Thank you for visiting St John’s Cathedral’s events page. Here you will find information about concerts, seminars, workshops, special church services, short-term exhibitions and community events taking place at the Cathedral or in the Cathedral Precinct. On this page, items will generally be presented with imminent or current events at the top of the page, and longer-running or future events beneath. Please see the sidebox below left for more information.
MORE ABOUT EVENTS
Offsite events, particular theme days/weeks or festivals which might be of wider interest are more likely to be found in the GENERAL NEWS section on the home page of this website. This is not a hard-and-fast rule: we will be keeping an eye on the dispersal of information across this new website, to try to minimise the number of clicks and cross-reference links needed.
Regarding links, some of the events featured here (and on the home page) may require registration, ticketing or booking fees. Where this is the case, either the event image or a specific text link should take you to the relevant (external) website for more details.
Please note that St John’s Cathedral provides such information in good faith and cannot be responsible for the veracity or otherwise of such links. If you find a link is broken or are concerned about its redirection, please contact the Cathedral office during business hours, 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, or by email
MINISTRY OF LAYING-ON OF HANDS
Next: Sunday 6th January, 9.30am
Following the example of Jesus, and his explicit instructions to his disciples, the ministry of healing for any kind of disease or distress is an integral part of the proclamation and application of the Gospel of compassion.
It is administered by the “Laying on of Hands with prayer” by a priest gently touching the head or shoulders of the person in need. No questions are asked although a person may, if they wish, give their name or a brief description of their concern. It is perfectly acceptable, even encouraged, to receive this ministry on behalf of another who cannot be present.
Those who wish to receive this ministry are invited to make their way to the Lady Chapel (north side of the Cathedral) following the reception of Communion.
The Ministry of Laying on of Hands with Anointing is also available at other times, including after each act of worship. Please contact the Cathedral Office.
LABYRINTH WALK
Next: Sunday 6th January, after 9.30am
Walking the Labyrinth occurs on the first Sunday of each month following the 9.30am Eucharist. If you have not walked the Labyrinth before, you would be most welcome to join the group who regularly do so. Please join us to walk the Labyrinth – we meet under the Rose Window.
The path is always new, because,
as a spiritual discipline, the labyrinth
is a path of contemplation,
reflection, prayer …
Beneath the surface, walking the labyrinth
is a profound discipline in listening,
in active silence, in finding movement
and rhythm in the stillneses underneath
and in between everyday’s noise.
Walking the labyrinth is an exercise
in finding the voice speaking in whispers
underneath the whirlwind of sound.
~ Travis Scholl, “Walking the Labyrinth –
A Place to Pray and Seek God” p.17, IVP Books, 2014
TWO Christian Meditation Groups
Tuesday evening + Thursday morning
The Tuesday evening group meets at 6:45pm in the Lady Chapel, or in St Martin’s House if there is another event being held in the Cathedral. All are welcome also to join us for a shared meal before meditation any time after 5:30pm in the St Martin’s House kitchen. For entry at this time come to the rear corner door and press the buzzer marked “Passage”.
The Thursday morning group meets from 11.30am to 12.15pm in the Choir Room in St Martin’s House. All are welcome to gather for conversation over morning tea before meditation at 11.00am and/or to attend the 12.30pm Eucharist afterwards. Come to main reception in St Martin’s House.
RESTART DATES
in early 2019
- Wednesday 9th January
COWS, 10.00am - Wednesday 30th January
English Conversation classes, 2.00pm - Wednesday 6th February
Midweek Choral Evensong, 6.00pm - Wednesday 13th February
Contemplative Eucharist, 6.00pm
(Meditation from 5.30pm)
EDUCATION FOR MINISTRY (EfM)
~ a ‘taster’ program coming!
EfM can be summed up as Exploring Faith Matters! It is formational and transformational for Christian life and ministry. We do EfM in small groups led by trained mentors. Through individual study, sharing discoveries and exploring our faith together, we learn to think theologically. We connect what we come to know of the Christian tradition with our ordinary daily activities.
The 2018 EfM group developed a ‘taster’ program for 2019, to introduce newcomers with sample sessions over several weeks. More info soon!
WINE BEFORE BREAKFAST
continues in 2019
Continuing on the first Friday of the month – 4th January and 1st February, join us to celebrate the 7.00am Eucharist in the Southern Chapels with an emphasis on social justice and community outreach, followed by breakfast and conversation at ‘RAW on Ann’, just down from the Cathedral.
$10 breakfast menu available, and no-one is turned away for lack of funds; all are welcome. The focus for January will be Epiphany.
MYSTICS, THEOLOGIANS & GOD-BOTHERERS
Sunday 3rd February, 6.00pm Evensong
Walking with Aidan: The Rev’d Gillian Moses
“Proud yet humble, strong and gentle
From Iona’s holy shore,
Aidan to King Oswald’s princedom
Christian joy and radiance bore”
Stories about Aidan of Lindisfarne say much about his humility, gentleness and holiness. Yet he must also have been brave, hardy and most certainly wholehearted. Come and meet this Celtic saint who seems to have genuinely loved people and who valued solitude, who pursued humility and who challenged kings and princes, and who legend tells us hid deer, calmed storms and quenched fire!
What do the legends really have to tell about England’s original patron saint? All are most welcome to join us in this exploration!
“EMBRACING AN ADULT FAITH”
~ The Journey begins anew in 2019
Sundays, 3.30pm from 6th January
Wednesdays, 10.00am from 9th January
Each year we offer a number of sessions for those who are seeking to explore the faith more deeply, or who wish to be baptised or confirmed. In 2019 we are offering a Summer program. This series will be based around Marcus Borg’s ‘Embracing an Adult Faith.’ In this five-session, faith-formation resource, participants enjoy the rare privilege of witnessing Marcus in dialogue with a small, diverse group of adults as they honestly – and sometimes painfully – confront the big questions and work together toward authentic answers.
More info: phone 3835 2239 (after 9.00am, Wednesday 2nd January)
WASTING TIME WITH GOD
Wednesday 6th February, 9.30am-11.30am
Janice McRandal on ‘The Natural Order of Things: the family and gender in contemporary society’
During the 20th Century, the ‘traditional’ makeup of the nuclear family underwent dramatic changes in the West. These changes can be observed through multiple social shifts, and especially in and through the effects of second-wave feminism and the gains of LGBTIQ+ rights movements.
Much assumed about the structure of the family as God-ordained was suddenly revealed as a social construct of a very limited period of Western history, leaving us with a significant weakness in common theologies of the family.
This session will explore the problems we face in thinking theologically about the contemporary family and move towards more expansive and inclusions visions of kinship within the Kingdom of God.
Everyone is warmly invited to ‘waste time with God’ and Janice in this gathering.