Elspeth Kernebone
9 March 2024
A new city-centre congregation will soon launch in Melbourne, aiming to connect with those among the thousands of young people living nearby.
Gather at St Paul’s hopes to provide a family-like home for students and young adults in Melbourne, where they can know their identity as God’s children.
Leaders hope it will reach young people who are desperate for meaning and belonging, especially among those far from their home communities.
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St Paul’s curate and church planter the Reverend Amy Footson said the congregation aimed to reach the thousands of university students and young adults living in Melbourne’s centre.
Mrs Footson said St Paul’s hoped to provide a home to these people, where they knew their identity as part of God’s family, and could gather together as a family to worship God.
“The vision for the congregation is to offer a home away from home for students and young adults in Melbourne. Our dream is basically for young adults and students to really know their identity in God’s family,” Mrs Footson said.
“The number of people in the CBD it’s an opportunity to offer something new, something creative, something different.”
Gather member Callum Dawson said the congregation was a wonderful opportunity to spread the word of God in a way that was unique, and different to other St Paul’s services.
Dr Dawson said he was hoping to help newcomers realise the depth, complexity and richness of Christianity in a way that was approachable and welcoming. He said Melbourne was a great crossroads for university students, a group the congregation aimed to reach.
“It’s very important to give [students] a spiritual home, a place where they can feel safe, they can come to rest,” he said.
“If you can provide that space of rest and comfort and welcome, and hospitality for people who are wanting to explore the Christian faith, that’s living out the Christian calling.”
Gather member Scott Walker said he hoped the congregation would become a group of young people who were serious about exploring God, in worshipping together, meeting around the Lord’s table, and in deepening their connections with God, their community, and each other.
When Mr Walker was baptised in 2023, he said he wanted to be involved in talking to young people about faith, and exploring Christianity with them. His baptism came after he connected with St Paul’s after COVID, with the feeling that there was more to life.
“Young people are desperate for meaning and calling out for belonging, and I think it’s a real void that can be filled in the local community,” Mr Walker said.
“A place young people can be welcomed, and to have an open experience of church, is a really important thing.”
The congregation will launch with a small base group drawn from St Paul’s existing congregations.
Gather at St Paul’s will launch on 17 March, at 6pm. More information is available at: cathedral.org.au/gather.
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