22nd Conference of Russian Orthodox Youth
The 22nd Conference of Russian Orthodox Youth, the topic of which was Orthodoxy in the beginning, now and always, took place in Geelong in 1986, with the blessing of His Grace, Archbishop Paul (Pavlov) of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand. The priest of the parish Joy of All Who Sorrow, Fr Gabriel (Makarov) put in a huge effort to organise and conduct the conference. The key role in the setting up of the conference was taken up by the members of the volleyball team Vostok, which had considerable experience in organising competitions involving teams from other states in Australia. The novelty of the task attracted interest and inspired everyone to work for the greater good, united parishioners, enthused parish life and brought an enormous quantity of original ideas to existence.
The distinction of the conference, which was carried out on December 25 to December 29, 1986, lay in the fact that its participants were accommodated at the Marcus Oldham Farm Management College. This meant that visitors did not need to worry about finding private accommodation. The other advantage of holding the conference at the campsite was that attendees did not need to travel to various outside venues to listen to lectures as they were all held on-site.
The great achievement of organisers of the 22nd conference lay in their development of a more efficient system of conducting conferences for the Russian Orthodox youth, which remains in that form to this day for all organisers of conferences in the diocese. It has allowed participants to become quickly acquainted, to satisfy their various interests and to reach the key objective – to help the younger generation to continue on the path of the Orthodox faith.
Due to the immense success of the 22nd Conference the following 23rd Conference of Russian Orthodox Youth was also held in Geelong with the blessing of His Grace, Archbishop Paul (Pavlov) of Sydney, Australia and New Zealand.