Since the Fingall St church was built in 1911, some other priests who served at the church had also been previously based in New Zealand but had travelled to Sydney to be ordained there.
Some other priests had been previously ordained.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Basilios of the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Sydney, Australia, recently travelled to Dunedin to ordain Father Christov, who had previously lived in Dunedin for six and a-half years, serving as church deacon.
He had recently spent a year in Christchurch before returning to Dunedin.
After being ordained at a service last Sunday morning, Father Christov (48) will share the priestly duties with Father Carl Somers-Edgar until he later retires.
Father Christov said becoming a priest at the church was the "biggest privilege" he could have been given.
He and his wife were born in Bulgaria, but they have long lived in New Zealand where their two sons were born, and all are New Zealand citizens.
The ordination had been an "exciting" moment because it meant, in the future, that people, including Russians, Greeks and Bulgarians, could continue to receive holy communion at the church, he said.
The Dunedin church building was the first purpose-built Orthodox Church building in the country.
