The Central Philoptochos of the Holy Diocese Adelaide in partnership with the Greek Welfare Centre of SA held its annual fundraising High Tea. The High Tea was hosted in the main hall of the ever-accommodating Cyprus Community from 1:00pm on Sunday 20th of September.
As the 240-strong crowd filed into the venue in preparation for the start, they were greeted by the exceptional Mr Paul (Apostoli) Komninos and his jazz band – immediately transporting them, both visually and audibly, into a world reminiscent of the 1920s and 30s.
The formalities commenced with the Master of Ceremonies Mr Matthew Pantelis (5AA Radio) introducing the event and asking His Grace Bishop Silouan of Adelaide to open with prayer. His Grace also acknowledged some distinguished guests who were present, including Mr Steve Georganas, Federal Member for Adelaide, and the Hon Ms Sarah Game, Member of the SA Legislative Council. After some brief housekeeping announcements the Paul Komninos band resumed their wonderful entertainment.
The first speaker was Mrs Steffanie Pietris, who spoke on behalf of the Greek Welfare Centre of SA with a brief explanation and slide show presentation of the Centre’s services in the community, including its in-home care offerings and some of the community work that it does.
Shortly after, the guests heard from His Grace Bishop Silouan of Adelaide, who spoke in brief about the mission work that is happening in the Holy Diocese of Adelaide by way of introduction for the presentations that were to follow.
The next presentation was a video compilation of the Diocese’s of Adelaide most recent outback mission trip in early July 2026 , which also was reported in the Vema, featuring interviews with locals they met along the way and highlighting the successes and the difficulties that they faced along the way.
The final presentation for the event was Mrs Sophie Karanicolas, who has herself also been involved in some of the mission work to the remote South Australian towns. She spoke beautifully about the importance of mission and offered heartfelt reflections of the Fathers’ thoughts on these issues, along with testimonies from other ladies who were on the Outback mission trip, and finally based on her own personal experience. Her presentation reminded us that those who do mission work often benefit more from the experience than those to whom they are ministering.
As the afternoon drew to a close, His Grace thanked everyone for coming, and also (Sunday 20th being the feast day of St Efstathios) he presented Mr Steve Georganas (whose baptismal name is Efstathios) with a gift for his name day. After befittingly conveying the blessings and pastoral love of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, His Grace thanked the members of the Central Philoptochos for their hard work in making the event the success that it was. The High Tea has grown to become a standard fixture of the Central Philoptochos’ annual event calendar and we look forward to it becoming bigger and better into the future.
