About Christ Church
Service Times
Sunday
Holy Eucharist - 8.00am
Choral Eucharist -10.30am
Litany - 5.45pm
Evensong - 6.00pm
Weekday Services
Tuesday
Holy Eucharist with Communion - 9.30am
Thursday
Holy Eucharist with Communion - 11.00am
Saint's Days
Holy Eucharist with Communion - 9.30am
Liturgy
All regular services are adapted from the Book of Common Prayer, in accordance with the terms of the Trust Deed.
Normal services are Communion at 8.00am, Sung Eucharist at 10.30am and Evensong at 6.00pm on Sundays. There is a Communion service at 9.30am each Tuesday and on major saints’ days, and also at 11.00am each Thursday.
Children and the Sunday School
The Sunday School meets in its own room within the Parish Hall during the Sung Eucharist on Sundays, with the exception of school holiday times. There is an average of 10 attendees and they have a dedicated teacher and assistants who make use of up-to-date material.
The Sunday School children join the congregation for a blessing during communion each Sunday. They present a Christmas Tableau during a service prior to Christmas and feature at such events as lighting the Advent candles and Mothering Sunday. Parents who choose to keep their children with them during the services often sit in the Lady Chapel, behind which is easy access to a carpeted porch which leads out to the Memorial Garden.
Memorial Garden
Adjacent to the church is an enclosed Memorial Garden, consecrated in June 1998 by the Archbishop of York, the Right Honourable the Most Reverend Dr David Hope. Interment of ashes in the lawn is in accordance with the rites of the Anglican Church and memorial plaques are affixed to the sandstone walls. Interments are recorded in a memorial book.
Music
Christ Church has a fine pipe organ and an organist. The nature of music at Christ Church follows the more traditional genre of church music.
The choir sings at Sung Eucharist on each Sunday morning, except for January. It is also called upon to sing at festive and other special services. Annual scholarships are offered to young tertiary students to assist them in their studies in return for their participation in choir rehearsals and services.
Parish Life Group
A group of parishioners organises the social and community activities of the parish.
Social activities cover such events as the Parish Lunch, Parish Picnic, Shrove Tuesday pancake tea, Mothering Sunday simnel cake distribution, and special morning teas and lunches.
Every Sunday there is a collection of foodstuff which is taken to the Magdalene Centre for distribution. In addition, the parish assumes responsibility, twice a year, for preparing, cooking and serving a three-course meal to approximately 120 disadvantaged people at the Magdalene Centre Drop-in facility in the city.
Additional Outreach
Christ Church generally keeps its financial support of diocesan and charitable organisations low key and direct. Among those areas which receive support are the Anglican Board of Mission, Australia Bush Church Aid Society,Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, individual parishes and projects. Individual members of the congregation also make their own contributions.
Hospital Visitors
Within the parish, there are 1,200 beds, distributed between hospitals and hospices. Besides visits from the Rector to parishioners within these establishments, there are two parishioners trained in visiting the sick who make regular visits to the hospitals and hospices within the parish.
Synod
Christ Church has four representatives who attend sessions of The Diocesan Synod.