Our Church History The Westbourne Park Uniting Church started with a wood and iron building being erected in one day by 40 volunteers on 9 June 1913. Regular services were held in this building until 1925 when the present church was built. The first service was held in this building on 16th August, 1925 and this has become the anniversary day for the Church. The Sunday School was, and still is recognised as an important part of the church's work, and a hall was soon erected. Ten years later it was enlarged to its current size and named the John Shaw Memorial Hall after the late Rev John Shaw who had been the minister during the building of the church. The church congregation continued to grow in numbers over the years and still is one of the largest Uniting Churches in the State. The original church building was enlarged to include a new sanctuary and a pipe organ in 1938. Later, Sunday School rooms were built, the Jubilee Porch was added to the church and the buildings were linked together in 1968 with the Fellowship Hall. Through the years the vision and commitment of the people have kept this church strong and active. There are three well attended services held every Sunday, as well as Sunday School, Kids' Club, Youth groups, Fellowships, sports teams and a wide range of community outreach activities. During 1995, the church building was enlarged and developed to provide one centre for worship, freeing up the John Shaw Centre for community use such as craft groups, keep fit, seminars and many others. The new worship centre has proved itself already with its flexibility, making it an excellent venue for all forms of activity. Music in all forms has always been an integral part of the life of this Church, and during 1996 a new Pogson pipe organ was dedicated providing our church with one of the finest instruments of its type in Adelaide. David Paull has prepared a series of historical documents that give us a real feeling for how our church has grown over the years. I urge you to read them, not only for their historical value, but to see how some people have changed over the years! Enjoy! Note: these files require Acrobat Reader and will open in a new browser window. |