Morning Church

We are a family-friendly meeting, with Sunday School and creche provided. You can listen to the Cathedral Choir, and we have Holy Communion on 3rd Sundays.

Morning Church at 10:30am is the most diverse congregation at the Cathedral. If you arrive early, you will hear the Cathedral bellringers, who ring each Sunday in the belltower from 10:00am. Even if you are a little bit late, you will be welcomed at the doors by our Cathedral Wardens, who will give you a smile, friendly greeting, and an outline, and perhaps even help you find somewhere to sit. If you have children with you, they are welcome to join our children's programme in the Lower Chapter House, where they will have some singing, a Bible story, craft activity and playtime, appropriate to their age. The formal part of our gathering begins at 10:30am with either a welcome from one of our pastors, or a choral anthem from our male voice choir.

Then what happens?

During the meeting, we:

sing about 4 hymns, led by the choir and organist;
say the Apostles Creed together;
listen to the Bible readings;
hear a couple of items from the choir, with titles like Te Deum, or Anthem, or Jubilate;
pray together, led from the front;
listen to a talk from the Bible readings (usually about 30 minutes); and
listen to some notices.

The meeting is highly structured and a bit formal, based on the Sunday Services book and An Australian Prayer Book.

After the meeting, we share morning tea together. Morning tea is provided and served by volunteers from our congregation. We have tea, percolated coffee and refreshments.

Will I fit in?

That's a really tough question, isn't it? People come to 10:30am for a few different reasons. Some people like the idea of attending a Cathedral, because of the centrality of the building. Others like our Dean's solid Bible teaching. Some people like the music, the organ and the choir. Others like the fellowship over morning tea, or in our Bible study groups. It's possible to like all of these things. Sometimes people come because they are visiting Sydney and have heard of the Cathedral, or have asked for a place to go to church at their hotel.

The only way for you to really find out is to come and pay us a visit. We will try our best to be welcoming!

Here are some people who are committed to 10:30am as their family church.

What do I wear?

Most people wear neat attire, but at the same time, there is a fairly wide range for acceptable dress!

Children dress casually and comfortably. Uni students wear jeans. Parents of young children try to look like they've had time to iron their clothes, and sponge off greasy fingerprints. The trend seems to be that the older one is, the more formally one dresses. But the most important thing of all is to feel comfortable, otherwise you won't enjoy being with us!

Don't forget that the Cathedral is a heritage-listed (that is, old) sandstone building. We have heating, but it does tend to be fairly cool in winter, and stuffy in summer.

Special services

Part of being a Cathedral is that we sometimes have State services when an important event happens in our community, and the Governor and members of parliament come, and so do the media. If you are coming on one of these occasions, it's best to arrive early. Christmas Day and Easter are also times when it's a good idea to arrive early.

Parking

We provide parking in St Andrew's House Car Park, off Kent St, using parking vouchers which are available after the end of the meeting. You can get them from one of the friendly Cathedral Wardens. They cover a reasonable amount of time before and after the meeting so that you can do a bit of shopping or have lunch in the city before you go home.