Sydney

St. Andrew's Anglican Cathedral, Sydney

To-day is the first day of the Greater Sydney lockdown, caused by the spread of the Covid 19 virus.  We are confined to our homes for the next two weeks.  As it is a Sunday and we are not permitted to attend Church, we watched the 10.30 am service of Morning Prayer at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney, live streamed on our TV.

There were no parishioners or worshippers in the Cathedral and just a skeleton staff to attend to proceedings.   The Leader was Chris Allan (Acting Dean), organist (Ross Cobb), bible readers, singer, preacher Rev. Garry Dibley from CMS and camera technicians. They all did a great job, but I did miss the choir.  

Because the Choir was absent, all the hymns were sung by a solo singer and he did a magnificent job.  The words to all the hymns were on the TV screen, so it was easy to sing along to these well-known hymns - "God of grace and God of Glory", "I heard the voice of Jesus say" and "Can it be".

This is the outside view of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.  The Cathedral  faces George Street, next-door to the Town Hall.  It is Gothic Revival architecture designed primarily by Edmund Blacket from 1837-1868.  It is built in Sydney sandstone and is the oldest cathedral in Australia.

This beautiful seven-light and four tiered stained glass East window above the communion table is a complex composition depicting scenes in the life of Christ at which the apostle Andrew was present, such as the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

The organist up high in the organ loft.  The organ is an amalgamation of two organs, one by William Hill & Sons (1866) and another by John Whitely (1929) and restored by the Canadian firm Orgues Letoumeau.  During non-lockdown times there are regular lunchtime organ recitals.

Rev. Christopher Allan, the Acting Dean of Sydney.  He said the Cathedral will be closed to the public during the current lockdown and all services will be on-line only, for the time being.

Rev. Garry Dibley delivered the sermon.  He preached on Acts 9: 1-20 the dramatic conversion story of Saul on the road to Damascus.  

Saul was travelling on the road, looking for followers of Jesus to take as prisoners, when a light from heaven flashed around him and he heard the voice of Jesus speak to him, asking, "Why do you persecute me?"  He was then struck blind and had to be led into Damascus by the men travelling with him.  

After three days a man named Ananias placed his hands on Saul and said that Jesus had sent him to heal him and immediately scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again. He was then filled with the Holy Spirit and baptised.

Rev. Garry said it was never too late to be saved by Jesus.  God has the power to use even the hostile persecutor to achieve his divine purpose.

We enjoyed being able to watch the service in the comfort of our own home and felt grateful that modern technology enables us to watch and partake in Church services by joining in with the responses and the singing of hymns.

Acknowledgments

1.  Wikipedia

2.  St. Andrew's Cathedral website.