Christ Church Cathedral will celebrate its patronal festival this coming Sunday with a chicken and champagne brunch and with the music of Darwin wind quintet, “Quintessential”.

The Feast of Christ the King is the day when the Cathedral parish celebrates its life and ministry, remembering all that has happened in this place since the first church was built here at the beginning of last century.

This year we will be joined by the Revd Dr Lee Levett-Olson, prinicpal of Nungalinya College as our guest preacher and music for our worship will be enhanced by the presence of Darwin based wind quintet, Quintessential. All are invited to stay after our 9.00am service for a chicken and champagne brunch in the Harbour Room, or to have a bounce on the jumping castle in the Cathedral grounds.

To see what else is happening at the Cathedral click here.

Jacques Arnould's new book, 'God vs Darwin' was launched at the Cathedral this weekend.

Over fifty people attended a day of seminars exploring the science of evolution and its theological implications at Christ Church Cathedral this weekend. Organised as a shoulder event to the Charles Darwin Symposium run by the University, the Cathedral event brought together Martinez Hewlett and Nancy Howell from the U.S. and Jacques Arnould from France to lead us in a conversation that broadened our understanding and challenged our thinking.

Marty Hewlett, author of a number of books on the subject (”Can you believe in God and evolution?” among them) explored the science and theology of evolution. Nancy Howell broadened the conversation by introducing participants to the evolution of emotions and the implications that has for ideas about morality. Jacques Arnould took participants further again in his presentation on astro-biology and exo-theology.

Supported by SSM Australia and ATF Press the weekend was another in the series of seminars at the Cathedral aimed at providing a safe place for significant conversations.

John Shelby Spong recently wrote:

In the preparation required to write my new book on eternal life, I soon discovered that this subject raised all of the contemporary theological issues that threaten to destroy Christianity as we have known it. It was clear that I would have to turn the traditional religious approach around. I had to read the modern critics for whom the religious concepts of the past make no sense. I also had to come to a new understanding of what life itself means. Life after death cannot possibly be contemplated until one understands the wondrous and even mysterious dimensions of life before death. That study resulted in two immediate insights. First, I discovered the drive to survive deep in every specimen of life from the rainforests to human beings. Second, I found all life to be deeply interrelated and even linked through DNA. Armed with this information I now faced the fact that the work of Charles Darwin had rendered the basic tenets of traditional religion so suspect that if I were to speak of life after death with any credibility I would have to find a new starting place, perhaps outside of or beyond religion itself. To read the rest of the article click here.

For details about our “Revolution in Evolution: Science, God and Theology” seminar this weekend (September 25 & 26), click here.

To see what else is happening at the Cathedral this month, click here.

“Legal Walls” is an exhibition of graffitti art that comes as the culmination of a series of workshops with indigenous and refugee young people in Darwin. Over a number of weeks the young people have worked with youth workers, health workers and established artists to build self-esteem, learn about healthy life-style choices and learn how to create pieces of art (like the one pictured – click it for a larger view).

The 18 pieces of art on display in the Cathedral are all different and reflect the cultural backgrounds and life experiences of those involved.

To display the art in the Cathedral is to challenge those pre-conceptions that equate graffitti with criminality. It is to remind us that each of these pieces and the artists behind them have stories to tell, if only we would listen.

Click here to find out more about “Legal Walls”

Click here to see what else is happening at the Cathedral this month.

The Labyrinth has arrived in Darwin! Painted on canvas in Adelaide, the Cathedral has just taken delivery of a 35 foot diameter replica of the Labyrinth that is set in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France.

The Labyrinth is an ancient and powerful tool of personal and communal transformation. It comes to us now as a replica, painted on canvas, of the Labyrinth laid in the floor of the nave of Chartres Cathedral. It was installed in mediaeval times, a time when human consciousness was more familiar with things spiritual, a time when the sharp divides of mind, body and spirit were not felt so acutely.

The Labyrinth involves a process – walking. The physicality of walking grounds the experience in our physical being – what we are. The act of walking also has direction, purpose, reminding us of who we are and where we are in our lives. The company of others as we walk reminds us that all we are is always lived in relationship with God, others and environment.

In Mediaeval times the Labyrinth was used as a place for pilgrimage. Pilgrims were able to emulate the transforming journey to the Holy Land by walking the Labyrinth, following the path into the heart, to the ‘centre of the world’ (Jerusalem) and back again.

For us, our life’s journey seems so often to be drawn by an invisible thread, full of uncertainty and surprising turns but with an ever deepening wisdom and sure sense of being led forward. Christian literature, poetry and the bible itself abounds in the images of path, leading lights, ways, journeys, highways.

The Christ Church Cathedral Labyrinth will be set up in the Cathedral grounds (during the dry season) or inside the Cathedral (during the wet) on the second Saturday of each month between noon and 5.00pm, beginning in Sept.

Watch out for other opportunities to walk the Labyrinth- sunrise and sunset walks -and others.

To ask about hiring the Labyrinth for your own group, please contact the Dean.