How about doing some dreaming?

To quote from our strategy document…

”It requires only a small extension to view our church as a potential cathedral in perhaps 100 years time, the major church of a still growing city that has become a seat for a Bishop of a new Gold Coast diocese. The function of church as cathedral encapsulates civic impact and is well articulated by the two key points below :

1. “(Cathedrals) act like sacred theatres, attracting many people within their walls for all sorts of reasons – beauty, architecture, atmosphere. This temple-like presence and majesty of a cathedral, combined with Scripture, prayers, a few well chosen words and beautiful music, has the ability to catch people off guard and fill them with a sense of awe. It prompts them to ask the big questions concerning the meaning of life.

2. Secondly, cathedrals ‘act like religious railway stations’ where all sorts of people turn up to services with different destinations in mind. Big services offer a safe space and anonymity in that many people are there and no one is expected to talk to their neighbour; not being local is an advantage – unknown, it is possible to be lost in the crowd and to listen and respond without fear of being coerced into a commitment one is not ready to make.”[1]

To put it succinctly, things are changing. Our city is expanding. We are called to be the ‘sacred space,’ the quiet place, the God centre of town. This is not to arrogantly assume that no other Christian Church in Southport is doing this. Rather, as a ‘mission-shaped parish’ we should be applying the gifts God to a distinctive ministry.

I call this distinctive ministry at St Peter’s a ‘Cathedral-esque’ ministry. We’re not a Cathedral (and may never be one) but we do take our civic role in Southport seriously. When I dream about what St Peter’s can be to our community – I dream about being the ‘the soul’ of the city.

[1] Bayes & Sledge, 2009, The Mission Shaped Parish, p 95.