This Thursday evening at 6pm we join with our brothers and sisters at Darwin Memorial Uniting Church to celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, and the Dean will be preaching. As the week between Ascension Day and Pentecost is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this is an especially welcome invitation – if you're free to come, please join us!

Ascension Day proclaims that there is no sphere, however secular, in which Christ has no rights—and no sphere in which his followers are absolved from obedience to him. Instead of it being a fairy tale from the pre-space age, Christ’s ascension is the guarantee that he has triumphed over the principalities and powers, so that at his name “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11)

Bruce M. Metzger, “The Meaning of Christ’s Ascension,” in Search the Scriptures: New Testament Studies in Honor of Raymond T. Stamm (ed. J. M. Myers, O. Reimherr, and H. N. Bream; Leiden: Brill, 1969), 128; as quoted in Michael F. Bird, Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 459.

Palm Sunday 9 April 7.30 am & 9.00 am Eucharist Holy Tuesday 11 April 7.00 pm Tenebrae Holy Wednesday 12 April 7.30 am Chrism Mass Maundy Thursday 13 April 7.00 pm Institution of the Eucharist & Foot Washing Good Friday 14 April 9.00 am Liturgy 12 noon Stations of the Cross Holy Saturday 15 April 5.00 pm Evening Prayer Easter Sunday 16 April 6.00 am Service of the Light 9.00 am Eucharist & Confirmation

Knowledge is a good thing, and education and the gaining of wisdom something all in the Church should encourage. Therefore on Sunday 29th January we will mark the start of the new school year with a blessing of the backpacks. This is not just for school kids, but for everyone involved in education: teachers, parents, university lecturers and students. So come for this special service at 9 am, and remember to bring your backpacks!

Join us for Christmas at Christ Church Cathedral! Our celebrations start on Sunday 18 December at 6 pm with the traditional service of Nine Lessons. The on Christmas Eve we will hold our Children's Service where our younger parishioners set up the Nativity followed by Blessing of the Crib. This is then followed at 11.30 pm with Midnight Mass. This year at the start of this service we will also mark the 42nd Anniversary of Cyclone Tracy. The Celebrant and Preacher at Midnight Mass will be Bishop Greg. On Christmas morning, Sunday 25 December, there will be Communion Services at 7.30 and 9.00 am. The full schedule: Saturday 18 December at 6 pm - Nine Lessons and Carols Saturday 24 December at 5 pm - Children's Service and Blessing of the Crib Saturday 24 December at 11.30 pm - Midnight Mass Sunday 25 December at 7.30 am - Holy Communion Sunday 25 December at 9.00 am - Holy Communion

  The Cathedral is hosting a Symposium called "The Seasons are Gone", on indigenous perspectives on climate change. Almost all discussion on climate change concentrates on scientific and political issues, and the perspectives of those who are most vulnerable to climate change often do not rate in the discussion.   This symposium brings together speakers from the South Pacific, the Torres Strait Islands and the Top End to tell their stories. Our speakers include: Rronang Garrawurra, Yolgnu man and Uniting Church Minister Rose Elu, Torres Strait Islander Nigel Kelaepa, from the Polynesian atoll of Ontong Java in the Solomon Islands Aram Oroi, from the Melanesian Island of Makira in the Solomon Islands All are leaders in their field, and respected elders of their people. You are also invited to join the conversation: to listen, to speak and to act. The Symposium starts at 4pm on Friday 16th September, and goes through to 4 pm on Sunday 18th September. There is no charge for attending, and tea & coffee will be provided. You are welcome to attend as little or as much as time permits. The basic program is: Friday 16th September 4pm to 6 pm - meet the speakers Saturday 17th September 9 am - Welcome to Country, followed by presentations and discussions on the South Pacific, Yolgnu country, and the Torres Strait Islands (9 am to 3 pm with a lunch break). To finish the day, a Q&A panel, from 3.30 pm to 5 pm - You are welcome to join us for worship at the Cathedral, with our visitors from the Solomon Islands preaching. This will be followed at 11.30 am with a session on the current state of play in Australia, and then from 2pm to 4pm a discussion as to where to from here. For further information, to receive a flyer or programme, or to register interest in attending, please contact the Dean of the Cathedral, Dr Keith Joseph, at keij@bigpond.com or on 0409 783 452