Weekly Church Services
We welcome you to come to any of the regular services described below. Occasionally these times vary, so be sure to check the service calendar.
Saturday evening
Vespers 5:00 pm
Vespers is an intimate service held in the Small Chapel. When you enter the Religious Centre, walk down the hallway to find the Small Chapel located behind the Main Chapel.
If you are visiting us for the very first time, you will probably find Vespers to be the best service to attend first. It is a relatively short service, lasting about an hour.
You’ll have a chance to meet some of us and make a few friends. Fr. Geoff takes the opportunity to greet first time visitors and answer any questions you might have.
During Vespers, we engage in prayer for ourselves and the world, we sing hymns, listen to scripture, learn about living the model Christian life, and express our thankfulness to our Lord and Saviour.
For more information about Vespers.
Confessions
Fr. Geoff hears confessions on appointment.
Sunday morning
Matins 9:00 am
Matins is a service that helps prepare us for the Divine Liturgy. During Matins, we hear psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. We hear passages from the epistles and gospels, and the service is filled to the brim with scriptural references and allusions. We make intercessory prayer for ourselves, the poor, the sick, the suffering and the entire world.
Orthodox Christianity doesn’t separate intellect from emotions, so the service is filled with poetry that conveys Orthodox Christianity’s fundamental teachings.
The Matins service flows without interruption into the Divine Liturgy, so if you arrive a few minutes before the Divine Liturgy begins you will witness the conclusion of the Matins service. Feel free to respectfully enter at any time and allow the service to flow around you.
For more information about Matins.
Confessions
For those who travel a long way to get here, Fr. Geoff hears confessions from 9:30 am.
Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
The Divine Liturgy is our main service every week. It consists of prayers and petitions, praise and hymns, worship and fellowship. The service is very beautiful, conveying God’s glory through all senses of sight and smell and taste and touch.
The focus of this service is to gather around God’s throne and engage in heavenly worship and divine fellowship. It is a foretaste of heaven.
We praise, we bless, we sing to our God. We join in fellowship with all the faithful gathered around God’s throne. We hear the proclamation of the Gospel and a spiritual message. We engage in prayers for ourselves and the world. The culmination and focus of the service is Eucharistic thanksgiving and the service of the Holy Mystery of Communion.
You will be given a service book by an attendant at the door. If you’re visiting for the first time, our best advice is to be careful not to be caught up in the service book. You have an opportunity to witness a majestic drama, so let the service flow around you and see the sights, hear the sounds, smell and touch and taste heaven on earth.
For more information about the Divine Liturgy.
Sunday School 11:45 am
All children are welcome to attend Sunday School to participate in activity-based learning. Sunday School is a multi-age program run during school terms that provides religious instruction in a warm and nurturing environment on Orthodox traditions and the message of the Gospel. The aims of the Sunday School are:
- to grow in love of Christ
- to complement the religious education of the family
- promote Christian fellowship among children
Pre-school aged children are welcome to participate in Sunday School lessons with a parent.
The Divine Liturgy is designed for the entire family, so we encourage you to bring your children for the Divine Liturgy. Sunday School children are encouraged to come up first to receive communion before commencing their Sunday School lessons. Sunday School is held in a room just outside of the main chapel, in the Religious Centre’s Room G11A. The lessons conclude approximately 15 minutes after the end of Liturgy.
Sunday school runs every Sunday during School Terms.
For more information about Sunday School.
The Good Shepherd Parish is committed to child safety.
View our Statement of Commitment to Child Safety here.
