Whether said or sung, the Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship and reveals the heart of the Christian faith. On the night before he died, Jesus of Nazareth met with his disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish Passover.

At this meal he took bread, broke it and said 'This is my Body'. He took a cup of wine and said 'This is my blood - the blood of a new covenant of forgiveness'. He shared the bread and the wine with his disciples, and told them 'do this in remembrance of me'.

Whenever his followers gather to do as he said we are caught up again in the events of the last week of his earthly life and he lives amongst us as we receive his gifts.

The word Eucharist means thanksgiving. It is an act of celebration in which the very life of God is given to us in bread broken and wine outpoured. And receiving this life week by week, ordinary frail and fragile beings are strengthened as members of the Body of Christ, a community called to serve God in the world.

On Sundays and Major Feast days, the Eucharist is sung by one of the Cathedral Choirs using settings from the sixteenth century polyphony to modern works by living composers. At all Communion Services everyone who has been baptised is welcome to receive Holy Communion; otherwise a personal blessing may be received. The Ministry of Laying on of Hands with Prayer for Healing is offered as part of the Sunday Sung Eucharist, and occasionally there may be a Baptism.