CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRALDARWINParish Profile

OUR CITYOverlooking the Timor Sea, Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory. It is four hours by air from Singapore, less than two hours from Timor and five and a half from Sydney. It has what the Western geographers call a ‘tropical savannah climate with distinct wet and dry seasons’, although the Larrakia people from the Darwin region identify seven main seasons. While Darwin has a reputation for having a difficult climate, we do not experience the extremes of heat or drought seen in other regions of Australia.

The greater Darwin area, including the city of Palmerston twenty kilometres to the south and the rural outskirts, is a culturally diverse city with a population of around 130,000, which makes it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory. The median age is 33.6 years. 12% of the population identify themselves as Anglicans and about 10% are Aboriginal.

Christ Church Cathedral, at 2-4 Smith St, is situated in the civic square mile, in the most historic part of the city. Its neighbours are the Supreme Court, the Parliament House and the City of Darwin chambers. The first church building on the site was consecrated in November 1902. The present building was erected in 1976 after Cyclone Tracy had demolished all but the porch of the old church.

At Christ Church Cathedral we seek to share God’s unconditional love of all people regardless of age, gender, marital or family status, sexual orientation, ability or wealth.

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OUR PEOPLEChrist Church Cathedral is blessed to have a vibrant, multicultural congregation, including people of Aboriginal, African, European, Fijian, Indian, Indonesian, Iranian, Sri Lankan and Tongan heritage. Developing ministries to attract younger people and families to our church is an area which parishioners have recently identified as important to our future.

OUR MINISTRIESOur current Diocesan Strategic Plan intends parishes to be ‘ministering communities which provide dynamic worship, pastoral care and Christian education’ and also to reach out to the community and ‘engage with [its] environmental and social justice concerns’.

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OUR WORSHIPDynamic worship is important to us. Normally each Sunday there are two morning services. The 7.30 am Holy Communion is a standard A Prayer Book for Australia ‘said’ service, and the 9 am ‘sung’ Eucharist, which includes a children’s program.

On special occasions we are joined by the Darwin Chorale, the Palmerston City Band and the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. We love our traditional style of worship, but have identified that we want to extend our musical involvement.

After the 9.00 service, the congregation gathers in the meeting room, known as the Harbour Room (because it overlooks the harbour) for morning tea.

Special worship services throughout the year include not only Christmas and Easter celebrations, but also the Coming of the Light in early July, The Blessing of the Animals for St Francis’ Day, and services for St John Ambulance Day, Remembrance Day, and other commemorations. Our Dean and congregation also participate in ecumenical services and interfaith services with other Darwin faith communities.

With the Cathedral’s proximity to the harbour, when cruise ships are in town our congregation is frequently swelled by tourists looking for a nearby place to worship. In the Dry season (June to September), the low humidity and warm weather make Darwin a haven for visitors from the south seeking a tropical holiday or visiting family and friends—some people have found a home away from home in the parish and come back to worship with us year after year.

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OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTOur engagement with the Darwin community is not limited to providing Sunday services and rites of passage. Opportunities for ministry start quite literally on our doorstep. Each Sunday morning the parish provides breakfast to the homeless in our community—this now provides support to more than 100 individuals each week. Apart from “feeding the 5,000” we have a weekly children’s ministry, including a children’s message and Sunday school involving parents and grandparents with the children.

Our clergy provide a variety of services in the wider community, including ministries at the hospital, the prison and a local nursing home. The parish also supports a newly-established Mission to Seafarers at Darwin Port, providing vital services for seafarers far from home.

Darwin’s often challenging social dynamics mean that there are always community members in need, and further opportunities for the cathedral parish to serve the community. Our current Diocesan Strategic Plan intends parishes to be ‘ministering communities which provide dynamic worship, pastoral care and Christian education’ and also looks for us to reach out to the community and engage with environmental and social justice concerns.

We strongly uphold the principles and practices of safe ministry and are committed to the physical, emotional and spiritual welfare and safety of all people, particularly within our community.

The Cathedral has an important civic role in Darwin and hosts significant services from time to time. In recent years we have strengthened ties with the Order of St John and now host an annual service for them; we have also hosted a number of state and military funerals, memorial services and

events for significant times in the life of our city.

The Cathedral is one of Darwin’s most beautiful places to be married (look for it

in the 2019 feature film Top End Wedding) and the Dry season is a busy time for

weddings. Some couples choose to stay on after the service and enjoy

a glass of champagne with their guests under the shade of our magnificent trees. The Dry season is when we conduct most of the year’s baptisms as well: visiting grandparents make this an ideal time for families to gather around the beautiful, locally crafted font to celebrate the gift of grace offered in baptism.

The annual Darwin Festival, held during August brings life and noise and energy to the Civic Park that adjoins the Cathedral precinct. The Cathedral car park and adjacent lands are used by the Festival, providing a source of income for the parish, and in past years the Cathedral has hosted performances and public forums as part of the Festival.

Our location in the heart of Darwin’s CBD means that we have ongoing relationships with many of the community and other organisations working in and around the City. The proposed redevelopment of the CBD offers opportunity to engage with civic planners and enhance the Cathedral’s profile.

Cathedrals have long been places of lively conversation and debate and we see that as an important part of our life together. In past years we have run occasional seminars, inviting scholars from around Australia to challenge our thinking on theological and other matters.

Our Deans have also made regular contributions to public debate through the media, speaking out on matters of social justice and ethical matters that are part of public conversation.

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OUR RESOURCESUnlike many other deans, the Dean of Darwin does not have a stipended ministry team. There is assistance from honorary and retired priests, and clergy who hold other offices in the diocese assist with the Sunday duties from time to time by invitation.

The front office is staffed by volunteers four mornings a week. They undertake tasks such as answering the phone, keeping the parish roll up to date, preparing the Sunday Order of Service and the weekly pewsheet, ordering supplies, cataloguing the books, drafting letters, and vacuuming the floor. A parishioner/manager administers the cathedral car park, which provides a significant source of revenue for the parish.

Rostered volunteers clean the cathedral, manage Sunday morning tea, lead the Sunday School, count the offerings and during the services usher, read and intercede.

We love parties. To raise funds we hold an International Dinner under the Stars and we cater for the Synod Dinner.

Our new Dean need not do everything else, however: providing parishioners opportunities to serve continues to strengthen the parish as well as enable the Dean to devote his or her energies to our leadership without becoming overwhelmed.

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OUR NEXT DEANWe are seeking a Dean who can represent and embrace the values in our parish mission statement. The Dean must be able to cope with competing ministry demands and provide strong pastoral care. As a member of the Darwin community, the Dean will also be called on to plan or contribute to civic and multi-cultural events, as well as ecumenical and interfaith services.

The Cathedral Parish is a fascinating and challenging place in which to minister, with a rich past and a huge potential future for proclaiming and bringing into being God’s Kingdom on God’s earth.

We are seeking a person who will resonate with that past and lead us into that future: a resilient person who will be a prophetic voice in the community, with the ability and willingness to speak out on controversial matters, who has management ability, and who is able to ‘connect’ with a wide range of people outside the church and to work collaboratively with those within.

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