Who We Are
Christ Church Hawthorn is a community of Christian believers committed to making and growing Christ’s disciples. We genuinely do our best to welcome newcomers.
We’re ‘reformed and evangelical’, which means we take seriously the Bible and the gospel of Christ. For a very helpful extended statement of reformed evangelical Christian faith, see the Foundation Documents of The Gospel Coalition Australia. Christ Church Hawthorn’s faith and ministry seeks to be aligned with these documents, because we believe these documents are aligned with the Bible.
We’re contemporary, seeking to live realistically and with Christian integrity in today’s world.
We have history. Founded in 1853, we’re the oldest Christian church on the southern/eastern side of the Yarra River in Melbourne. We’re thankful for all who’ve contributed generously over the past 170+ years, contributing to all that we are and have today. Ultimately our history goes back to the beginnings of the gospel of Christ and the earliest Christians churches in the 1st Century AD.
We’re a ‘Parish’ of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Although it is very diverse today, the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has a rich history of Christian gospel ministry.
Our gatherings
We meet to build one another up to maturity in Jesus Christ.
In our formal Sunday gatherings:
We get to know one another and seek to care for, encourage and stir up one another to wise and godly living;
We hear, read and reflect on God's Word through clear Biblical teaching - praying for His Spirit to renew our minds and transform our lives by that powerful Word;
We bring our concerns to God in corporate prayer, knowing His love for us and the world;
We sing praises to God with thanksgiving in our hearts for His grace to us in Jesus Christ.
For people for whom it is difficult to meet in person, we provide on-line access to some of our gatherings, including Zoom meetings and Livestream — these provide ways of interacting with each other, so that we may build one another up in Christ.