Dear Friends,
 
We very much look forward to welcoming you back to the Cathedral this Sunday! We will have three services that day:

• An 8am Book of Common Prayer Eucharist for up to 450 people who have been fully vaccinated: no need to book, but your vaccination status will be checked.
• A 10am Sung Eucharist with Holy Baptism for up to 450 people who have been fully vaccinated: no need to book, but your vaccination status will be checked. 
• A 1pm Bi-lingual Chinese/English ‘Open’ Eucharist for up to 25 people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination-status is unknown: booking is essential (via https://www.trybooking.com/BVEWL), your vaccination status will not be checked.

This Sunday

• Creation-tide Sermon Series As we all enjoy the beauty of creation at this time of year as plants burst into spring-time life, the days grow longer and the air warms up, we turn our attention to God’s glorious creation and our place in being stewards of both it and all the good gifts we enjoy from God. Along with our themed services and sermons, we encourage you to join our Bible studies each Sunday at 11.15am and to engage with the reflections, devotions and other resources on our website.
  Access the materials and reflections here ⟶
   
• Baptism of Freya Cousins a special welcome to family and friends of Freya as she is baptised by the Dean at our 10am service this Sunday.
   
• Weekday Choral Evensong resumes this week on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 5.10pm. Our Thursday service will be a special service for Remembrance Day. Our regular broadcast on Channel 31 (digital 44) continues Mondays at 2.30pm and repeated on our livestream on Tuesdays at 5.10pm.
   
• Remembrance Day is next Thursday. As is our custom, a short Act of Remembrance will be held on the Perron at 10.55am that day. All are welcome to gather outside the Cathedral for this.
   
• Lunchtime Concert • Thursdays 1.00pm Our Lunchtime Concerts will be held on Thursdays at 1pm for the remainder of 2021. This week’s concert features Arwen Hur, organ, performing ‘Death and Prayer’, music by Liszt, Franck and Mendelssohn. Entry by donation
   
• Next Sunday Revd Glenn Loughry will be installed as Canon of the Cathedral and our next Artist in Residence at our 10am service and will also preach the sermon. Canon Glenn will be the first Aboriginal Canon in the history of the Cathedral. We look forward to welcoming members St Oswald’s Glen Iris, where Glenn is the Vicar, to this special service.
   
• Sunday Morning Tea We hope to resume our regular morning fellowship when restrictions allow, and we need more people to help! If you’re able to provide some light refreshments and help serve tea and coffee after the 10am service once a month, please get in touch with Andrew Victorsen (avictorsen@stpaulscathedral.org.au).
   
• English Conversation Classes resumes on Monday 8 November at 2.30pm and will run through to Monday 29 November. Classes are open to anyone over the age of 18. Registration details can be found on our website, register via bit.ly/3tQYp3a ⟶
   
• How often do we take for granted our abundance? Canon Bob Derrenbacker reminds us to be grateful for the abundance we enjoy in Australia and of our moral obligation as Christians to ensure that it is shared equitably, ethically, and sustainably. Read or listen to Bob's reflection here ⟶

Prayer & Worship at Home

Read the Bible With Us

• An order for Morning and Evening Prayer with Readings can be found here
• You can download the ePray app for your iPhone or Android device here.
• Access our 'Worship at Home' Resources online here

Pray with us

The World
We pray for the people of Ethiopia, who, after twelve months are still seeking a solution to the Tigray conflict, and have declared a state of emergency; for Sudan where a military coup has left the UN searching for a way forward; for families and friends of 70 people killed in a village attack in south-west Niger through conflict between state forces and ISIS associated gunmen; for Syrians in Turkey who face uncertainty with the presence of both Russian and US forces and the anticipated opposition to Kurdish forces in the north. Human rights of Cambodians are being threatened by use of COVID-19 laws leading to arbitrary arrests; in Myanmar, for a US journalist denied bail after five month’s detention, and further charged with spreading false or inflammatory information; for leaders following COP26, that decisions will be honoured, sustainable solutions will continue to be explored, ‘an end of coal’ can be realistically assessed, and global warming will be stemmed. With so many, we continue in grateful thanks for answered prayers and the safe return to her family of Cleo Smith. We honour the endeavours of police and volunteers who worked so hard to bring about this miraculous solution. A side event to COP26 called “Making Peace with Nature: Heeding the Call of Indigenous Peoples” provided an opportunity for leaders across different faiths to highlight urgent needs of indigenous peoples in achieving the agreed Paris goals. We pray their voices are heard and heeded.

Our City and State
We give thanks for the end of lockdown and the restored freedoms we used to take for granted, as we pray that we will continue to act with gratitude for all the segments of our lives which we’ve been missing.

The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The Australian Anglican Church
The Anglican Church of Australia (Primate Abp Geoffrey Smith, General Secretary Anne Hywood, the General Synod & the Standing Committee). Churches are finding creative ways around providing worship opportunities for their both their majority of vaccinated worshippers, and their minority of unvaccinated. This challenge has been difficult and contrary to Christian values of inclusiveness, so it is thankfully and in God’s strength that solutions have been found.

The Diocese of Melbourne
Converge International (Jenny George, CEO, and Chaplains); St Augustine's Moreland (Angela Cook, Christopher Swann). In and around Melbourne, we especially ask God’s help and compassion for those who recently suffered storm damage and power loss. We congratulate Kerryn Lewis and pray for her as she begins next week as Program Manager for Preventing Violence Against Women in the Diocese.

Our Cathedral
It is wonderful to be able to worship together again. We give thanks for all the technical expertise which enabled worship to continue during lockdowns, and for the ministry which was possible, but being gathered as the body of Christ is superb.

Those in Sickness or Need
Joan Woodhouse, John Zhong, Patsy King, Maureen Wilson, Sara, Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ishmael, Emilio, Chris, Robyn & David Forbes, Judy Clift, Andrew, Janet Marsden, John, Henri-Felix Vinson, Sum Vita, Martin, Rebecca, Eric Young, Madonna Doherty, Laurie Mahoney, Monique, Maureen Wilson, Michael and Gabriel.

Year’s Minds

Get in touch