of persecution that forever gives us an icon of how the Sisterhood goes about its life in the church.

It is a fearlessness that we are blessed with in the pioneers of our church. They in many ways are the beating heart of the parish and a great help to the parish priest.

The Brotherhood also has a long history. Its halcyon days can be seen during the Kozak periods of Ukrainian history.

Many of our Hetman’s worked within the church Brotherhood’s, most notably Ivan Mazepa, Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny and many other notable leaders of Kozak history.

Taras Shevchenko our great poet and prophet of the Ukrainian nation, was an active member of the brotherhood of Cyril and Methodious.

Church Brotherhoods took on a different shape. The Brotherhoods job was to look after the educational - cultural and physical aspects of church life. Church construction, sponsoring programs, building projects just like the Sisterhood do, they also embrace the philanthropic spirit of Christian life.

In our modern age, the Brotherhood’s job is to back up our strong Sisterhood, in our parish what they say goes!

But the members of our Brotherhood look to the upkeep of our church the grounds,along with working with the parish priest.

We ask our parishioners and those interested to get involved and join our Sisterhood and Brotherhood as this is an important way we can give our gifts and talent to God in his church.

You don’t need to be proficient in the Ukrainian language. Our parish is blessed to be a bilingual church. Both English and Ukrainian languages are respected and used equally. Whether you are newly arrived from Ukraine, or you are born here in Australia, the Body of Christ is just that, Christ’s Body that brings everyone on board.

There is also the very important aspect of being part of a community and being intimately involved with building the spiritual society we wish to see for our church and for our future.

No parish is complete without a Sisterhood or Brotherhood. Their works are as diverse as their gifts that they bring. All matters connected to the parish temple are seen to by our women and men of the parish, who look after the beautification of the church and always make the church the welcoming home that it should be..

This work is also extended to the philanthropic essence of Christian life. This is seen in their fundraising, the charity work. And the important work of promoting the culture and traditions of our Ukrainian Australian life.

In our parish it is a joy to see all of our generations get involved in the life of the sisterhood and brotherhood . And it is important that this work continues.

From the beginning of our church history, both groups have adapted to every age and time, through their creativity and willingness to give their time and adapt to every situation.

A very important aspect of these groups is continuing our traditions. In the age of relativism we forget these important traditions, be they spiritual, or of a cultural nature, that sadly, if not nourished and cultivated, will die with our founders. We see in their creative ways of working, be they recipes, culture, poetry, music, embroidery we are blessed to have a great treasury of Ukrainian life within the lives of the people who pray at our church.

We see firsthand the evolution of the Ukrainian whether old pre-war traditions, or new modern expressions of our culture. Our culture along with our faith is a living organism.

May the Lord bless our Sisterhood and Brothethood for many more years and may the Lord send us more workers to attend His vineyard.

Anyone interested in joining the Sisterhood or Brotherhood can request a membership form on Sundays from our church office/candle room. We look forward to welcoming new members.