It’s a cold Friday morning, 4th of December and the team of 40 are ready to start work, yes folks, its that time of year again; Essential is upon us.

It’s the 6th year in which we have had the privilege to do this event in the beautiful surroundings of Christ Church Cathedral.

To call this night interactive would be an understatement; our hope is to physically replicate and engage in the same way Jesus did, celebrated at this time of the year, incarnationally, being among the community, in it, no “us and them”.

Beginning outdoors with a carnival atmosphere “Fire Show”, stilt walkers and performers the crowd gathered cheered and then rushed to get into church. The stage was built in the round, the centre of the Cathedral and we soaked in the wonderful voices of the Kings Hospital Choir who so graciously gave up their time to come and sing for us opening the evening alongside DJ Sam Stott. The Rend Collective Experiment performed for the second time at Essential mixing their songs from their upcoming debut album with Christmas carols, “God is Near” being one of the many highlights. 

A hard-hitting message entitled “Excess limits Access” was delivered passionately by Greg Fromholz who then brought a whole new level to community! Greg’s talk was segmented into 3 stages with short films that were directed by Greg, produced by Clear Media and starring 3Rock’s Interns and team, illustrating the points that it’s ok to be who we are, that is where God finds us, to stop pretending to be someone else and to “be present” as Jesus is to others in every moment.

This was also interactively illustrated and demonstrated by the 3 miles of red, yellow & orange wool that was passed around the Cathedral, intertwined around everyone- representing excess- and then cut through to free us from all the stuff that entangles us in our lives, Jesus created access.  It was liberating, the feeling in the Cathedral tangible, as we celebrated the real reason why Christmas is so joyful, the story of the Son of God brought to rescue us!

Rev. Campion came and did a wonderful blessing and then everyone poured down to the crypt for tea and coffee served by the Urban Soul team.

This night was so amazing in so many different ways, not only the hugely interactive nature, but the overwhelming amount of teenagers and university students, up to 500 that poured into the Cathedral, and the huge support of the Rectors around the United Dioceses, combining with the consistent energy of the team. Thanks goes to Dean Dunne for allowing us to use the Cathedral once again, to the staff of the Christ Church Cathedral for their help and to absolutely everyone who worked so tirelessly throughout the day, Essential definitely could not have been done without you.

Check out photos from the event on flickr