As such, these migrants were largely young single men with no intention of settling in Australia or at least not until they were financially well established and could bring their wives and families from Greece to join them.

As migration continued, a community developed in Australia with the implementation of the necessary organisations and structures needed to support the new immigrants who were still, overwhelmingly, single men with little to no understanding of the language and with few marketable employment skills.

This institutional structure was important to the new migrants in helping them get established in a new country and integrate into their own community and the broader Australian society while maintaining their traditions, values and cultural identity.

[2] The migration experience was a binding force within these communities and these newly established institutions were able to provide food, shelter, supplies and a stable family-type environment for the migrants that followed.

In the very early days of the migration of Orthodox Greeks, Lebanese and Russians, there were no dedicated churches in which the migrants could worship but the celebration of major religious holidays (particularly Christmas and Easter) did continue through makeshift services being conducted by travelling priests.

[2] The first step in the construction of the Holy Trinity (Ayia Trias) Church, this being the first Greek Orthodox place of worship in Australia, was the laying of the foundation stones in an official ceremony on 29 May 1898.

Financial contributions towards the construction of the Holy Trinity Church were also made by Lebanese migrants, some of whom also served within official positions in the Orthodox community.

This caused tension within the diverse congregation and, as such, the Lebanese and Russian Orthodox members received strong encouragement to seek an alternative location for worship.

During his term, Fr Marinakis was accused of being preoccupied with money and his business activities, to the detriment of his duties to the church and the school that taught the traditional culture and the modern Greek language to the children of the congregation.

[2] From the early years of the twentieth century, the Orthodox Greeks in Australia had been under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Church of Greece, an autocephalous branch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

This definitive split in the Orthodox Community was also a result of Fr Varaklas not recognising or accepting Knitis or the authority of the newly formed Metropolis and his refusal to step down from his duties at the Holy Trinity Church.

Varaklas and his supporters, the anti-MetropArchbishop faction, maintained that he was the parish priest at the Holy Trinity Church and that he would continue to lead its religious services.

With the break between the factions and the move of the Metropolita and his supporters to the St Sophia Cathedral, Fr Varaklas was able to resume his priestly responsibilities and did so until he left Australia for the US, with significant honours by the Community and his congregation, in 1932.

[2] The church is in very good condition with a high degree of original fabric (including the altar, a number of chandeliers, a selection of hanging lamps and two candle stands).

Constructed in 1898 to serve the growing migrant Orthodox community in Sydney, the Holy Trinity Church (along with the land it sits on and the adjacent priest's residence) was funded entirely by the congregation.

Since the late nineteenth century when the early members migrated and settled in Sydney, the church has been a centre of stability to its congregation and a place where people could meet and practice their traditional culture, values and language.

The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church has State significance for its association with the migrant communities that settled in Australia, particularly in Sydney, in the late nineteenth century.

Originally, these groups were largely made up of Christian Orthodox Greeks, Lebanese and Russians and, when they arrived, there were no religious or social institutions to support them as they settled into a new country.

The migration experience was a binding force within these groups and together they established, among other things, the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church to service the needs of the growing community.

However, although it has undergone some modification, the design and scale of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church ensures the building maintains its prominent position in the streetscape and in the community.

For the early migrants who knew very little of Australia, the church was significant in helping them to settle into the community while being a venue through which they could practice and sustain their traditional culture, values and language.

Today, over 100 years since the early days of its establishment, the Holy Trinity Church continues to play a role in the Greek-Australian experience as a spiritual centre for Christian Orthodox worship in NSW.

[2] Although the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church was the first of its kind in Australia, it is representative of religious buildings in Sydney that were built to service the needs of the community.