Opening Ballarat's Christ Cathedral Cathedral for more music and public events has marked a turnaround in the city embracing the Lydiard St church, according to the cathedral's outgoing dean the Very Reverend Chris Chataway.
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Father Chris will leave Ballarat after six years in January to become the Dean of Perth's St George's Cathedral.
"I'll be sad to leave Ballarat because we have done some great things here, including starting the Cathedral Music Foundation," he said.
When he arrived on February 2014, he walked in to a diocese with some real challenges.
"It's been hard and busy and when I came it had been after a period of some division within the diocese, which Bishop Gary (Wetherill) helped to heal.
"The cathedral was at a very low ebb with few people attending, financial challenges and with governance challenges ... but we have built a team and I think I leave the cathedral with a good team of people and hope for the future."
Father Chris said the cathedral's location on Lydiard St meant many people did not know it was there.
"One of the challenges in this building is its location, so we have opened the building to the community by hosting concerts, we were open for White Night Ballarat recently and had 6000 people through, and hosted a Ballarat International Foto Biennale exhibition which bought up to 50 people a day in to see," he said.
"I still get people come in and say this is the first time they've been inside the cathedral. They might have lived here 30 years but never been in before."
When he was first approached to leave his home town of Adelaide, where he was previously the archdeacon of the city and the port in Adelaide, many people warned him against taking up the position of dean in Ballarat.
"I had no reason for coming to Ballarat except that I thought God was calling me here," he said. "And I had much advice not to come, but I said I think it's where god wants me ... and there's not been a moment in my time in Ballarat where I haven't felt this is where I should be."
Father Chris has been here during perhaps the most tumultuous time for religion in the city with child sexual abuse by clergy rarely out of the spotlight.
"We are trying to do everything we can to help survivors of child sexual abuse and this is a challenge we must face and are facing. It will drain resources but that's the cost.
"Our reputation has been affected as well and when people unfortunately think of Ballarat and the church they think of that issue at the moment.
"But I hope for Ballarat that their reputation will grow to be how they dealt well with survivors - that's the challenge for all the churches. With the National Redress Scheme in place there are many avenues for survivors to find ways to seek some kind of compensation and help for their recovery and healing."
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One of the other challenges for the church is dwindling congregations in smaller communities, while Ballarat's growth drives increasing congregations in the city's churches.
"Ballarat is a beautiful place to live and the city is full of art, culture and music. I hope it keeps valuing that part of its life. It would be easy for the city to perhaps lose that as it grows and focus is more on development so I hope it doesn't lose its soul in that sense."
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