All creatures, great and small are invited to this year’s Blessing of the Animals Service on Sunday 9 Ocotber 2011 at 9.00am.

Come along with your favourite animal for this service of thanksgiving for all the gifts that animals bring into our lives.

The service will be specially shortened for all those animals (and owners) with short attention spans.

For more information ring Jeremy: 0428 315 763

Click on the image to visit the gallery

After many months of hard work, the Restoration and Renovation of the Cathedral is almost complete. The final work is being done on the large West-facing window before the scaffolding is removed and the final bit of roof can be replaced. Soon the electricians will finish their work inside and the painters can begin.

The work has been possible through the generosity of the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, the NT Government, John Halikos and many, many people from the Darwin community and around Australia.

The completion of the work will be marked by a grand celebration on 27 November. Watch for more details.

“The Once and Future Bible” a workshop with Greg Jenks, 9.30am-4.00pm, Saturday September 17, 2011

The Bible is a book with a well-documented past, but an uncertain future.

Once the meta-narrative for a civilization, it now struggles to engage the public imagination in a global village.

Can it be reclaimed from the grip of religious conservatives to serve once more as a source of hope and meaning?

This full-day workshop will explore selected themes that are relevant to a critical reading of the Bible today and in the immediate future: unholy use of the Holy Bible, multiple readings of the same Scriptures, reclaiming the Bible for progressives, and reading with critical imagination.

For full details and to download a brochure click here.

Anyone who knows the great stories from the Hebrew scriptures about our ancestors in the faith will know that the Bible is not always a great place to look if we want to know what marriage and family “should” look like according to Biblical principles:

• Marriage shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)
• Marriage shall not impede a man’s right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)
• A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)
• Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)
• Since marriage is for life, no state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)
• If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother’s widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen. 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

Why not join the Revd Dr Steven Ogden and others as we explore love, the God of love, the history of marriage, the complexity of human relationships and how we can think about family in this new age.

Christ Church Cathedral Harbour Room,
9.30am-4.00pm, Saturday August 20, 2011 ($50.00 / $35.00)
Morning and afternoon tea provided.

All participants receive a copy of Steven Ogden’s new book, “Love Upside Down.”

Download a brochure here.