It’s a big birthday for Wauchope Presbyterian Church this weekend, as Minister Peter Huxley explains:
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In 1865 at Duncan Bain’s home and under the fig trees that are still beside the Beechwood Road there, the first Presbyterian Church services in the Wauchope district were held.
That first service was said to have begun in the morning and finished near sundown. A lot of water has passed along the river and under the bridge since then.
The current Wauchope Presbyterian Church building at 30 Bain Street is now 30 years old. A celebration to mark this milestone is being run by the current Church and you are invited to it.
Perhaps you were involved in it’s early days. Perhaps you went to Sunday School or Youth Group in this building when you were younger. Perhaps your kids have gone to it for Kids Club or Waffle or Prime Time or RAGE or Thrive. Perhaps they come now.
Then feel free to come to the celebrations and join in the fun and the praise to God. It would be great to have you come to our family fun night on Saturday May 20. It will start at 5.30 pm. There will be a free dinner, games and activities for the kids and some reminiscing and fellowship for the adults.
The following morning the Church service is to be one of thanksgiving to God. Please come to it.
In the late 1970s, early 1980s, there was no Presbyterian Church meeting in Wauchope. And certainly no building to meet in. It had all been closed down.
The Presbyterian Church of the day had decided to unite with the Methodist Church and become the Uniting Church. The previous building on High Street, approximately where the Shell petrol station is now, had been demolished and sold by the Uniting Church. They had no need of two buildings in Wauchope.
However, a small group of people saw the opportunity to re-establish a renewed Presbyterian Church. They believed that this was what God was calling them to and so they started meeting as a Church.
They eventually also purchased a block of land with a house on it at 30 Bain Street. This is where they built this latest building, using Trevor Lindsay as the builder and contributing their own sweat, money and effort into the many peripheral tasks. This building has served the Church well.
The congregation has known its up and downs over that 30 years. Today about 100 people are a part of the congregation.
It runs a playgroup, a club for primary school aged children, a youth group, a women’s group and four Bible studies. Of course, there are both adults and kids worship services.
It is the head church for other smaller Churches in the hinterland such as at Rollands Plains. It is a thriving, active, inter-generational, God-honouring group of people who are thankful for what He has done for them.
If you would like more information about the celebrations, or to let us know that you are coming to the family fun night on May 20, then you can contact me, Peter on 0427 813 496 or via the Church email wauchpc@bigpond.com