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.
During the COVID-19 crisis there will be no public Services after Monday 23rd March.
We are live-streaming our Choral Eucharist and Evensong Services each Sunday
Here is the link:
St John’s YouTube Channel
Check below for the status of other offerings, many of which will be offered online
ENGAGING THE GOSPEL
Using a technique known as the African Bible Study we will explore how the Gospel reading for each Sunday touches our lives and reflect on what it might be asking of us.
Groups meet by Zoom on Tuesday nights (7.30pm to 8.30pm), following the Meditation Group, and Thursday mornings, 10.30am to 11.30am.
To join on Tuesdays Zoom Click Here. To join by phone ring 3185 3730
Meeting ID: 278 417 931
To join on Thursdays Zoom Click Here. To join by phone ring 3185 3730
Meeting ID: 846 730 266
COFFEE with the PREACHER
Chat to the preacher about the themes they explored during the homily they offered at the Choral Eucharist.
Sundays at 11.15am bring your coffee to our Zoom Meeting.
To join, click this Zoom link or, to use your phone – ring 3185 3730 (a Brisbane number), enter Meeting ID: 211 868 230# and then Participant ID: #.
MINISTRY OF LAYING-ON OF HANDS
Available by appointment during the COVID-19 Crisis
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.
What is ‘Spiritual Direction’ …?
Spiritual direction is about making a space for God in your life. Contrary to the name, Spiritual Direction is not about being ‘directed’, it is being encouraged to draw closer to God in a more conscious experience of God’s presence, grace and love in your daily life.
In the midst of life we often find it difficult to notice God’s action within it. And yet we yearn to be able to discern the presence and the voice of God at a deeper level. In the practice of Spiritual Direction you are given the time and space to reflect on the experiences of your daily living, and as this contemplation takes place, you begin to discern God’s invitations and the work God is doing in your life.
Spiritual Direction sessions are now available at the Cathedral. To find out more, please contact Glynis by email
EDUCATION FOR MINISTRY (EfM)
~ a ‘taster’ program!
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. These sessions are held in St Martin’s House at 6.00pm. To find out more, please call the Cathedral Office on 3835 2222 during business hours.
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
SAINTS on a MISSION
Fridays at 10.30am.
In lieu of wine before breakfast, come for Friday coffee with Blair, our knowledgeable church history enthusiast’
Join Cathedral community member and “self-discovered” medieval and liturgical historian Blair Martin, leading interested folk in reflections and discussion on how we connect the ancient stories and rituals of Feast Days to the world of 2020, developing a sense of purpose & meaning for our disrupted and changed lives. Along the way the focus will also be on matters of social justice and our call to be “Saints on a Mission”, living out the Great Commission – to be “Easter People” living in the Resurrection and bringing the good news of the gospel to the lives of those around us.
May 22
Ascensiontide – Thursday, May 21 is this year’s commemoration of the last physical moments of Jesus of Nazareth on Earth, and the commissioning of the disciples to go out into the world spreading the good news of the Kingdom of God. Where are we, as “Saints on a Mission” at this time of discombobulation, separation and in many cases solo isolation? How can we live in, of, and with the Kingdom of God?
May 29
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to S. Elizabeth – This year, the Feast of the Visitation (May 31) is displaced & omitted due to Pentecost/Whitsunday falling on that day. As we prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit to “super-charge” the work we do as Easter People, the quiet journey of a young girl, pregnant and alone to an older relative, equally surprisingly with child, give us time to pause and reflect. Also, May 29 is the Eve of the Feast of S. Joan (of Arc) – La Pucelle d’Orléans – another young woman seized with a mission which ended with her demise at the hands of betrayers and enemies of her people. What parallels could we find between these two young women and their impact of our current disjointed lives?
To join the discussion, use either this Zoom link or phone (07) 3185 3730, enter Meeting ID: 966 2167 6899# and then Participant ID: #.
COFFEE ON WEDNESDAYS
10.30am-2.00pm
COWS is currently meeting via Zoom due to the Coronavirus.
Every Wednesday 10.30am Good friends, good food, great conversation. To join by Zoom, click here.
To join by phone, ring 3185 3730, enter Meeting ID: 741 468 477# and then Participant ID: #.
Please feel ‘mooved’ to join us at our regular COWS (Coffee on Wednesdays) gatherings between 10.30am and 12.30pm.
Christian Meditation Group
Tuesday evening
During the COVID-19 crisis we are meeting by Zoom.
To join please use the following links:
Tuesday night:
To join by phone ring (07) 3185 3730 Meeting ID: 278 417 931
Wasting Time With God: TIMOR LESTE
our Australian neighbour
Wednesday June 3, 9.30am
Our guest this month is Mouzinho. His family is Timorese and he was an independent journalist for 14 years in Timor Leste (East Timor).
All are welcome to join us for worship from 9:30am and then gathering for our time with Mouzinho. The Zoom meeting is Click here to join the Zoom meeting or dial in 07 3185 3730 Meeting id 823 3447 0652 # Participant id #.
MYSTICS, THEOLOGIANS and GOD-BOTHERERS
Leonard Cohen
June 7
Evensong at 6pm
Talk and Conversation at 7pm
Hear Jane Francis on Leonard Cohen.
This event will be held over Youtube and Zoom. Evensong can be accessed at 6pm on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNK4UfKhyzHdskN-s_Q9e4Q. From 7pm we will hear from Jane via Zoom which will be followed by Q&A. The Zoom link is https://zoom.us/j/768010419 or Dial in 07 3185 3730 Meeting ID: 768 010 419# Participant: #.
Jane Francis is a theological student at St John’s Cathedral.
Her introduction to Leonard Cohen was through reading his ‘Book of Longing’. Since then she has been inspired by Leonard Cohen’s spiritual journey and philosophical bent, which has provided many lyrics to savour and reflect on. Of particular interest to Jane are the spiritual crises mentioned in some of Leonard’s songs, such as ‘Where is God in our suffering?’.
To Jane the arts provide the community with opportunities for spiritual growth through storytelling. She offers some questions and reflections from her own journey that are expressed in Cohen’s life and music. We are invited to sit with our own favourite Cohen song or to hear him for the first time.
VIRTUAL LABYRINTH WALK
During the COVID-19 pandemic we will be offering a virtual labyrinth walk each month.
Sunday 3rd May, view any time from 11.30am
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
Wine before Breakfast
Wine Before Breakfast will resume after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime you might like to join SAINTS on a MISSION on FRIDAYS. (See Above)
End the week well with an early Eucharist in the Holy Spirit Chapel followed by breakfast at a local cafe. The short Eucharistic service will include contemporary reflections on issues of justice and peace and prayers for our communities and our world that reflect recent events of the week.
We will then head to a nearby cafe for conversation with good friends, great coffee and cooked breakfast. All are welcome, with a cost of around $10* for the breakfast (*for those who can afford it).
CHORAL EVENSONG
Wednesday Evensong will not be offered during the COVID-19 crisis.
Sunday 6pm is available by live stream and is also recorded.
The concert scheduled for June has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The situation will be reviewed in mid-June and an announcement about the July concert will appear here in due course.
Sadly we have had to postpone this year’s event due to the Coronavirus.
More to come
Acoustic Cathedral
Second Wednesdays – 5.30pm
Not being offered during the COVID-19 crisis.
These will resume after the COVID-19 pandemic
A new offering for 2020, held on the second Wednesday of each month, 5.30pm to 6.20pm, leading into the Contemplative Eucharist.
Dr. Michael Knopf is a concert guitarist and composer, a dedicated teacher and a music researcher from the United States residing in Southeast Queensland, Australia. The Acoustic Cathedral experience is not a recital but an aural aesthetic assistance to help drain away stress/anxiety/pain for all comers. Michael would love to see people of all walks of life, status and condition benefit. He will be playing some original music, classical guitar repertoire and improvisations, each piece aesthetically modified to encourage a relaxed engagement and to impart the sense of beauty, colour and other-worldliness that we sometimes experience within ourselves as we are immersed in better thoughts and feelings. Michael’s CDs can be purchased from The Cathedral Shop.
Contemplative Eucharist
Second Wednesdays – 7.00pm
Not being offered during the COVID-19 crisis.
A gentle contemplative Eucharist including silence, song, bread and wine. Silent meditation from 6.30pm to 6.55pm.
ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLASSES
Wednesdays, 2.00pm-3.00pm
English Conversations are not happening at present due to the Coronavirus.
Every week we host English conversation classes in the Darnell Room, in which our wonderful team of volunteers assist people who would like to practise their English speaking skills. We are also seeking more volunteers to help. You don’t need any special qualifications at all, just a patient and friendly demeanour and the urge to help others. Please contact the Cathedral office on 3835 2222.