Archpriest James Carles (b. 1969) was appointed to our parish upon his ordination to the priesthood in 2001. He and his wife, Marie, were received into Orthodoxy at Saint Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Mount Pritchard, on 5 November 1994. They joined the Russian Orthodox parish of Saint Nicholas, Fairfield, in 1996.  He was tonsured a reader in May 1997 and ordained subdeacon and deacon in November 1998.  On 23 September 2001 Father James was ordained to the priesthood and assigned to the parish of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Cabramatta, Sydney, with the additional responsibility of serving what was then the newly-established Russian Orthodox community of Saint Panteleimon, Gosford. In December 2002 he was appointed to also serve the parish of Saint Nicholas, Wallsend.  In August 2003 he was released from his appointment to the Cabramatta parish and has, since then, served continuously in Gosford and in Wallsend.  In October 2015 Father James participated in a delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia accompanying the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God to the Yekaterinburg and Ufa Metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church.  In November 2016 he was raised to the rank of archpriest.  In December 2022 he was appointed to Saint Symeon of Verkhoturye Orthodox Mission on the New South Wales Mid North Coast in addition to his responsibilities in Gosford and Wallsend.  In August 2024 he was awarded the right to wear the jewelled pectoral cross.  Father James and Matushka Marie have seven children and two grandchildren.

Protodeacon Martin Naef (b. 1964) was born in Switzerland and raised in Europe and South America.  He was received into the Orthodox Church in 1997 in Geneva.  After moving to Australia that year, he and his wife Tatiana joined the parish of All Saints of Russia in Croydon, NSW.  Tonsured a reader and ordained subdeacon in February 2007, Father Martin was ordained deacon and assigned to our parish in January 2008.  In November 2011 he was awarded the double orarion for his faithful service to the Church.  Work commitments obliged Father Martin and his family to relocate to France in July 2012 where he served in the parish of Saint John the Russian in Lyons before returning to Australia - and to our parish - in July 2014.  In November 2016 he was raised to the rank of protodeacon and in 2022 he was awarded the right to wear the kamilavka.  On 29 April 2025 Father Martin was reassigned from our parish to Saints Peter and Paul Diocesan Cathedral in Strathfield, NSW, where he now serves as second protodeacon.  Father Martin and Matushka Tatiana have three children.

Reader Alexey Douriaguine (b. 2003) was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and baptised as an infant in the Church of the Nativity of Christ at the Podvorie of the Holy Trinity-Saint Alexander Svirsky Monastery.  His parents Reader Paul (+2019) and Elena moved to Australia in 2004 and settled in Sydney.  Initially parishioners of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Holy Protection parish in Blacktown, the family joined the Gosford parish of Great-Martyr Panteleimon in 2008.  Alexey graduated from Saint Seraphim Community Russian School in 2020 and completed his secondary education in 2021.  He completed tertiary studies in business in 2024.  He has served in the sanctuary at Gosford since childhood and has been the parish’s head altar server since 2019.  He began to read the Apostol in church in 2019 and in 2023 he was appointed a Child Safety Contact Person for the Gosford parish.  Alexey has been a member of the Russian Orthodox Men’s Choir of Australia since 2019, participating in celebrations marking the Centenary of Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Brisbane in 2023, a concert-tour  of Serbia in 2024, and numerous spiritual concerts.  Alexey was tonsured a reader by His Eminence Archbishop George on Friday 9 August 2024, the day of commemoration of Great-Martyr Panteleimon.

Reader Matthew Shvetsoff (b. 1982) was born in Sydney to Russian parents and baptised as an infant at the Intercession of the Holy Virgin Church in Cabramatta.  His family moved to Brisbane in his infancy, and he later worshipped at various times in each of the three main Russian Orthodox parishes in Brisbane: Our Lady of Vladimir Church in Rocklea, Saint Seraphim Church in Woolloongabba, and Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Woolloongabba.  Matthew completed tertiary studies in Electronics Engineering and Information Technology (Software Engineering) in 2004 and now works as a senior software engineer.  He served on the committee of the youth organization ‘Kitezh Boyar’ in the early 2000s.  He later joined the Russian Club of Brisbane, becoming Treasurer in 2008.  In 2018 he married Evgenia Yachmennikova, the great-granddaughter of Archpriest Constantine Karonin (Harbin), at Our Lady of Vladimir Church.  They moved to Sydney in 2019 and have two sons, Anton and Isaac, who attend the Intercession of the Holy Virgin Russian School in Cabramatta.  Matthew started serving in the sanctuary in our parish in 2019 and began reading the Apostol in 2020.  In 2022 he completed a Diploma in Ministry at Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute.  He served on our Parish Council in 2024-25.  Matthew was tonsured a reader by His Eminence Archbishop George on Sunday 9 August 2026, the day of commemoration of Great-Martyr Panteleimon.

Reader Paul Douriaguine (1975-2019) was born in Russia, growing up and undertaking his studies in the city of Kazan.  In 1998, soon after graduation, he moved to Australia.  Coming to the Orthodox faith as an adult, he was baptised in Saint Petersburg in 2002.  He and his wife Elena were parishioners of the Moscow Patriarchate Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Church in Blacktown, NSW, and also active in the life of Saint Andrew's Russian School there.  Joining our parish in 2008, Paul served on the Auditing Committee and the Parish Council and was a senior altar-server.  A founder and the Principal of the Saint Seraphim Community Russian School in Hornsby, he was tonsured a reader in 2013 at the patronal feast of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Strathfield, by then Bishop George of Mayfield.  Paul and Elena had four children.  To the great sorrow of all who knew him, Paul departed this life suddenly and unexpectedly on 26 February 2019.  His funeral was served in our parish on 7 March 2019.  May God grant him eternal rest!

From 2000 until 2015 our choir director was Olga Ivanovna Itsikson (+2019).  Olga Ivanovna was born in Mukden, China, and undertook secondary and further study in the city of Harbin.    Coming to Australia in 1957, she graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1965, working as a music teacher in New South Wales secondary schools for over 20 years.  Olga Ivanovna also taught music at the parish Russian schools in Cabramatta and Strathfield for over 35 years.  In 1980 she became the conductor of the church choir in the parish of Saint Vladimir, Centennial Park, and in 2000 she became the choir conductor in our parish.  Olga Ivanovna has been a steadfast servant of the Russian Orthodox Church and the wider Russian community for many years.  In 1998 she received the Diocesan Jubilee Medal and in August 2015 she received the prestigious Diocesan Cross.  In October 2015 Olga Ivanovna retired due to ill-health. 

Our current conductor is Matushka Marie Carles (b. 1970).  Together with her husband, the future Archpriest James, she was received into Orthodoxy at Saint Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Mount Pritchard, on 5 November 1994.  She became the conductor of our choir upon the retirement of Olga Ivanovna Itsikson in 2015, and the conductor of the Wallsend parish choir in 2017.  In December 2023 Matushka received the medal commemorating 75 years of the Australian-New Zealand Diocese.

Our parish has a bookstore named in honour of the great Russian Orthodox hierarch, spiritual writer and teacher, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.  Managed by Anna Kourbatov, it offers a wide range of books, DVDs, and CDs in both Russian and English, together with icons, baptismal crosses, jewellery and other devotional items.  The bookstore is usually open before and after services, and can also be opened at other other times by arrangement.  Anya can be contacted through our contacts page or by email at bookstore@gosfordrussianchurch.org.au.