Peter Au knows the stones and stories of St Andrew's Cathedral better than almost anyone. But for him and his team of 23 welcomers, a visit is never just about the architecture – it's about the Architect.
Earlier this year, The Daily Telegraph newspaper recommended that people visit the Cathedral, on the corner of George and Bathurst streets. "Plenty of history in this place as the host of countless state funerals and royal visits," the paper said. "Pop in when you're next in the city. Soul-cleansing stuff."
The writers may not have realised just how literally the welcomers take that description. While many locals "pop in" to escape the city bustle, the majority of visitors are from overseas.
"Most of them are tourists," Mr Au told Southern Cross. "Most are just interested in the architecture of the Cathedral. But because of the diversity of those who come in, we have a lot of people from other countries who have not heard of Jesus before and we have the opportunity to share the gospel with them."
Peter Au took over the welcoming team two years ago from John Colquhoun, who was involved from 2012 – although the ministry began in 1988, the Bicentennial year. The longest-serving welcomer, Ray Morrison, started that year and was involved until he died in 2023, aged 96.
Most of the team are members of the Cathedral congregation, but there is an ongoing need for more volunteers. Mr Au speaks Cantonese and some other welcomers are bilingual but one guide, whose home church is Turramurra, speaks five languages.
"A lot of the visitors come from China," Mr Au says. "So we especially have pamphlets written in Chinese for tourists from Taiwan, Hong Kong and [mainland] China as well. We also have Americans, Europeans, and not so many Africans, but we have Two Ways to Live in all different languages that we can share with them."
One of the attractions for Chinese visitors is a window, high up near the roof, which depicts Archbishop Howard Mowll – who was Bishop of Western China from 1926 to 1933, and Archbishop of Sydney from 1933 until his death in 1958. Archbishop Mowll is seen preaching in China.
"The Chinese people there, they are all in the Qing costume and there is a cross in the middle with the Chinese dragon on top of it," Mr Au points out as he launches into a well-rehearsed tour stop. "The man in red, I believe, became one of the first bishops in China, Bishop Song. His son came to study in Australia and the bishop visited, too, and came to the Cathedral."
The window has a special pamphlet in both traditional and simplified Chinese to tell the story.
Gospel response
In such brief visits, the welcomers often spark curiosity about Jesus – but does it ever go further? The answer is yes.
"We have so many opportunities of sharing the gospel with others and we are blessed that some of them do become Christians," Mr Au says. "One of the men who came in a year ago was quite lost. He was crying in the pew, saying that he doesn't think he's worthy of God or his family, he's worried about his life.
"We shared the gospel with him and over 12 months later he came in again to the Diocesan Day of Prayer… he has found Christ. That's just one of the stories that we have. We speak to so many people."
The Dean of the Cathedral, Sandy Grant, is enthusiastic about the ministry and the opportunity to give visitors something more permanent – The Essential Jesus, the booklet of Luke's Gospel printed for the Connect09 evangelistic project.
"In busy weeks, like the lead up to Easter or Christmas days, I estimate we easily give away 100-200 copies of Luke's Gospel," the Dean says. "In more ordinary weeks, it's dozens of books."
The team members do not press their point; instead, they offer conversation, listening ears and, when welcomed, the good news of Christ. "Someone came in this morning," Peter Au says. "We asked, 'Do you want to talk about Jesus?' They said, 'Definitely not!'"
It's all in a day's work for these women and men, who wander the historic tiled floors ensuring that while visitors come for the history, they can leave having encountered Hope.
