Background
Prior to 1978, the area now known as St Clair
- Erskine Park was rural land within the boundaries of the Parish of St Marys
with the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Great Western Highway at St Marys.
In 1978 the Lands Commission of the NSW Government began to develop and sell
blocks of land in what is now known as St Clair. This was followed by the
release of land in Erskine Park forming two new suburbs within the St Marys
Parish.
A plan for the future
In 1979 the first
houses were built at St Clair. By 1980, four families from St Clair attended
church at St Marys and had established the first home group in the St Clair
area. Three of these began to have discussions together with the ministry group
at St Marys to formulate a plan to bring the gospel to St Clair and establish an
Anglican presence on the estate.
A 10 year plan for the area entitled
the "St Clair Plan" was finalised and circulated in March of 1981. In September
of that year John Saddington, curate of the St Marys church, relocated to a
rented house in St Clair. As yet all formal services were held at St Mary
Magdalene church.
During 1982-3, six adjoining blocks of land were
purchased on the current church site in St Clair. This purchase was only
possible because the St Marys parish sold the curate's house in St Marys and a
block of land in Erskine Park.
Building a
presence
Building of the current Minister's house in St Clair then
commenced with much of the work done by members of the parish. The Venerable
Walter Newmarch dedicated the building for Christian ministry on the 25th
September 1983. John and Maggie Saddington with their family were the first to
live in the new building. Regular weekly services started on the 23rd of October
1983. A combined service was held at St Mary Magdalene once per month. Before
other Sundays, John and Maggie packed away the entire contents of their living
room, including furniture, and set up for the Sunday service. Then after the
service, they could restore their living room. A tent was set up for Sunday
School. During 1983 it was suggested that the proposed church should be called
"The Anglican Church of the Risen Christ".
During 1984 the building up of the housechurch went on. By March,
36 people were meeting in the housechurch. The combined services with St Mary
Magdalene were reduced to quarterly. Three wardens were appointed from St Clair
to the St Marys parish council. During this year the building of the current
garage was made possible due to donations, and this building was used for the
Sunday School.
During this period, St Matthews at West Pennant Hills
gave financial support towards the salary of John Saddington. On the 17th of
October 1985, approval was given by Vision for Growth to provide a grant of
$200,000 and also a non-interest load of $75,000 to construct the church
building in St Clair. Vision for Growth was set up by the Sydney Diocese to
raise and distribute money for church planting in new suburbs.
Ten years
later, due to on-going financial problems at St Clair, the Sydney Diocese wrote
off the remaining portion of the Vision for Growth loan. The Wardens at the time
wrote "We are keen not to presume upon others generosity - so we intend, as we
are able, to be a parish that returns to others the generosity extended to
us."
Due to the larger scale of the building, work such as foundations,
steel framework and brickwork was done by a builder. Still much of the work was
carried out by the church members including all of the electrical
installation.
On completion, Archbishop Robinson opened the church
building on the 7th of December 1986. From that day onwards, regular church
service has been held here.
Becoming a Parish
By 1988, thoughts had turned
to becoming a separate parish of our own. A letter from the St Clair wardens to
the Archbishop in August proposed that St Clair be made a provisional parish.
The following reasons were given for the change:-
- The number of members with links to St Mary Magdalene was now minimal and
the freeway resulted in a sharp division of St Clair from St Marys.
- If St Clair were a parish, a minister would be at St Clair for a longer
period than a curate, giving greater stability.
- It would allow St Marys to use its limited resources on its historical area.
- It was considered that St Clair would be financially viable.
At the end of 1988 John Saddington moved to be the Minister at Avalon and
Wayne Presbury was appointed Assistant Minister of St Marys with special
responsibility for St Clair. The church was informed in October that the Synod
had approved that St Clair should be made a provisional parish operative from
the 1st November 1989. Wayne Presbury was appointed curate-in-charge of the
newly formed Provisional Parish of St Clair.
Up to the present
Since 1988, the church has gone on with
its highs and lows. In May 1997 Stephen Hooper replaced Wayne Presbury as
Minister. For most of the period since 1989, an assistant minister has worked
alongside the minister. This was made possible by an annual grant, first from
the Home Missionary Society and then from the Western Regional Council. The
Assistant Ministers over the years have been Barry Costello, Denise Nicholls,
and Richard Heape. However, by the end of 1999, the Western Regional Council
felt that they could no longer continue the grant at the same level and so, in
2000, Scott and Debbie Tarrant were appointed as Student Ministers to work on
Sundays only.
While the church was still meeting in the minister's home, Peter and Terry
Blowes became our CMS link Missionaries. We have been supporting them throughout
their entire ministry in Argentina.
As a footnote, which Minister was in such a hurry, he put out buttered bread
for the Lord's Supper? I'm not telling.
Colin Smith. August 2001.