To mark the 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks, St Paul’s Cathedral will hold a Service of Commemoration & Thanksgiving for Emergency Service Workers, as we remember before God those who lost their lives, give thanks for the first responders and the continuing dedication of our emergency services both in our country and around the world, and pray for a future of peace and safety for all.
The service will be led by the Cathedral Clergy, with music led by members of the Lay Clerks of the Cathedral Choir.
Owing to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, the service will be available to join on Channel 31 Community Television & via the Cathedrals Livestreams.
How to watch:
• Monday 13th Sep at 2.30pm on Channel 31 Melbourne & Geelong (Digital 44)
• Tuesday 14th Sep at 5.10pm via live stream on the Cathedral’s website and Facebook and Youtube pages
This weekend marks a sombre anniversary for our world: it was twenty years ago that the 9/11 attacks profoundly changed the way we live, travel and think of war, peace and conflict. As Christians, this time of remembrance gives us an opportunity to affirm our commitment to work for peace, wherever we are a placed. Building peace in our community can start with each one of us: at home, in our workplaces, in our leisure activities, and in the way we connect with friends and neighbours. That is the easy part of peace building. It is harder to reach across the divides to learn about and listen to people for whom we may not feel an affinity of friendship or neighbourliness. Therein lies the challenge we have been facing since 9/11.
At St Paul’s this means enabling our community to continue to be a place where differences of opinion are heard respectfully, and where people from different traditions can be fully welcomed. It also means providing a welcome to strangers, and to make sure that those who search for meaning or direction in life are given a chance to explore with us the life-giving, and life-transforming Good News of Jesus. This work does not come naturally, otherwise we would not be recalling with sorrow the loss of lives in acts of terror such as 9/11 and subsequent terror attacks. That’s why we at St Paul’s work hard, and train ourselves, to be people who know, trust in and are able to share, with grace and hospitality, the Good News of the Prince of Peace. Our discipleship sermon series and discussions are a good training ground, helping us to think through some of the responsibilities that come with saying yes to Jesus’ invitation to follow him, and to be a peace-maker.
The Very Revd Dr Andreas Loewe,
Dean of Melbourne