Briagolong Uniting Church Closed 29th July 2017
The Church Building was passed in at auction on Saturday 19th August 2017 at $230,000.
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| Briagalong Uniting Church |
Worship services were held at 11.30 am every 2nd Sunday with a monthly Holy Communion celebration. A UCAF group and an Ecumenical KYB met regularly.
The service was led by current Minister, Rev Barbara Strickland with past Ministers, Rev Ivy Goodwin and Rev Norman Cameron also contributing.
Jessie Walker with her son Daryl
Jessie Walker speaks with Deb Bye - audio
Peter and Alice Mills reminisce with Deb Bye - audio
BACKGROUND
- from an article by Liz Bell – Gippsland Times July 2017
As the first church to be built at
Briagolong, the then Presbyterian Church was one of the town's only social
outlets and played a major role in drawing the community together.
In the late 1800s, the district was just
beginning to develop, and settlers who faced the many challenges of farming and
the simple, isolated existence of rural living were in need of a social and
spiritual outlet.
Following the gazetting of the Briagolong
township in 1873, the land in Church St was obtained by the trustees of the
Presbyterian Church and in 1875 the new building was officially opened.
In the early days the building was shared
by the Anglican congregations and the Methodists, and in 1977, with the merger
of the Presbyterian and Methodist churches, the church became part of the
Uniting Church.
Originally 25 feet by 20 feet, with a
shingle roof and built using redgum (most probably locally milled), the small
building quickly outgrew its congregation, and several additions and
modifications made during the 1800s and 1900s provided extra space and made the
building more functional.
In 1992, a new hall was added, thanks
largely to contributions from Briagolong resident Peter Mills and his sister
Margaret Marshall of Beechworth, with about 100 people attending its opening
and a full house at the evening service.
For decades, the building was the hub of
the community, abuzz with activities and community groups for old and young,
including Sunday school and the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union, the
oldest organisation within the Uniting Church.
Former Briagolong resident Betty Appleton
has many fond memories of the strong community spirit of Briagolong and the
central part the church played in early town life.
Mrs Appleton (nee Browne) was baptised at
the church when just a few months old, ran Sunday school services from 1950 to
53, was married there in 1953 and attended her daughter's wedding there in
1984.
"We had a choir at one stage with
about a dozen singers, and the congregation at its biggest got to around 30 to
40," she said.
"It held all the weddings and
funerals and community get-togethers, and there was always something
happening."
Long term parishioner Alice Mills laughs
about reading the minutes of one of the early meetings of the Presbyterian
elders, which documented a request by a young, new minister to replace the
church transport a traditional horse and jinker with a motorbike.
"He was told in no uncertain terms,
'no, you must have a horse and jinker to get around'," she said.
"That was the respectable mode of
transport expected for a Presbyterian minister at the time."
The Reverend Barbara Strickland, who has
held monthly services in Briagolong for several years, has welcomed all
parishioners from the Briagolong congregation to join the services at Stratford
Uniting Church.
Rather than see the move as the end of
something, Ms Strickland sees it as a new beginning.
"Most of those who worshipped at the
Briagolong Uniting Church who are able to will join us at Stratford, so it's
just a change, not an end," she said.
The Ministers
In 1849 the Church of Scotland was asked to
send a minister for Gippsland. Ten years elapsed before the Rev. Walter Robb
arrived, but he stayed only a year or so.
In 1854 the Rev. W.S. Login arrived and
held his first service at Bushy Park on 22nd January. Making his home in Sale,
he ministered throughout Gippsland.
In May 1865 the Stratford district was
separated from the Sale Parish and the first minister appointed to the new
parish was the Rev. J. Menzies who lasted but four months. Later that year the
Rev. John Roberts was appointed and ministered on a fortnightly basis at
Stratford, Briagolong and Valencia Creek one week and Strathfieldsaye, Delvine
Park and Yeerung on the other.
After a ministry of 32 years Mr Roberts retired
in 1897 and was succeeded by the Rev. Smith McBain from July 1897 to 1902. Later that year the Rev. F.G.H. Brady was
inducted. He resigned in 1913 to take up an appointment in Broome. W.A.
In September the same year the Rev. A.C.M.
Lusted arrived. While leading worship at Briagolong in 1915, the Manse, located
in Stratford, burned down and he resigned shortly after.
In 1916 a house opposite the Stratford
Church was purchased and renovated as the Manse for the new Minister. The Rev. J.P. McDougal arrived in 1917. He
was the first Minister to use motorized transport - a
Douglas Motor Cycle.
The next Minister, the Rev. John Watson
arrived in 1923 and was presented with the latest Single Seater Ford. Mr Watson
died in 1929 and was followed in February 1931 by the Rev. R.H. Noack who
stayed until 1935.
In October that year, the Rev. W. K.
Shannon began his ministry and is remembered for his spiritual leadership
during the darkest days of the Second World War.
The next appointment was the Rev. Stan Laity,
1951 to 1956. Then the Rev. Andrew Hope, 1957 to 1962. In l964 the Rev. John
Poon began his ministry, serving until his death in 1969.
The Rev. John Beautyman was inducted in
1970. He was followed in 1975 by the Rev. Martyn Hume, who, with ill health,
resigned before the end of the year.
In March 1976 the new Minister was the Rev.
Norman Cameron, who led the Presbyterians into the “Uniting Church in
Australia” in l977.
In 1986 Mr Cameron was appointed the
Minister at Rosedale in the Sale Parish. Then in 1988 the Rev. Murray Little
arrived and ministered until 1993.
The Rev. Don Kaus stayed for twelve months
in 1994 before transferring to the armed Services as a Chaplain.
In 1997 the Rev. Graham Bartley ministered
until he was appointed as a School Chaplain in Launceston in July 2003.
The next Minister came from Vanuatu, the
Rev. Tom Tali, in 2004, spending a year here before being appointed to Cobram.
The Rev. Ivy Goodwin ministered from April
2005 until she retired in 2011.
The present Minister, the Rev. Barbara
Strickland was inducted on 12th July 2012.
History
Top Plain, part of the Bushy Park Station,
was opened for settlement by an Act of
Parliament in 1865.
By 1871 a township was surveyed and named
Briagolong. Blocks were set aside for each of the three denominations
represented in the population, Church of England, Presbyterian and Roman
Catholic. Around the end of 1874 the Presbyterians erected an unlined hall of
red gum timber, 25 feet by 20 feet, which they purchased as pre-fabricated panels
from a local saw mill.
The first recorded Worship service was held in January
1875, led by the Rev. John Roberts. The official opening of the church was held
on 22nd April, 1875.
As this was the only church building in the
town, and with the Mechanics Institute being considered, by some people, to be
unsuitable for worship “because dances were held there”, other denominations
made use of the Presbyterian’s building. The Catholics until their church was
built in 1878, the Church of England until their church was built in 1908, and
the Methodists also, who never had a church of their own in Briagolong.
Over the years additions and alterations to
the building occurred. In 1876, the members, obviously finding it rather
drafty, decided to line the building. Then in the 1890s it was lengthened by 10
feet and a vestry added at the rear. The original porch was replaced in 1929
and in 1969 the vestry was rebuilt.
In 1976 the block was subdivided and in
1977 the vacant northern half was sold. On 22nd June, 1977, three denominations,
the Congregational, the Methodist and the Presbyterian Churches, entered into
Union, forming the Uniting Church in Australia. Also in 1977 a low platform was installed,
the pulpit moved from the centre to the right hand side and the Communion Table
placed in the centre.
From 1989 the Briagolong Primary School
rented the rear portion of the church block for their garden activities. In 1991 a hall, incorporating a kitchen and
toilet, was built behind the church.
In 2011, with declining numbers in the
congregation, services were reduced from fortnightly to one Sunday a month. In 2016 the Parish Council decided to
accept the recommendation from the Briagolong congregation to sell the church,
with the final service, a Service of Closure, to be held on Saturday, 29th
July, 2017.
So it is that 142 years of history, with
weddings, baptisms, funerals and Christian Worship has come to an end.
