Final goodbye: Bronwyn Bray, Wilma Black and Kaye Teague. Photo: Megan Fisher
Photo by
Megan Fisher
In a sign of the changing landscape in agriculture and regional Australia, another country church has closed for good.
Built by the hands of the congregation, Katandra West Uniting Church is closing its doors forever, much to the sadness of the few remaining members of its congregation.
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Wilma Black has been a part of the church since its inception in 1962, and marked its closure at a ceremony on Sunday, December 12.
Congregation numbers have dwindled over the years, to the point where the church could barely get a minster, having to often rely on lay preachers.
“We don’t have enough people to sit in the pews,” Ms Black says.
The only reason the lights had stayed on for the past 10 years was because some women from the Pine Lodge Church — which is also struggling with numbers — came to Katandra West to make up the numbers and brought along an organist for services, Ms Black said.
But eventually paying the stipend to the minister, the insurance payments, and the bills to keep the lights on became too much of a financial burden for the limited congregation.
According to Ms Black they couldn’t afford to keep it open any longer, so the congregation made the final decision in late 2020. However the closing ceremony was delayed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have decided to close, regretfully; we’ve had a number of active people in the community. We’ve had weddings and funerals and christenings and all of the usual things. It’s a lovely church,” she said.
Closing down: Katandra West Uniting Church.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Over the years people have retired from the closely settled farming community, moving their lives and worship to Shepparton. Others left the Goulburn Valley area completely. Others passed away.
“The same thing is going to happen with the other churches in the rural parish,” Bronwyn Bray, a sometime attendee of the Katandra West parish, said. “We don’t have young families come, it’s nothing like it used to be.”
The 50th anniversary of the church in 2012 saw a big turnout of people who used to attend the church, but who have since moved away.
“It’s a solid little church, and it’s got a lot of memories,” Ms Bray said.
Back in the day: Katandra West Uniting Church opening in 1962.
The church will be sold by Peter Cardamone Real Estate.
But its legacy isn’t over just yet; Katandra West has signed up to the Money for Mission fund, something that more small country churches are doing instead of haemorrhaging money on upkeep. By singing up for Money for Mission, the proceeds from the sale of the church stay in the local area for conducting mission work supporting disadvantaged members of the community and supporting other congregations.
The rich history of the church
The church used to be known as Katandra West Presbyterian Church, but became the Katandra West Uniting Church when the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches united and became one in June 1977.
“It involved a lot of people in the district, and there was great ambition to have their own church because they had shared services with the Anglican Church for 17 years,” Ms Black said.
At the time the Presbyterians and the Anglicans had been sharing services at the church for 17 years, so there was a strong ambition among many Presbyterians in the district for their own church.
The first foundation stone was laid by the church board secretary James Inglis on June 15, 1961. The Inglis family was a pioneering farming family that had been in the region since the 1800s.
The church was furnished for a total £4000, along with a lot of donated furniture. Ms Black remembers Helen Inglis, “the first lady elder”, and Mr Inglis’ sister, being persuaded to order a specially made carpet for the church from Scotland.
The carpet got held up at the ports in Melbourne, and in order to have the carpet laid in time for the opening of the church on January 28, 1962, former Shepparton councillor and trucking magnate Bill Bunter was convinced to drive all the way down to Melbourne to get the carpet back in time.
“Helen Inglis called the colour ‘Presbyterian blue’, I don’t know if that is right, but the carpet has stood the test of time; she would be pleased about that,” Ms Black said at the closing ceremony.
