About Us
Looking up... moving forward
As we have already mentioned, Christ Church Old Cathedral has been offering worship services for over 150 years. For much of that time it was the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of St Arnaud. In 1976 the Anglican dioceses of Bendigo and St Arnaud combined and so now Christ Church Old Cathedral (CCOC) exists as a parish church of the Diocese of Bendigo.
Like most rural churches CCOC has declined over the years in numbers and in the regard in which it has been held in the local community. We plan to do something about that... not just for the sake of our church, but also to faithfully and fruitfully represent God, and also to serve the people of St Arnaud and surrounds.
Our Sunday morning congregation is small (approximately 20 people) but currently enjoying some growth. The morning services are informal and usually communion services that include a mixture of hymns and contemporary songs.
The evening Arise! service is very different! It is a time of digging deep and expecting God’s presence in a time of worship, teaching, and ministry. An important aspect of the evening Arise! service is its focus on equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
During the course of 2025 we aim to better reach out to children and welcome them into the life of our church.
An exciting feature of 2025 for us will be a building extension which will create a warm and wonderful area that we can use as a “family lounge”. A place where we, and the St Arnaud community, can enjoy shared life together in a variety of activities… one of which will be enjoying good quality coffee!
If there is anything else you would like to know about us, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Our minister
Our building plans
Peter Downes
Peter has been involved in various ministry situations in Anglican churches and also with Vineyard Churches Australia. He also lectures in ministry, bible and theology.
Recently the old parish hall was sold leaving us without toilets, kitchen and meeting areas that we need. The finances from the sale of the hall, along with a very generous bequest, mean that we can now develop a new meeting, kitchen and toilet area adjacent to the church.
A larger view of the concept plan can be seen by clicking on the plan below.
