Very Reverend Father Elias Khoury is the parish priest of Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church Punchbowl, NSW, Australia,

Elias was born o­n 8th March 1948 in the seaside city of El Mina, Tripoli, in Lebanon, to his parents Moses and Helen Khoury who both emigrated there from their original birth place of Alexandron in modern day Turkey in 1938 before the Second World War. He is the first born of seven children.

At the age of three, Elias started his schooling at the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in El Mina, Tripoli. At the age of five he went o­n to attend The Brothers' School better known in Lebanon as the 'Freres', and at the age of seven he attended a school named the 'Tahzibieh' in Tripoli.

In the year 1962, at an early age of thirteen, Elias received his calling to a life dedicated to God, and left his parents home to pursue this, against the wishes of his mother.

He attended clergy school at the Monastery of Balamand in North Lebanon under the headmaster Bishop Ignatius Hasim, today's Antiochian Orthodox Patriarch, until 1968. In 1963 while studying at Balamand, Elias was ordained a subdeacon.

After graduating from Balamand, Subdeacon Elias began work in the Archdiocese of Tripoli as secretary to the Archbishop. While doing this he also a taught English, History, and Geography in various schools belonging to the Archdiocese.

On Monday 25th March 1974, Subdeacon Elias and his family arrived in Sydney Australia. His plan was to stay in Australia for a short amount of time and then return to Lebanon, but this plan was destroyed with the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War.

In his early years, Subdeacon Elias worked as a receiving clerk for a company named Outboard Marine Australia, while at the same time serving at Saint George Cathedral in Redfern with the parish priest, the Very Reverend Father Nicolas Mansour.

On the 2nd September 1979, he married Venezuelan born Soumaya Kilzi, whom he met at Saint George Cathedral while serving there.

With the retirement of the late Father Nicholas Shehadie in 1982, Father Elias was ordained a priest o­n 28th March 1982 by His Grace, the late Bishop Gibran Ramlawey and appointed parish priest of Saint Nicholas Punchbowl. That year Father Elias left his job at Outboard Marine Australia and dedicated all his time and efforts to the parish of Saint Nicholas, which up until 1994 spread all the way to the Blue Mountains.

On 25th August 1985, Father Elias was elevated to the rank of Archpriest, a title he considers a great honour.

Up until 2006, Father Elias has been the parish priest for Saint Nicholas for 24 years. During this time, he has worked to help his community and serve God by serving his people. Over the years, he has trained 5 priests in Australia, performed clergy duties, counselled those who need guidance, visited the sick, helped the needy, and generally been there for anybody who needed his help and guidance.

In 1994, Father Elias began to work with the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS), and created a program called Ortho-Care which is designed to help those in need, by offering financial and spiritual assistance. Also in 1994 Father Elias joined forces with Church Community Housing, an organisation that provides shelter for those who are less fortunate.

These programs are still being managed by Father Elias today and he hopes to keep them running for a very long time to come.

Today, Father Elias still works to serve God by dedicating his time and efforts to the church. He looks forward to continuing his work and seeing the church expand. With prospects of a new church being built for the Saint Nicholas Parish, Father Elias sees his aspirations for the people of his church continuing to grow.