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1870
The Church of England Church and schools stand at the north-west angle of Market and Church streets. The church is 100 feet long, the east end being occupied by a large five-light stained glass window, one of the best in the country, inserted to the memory of Hrs. Elizabeth Rouse, who died on the 1st of March, 1863. The nave is lighted by eleven two-light windows in the side walls, and three at the west end, and is calculated to hold 46 adults; the choir is powerful, efficient, and in good practice. The way, however, in which children are allowed to gallop about the church at any other but service time, is not creditable to the authorities. The main entrance is through a partially erected tower on the south, the vestry being on the north1
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1892
1896
1905
6 September 1905
The churches of Mudgee are fine edifices, the clergy being as follows: Church of England, Archdeacon Dunstan2
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1907
1921
1931
29 June 1931
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH
NINETIETH ANNIVERSARY SERVICES
INTERESTING REMINISCENCES
ADDRESS BY HIS LORDSHIP BISHOP CROTTY
One by one the years have sped, till the 90th has come round, since the founding of the Church of England in Mudgee. Reaching such an important stage in its history the anniversary services at St. John the Baptist's, more familiarly referred to an St. John's' were worked with fervour and good will, and at the public gathering on Wednesday night the proceedings were remarkable for the good fellowship and the fervour John's,' were marked with His Lordship the Bishop of Bathurst, Dr. Crotty, gave an earnest and characteristic address.
The anniversary celebrations commenced on Wednesday with Holy Communion at 7 a.m., when there were a large number of communicants. His Lordship was the celebrant on that occasion, vested in cape and mitre, and was assisted by the Revs. Canon Parr, of Mudgee, E. J. Davidson, B.A. of All Saints' Cathedral, Bathurst, and the Rev. Robt. Samson. At this service a C.E.M.S. cross was dedicated by the Bishop.
At 10 a.m. Bishop Crotty, attended by Mr. A. W. A. Macarthur. Mr. Leslie Needham, and the Rev. R. Sansom, left by car for Wollar to conduct the anniversary service a C.E.M.S. cross was dedicated at Mudgee about 6 p.m.
CHILDREN'S SERVICE.
In the afternoon, at St. John's, a children's service in connection with the anniversary was held, when the Rev. E. J. Davidson was the officiating clergyman. In the course of a happy address to the children, Mr. Davidson made himself at home with them.
Despite the wet afternoon a very large number of children attended, accompanied in many cases by their parents. They were very pronounced in their responses and joined heartily in the singing of the Magnificat.
Commencing with the remark that texts were easily forgotten, the Rev. Davidson said he would give them one from the lesson he had read, 'She hath done what he could.' He then took the children in fancy to an old Abbey he had visited in England, said to have been founded in the time of William the Conqueror, and related a scene there where a strolling juggler went into a church to pray, all unseen as he thought. After his prayer he gave an exhibition of his juggling. At the close of his programme he found he was observed by the Abbot, who remonstrated with him. The man replied that he had no gifts to give to God, but the children were always pleased with his tricks, so thinking God would be pleased he had brought the only gift he had. That story, said the clergyman, was far removed from the one they had read in the lesson, where Mary Magdelene had anointed the feet of Christ, but in each case they had brought what they had and done what they could. Time, he said, was passing, and they were growing up. Soon they would begin to realise that they had gifts, and it was for them to remember that those gifts came from God, and they could do no better thing than offer them to God again. If gifted as singers, let them sing for God - if artists, let them work for God in the beautifying of the Church. Whatever their gift is given in sincerity, it would be acceptable to the great creator.
AT EVENSONG.
THRILLING SERMON BY BISHOP
The Church was filled, notwithstanding an inclement night following a day of rain, on Wednesday night, when evensong was celebrated, and Bishop Crotty delivered an earnest and thrilling sermon on the position of the Church as it stands to-day.
His Lordship took for his text the 19th chapter of the Book of Revelation, verse 14: 'And the armies that are in heaven followed Him.' In his opening remarks he conveyed greetings and felicitations for the clergy and laity of the Bathurst diocese, remarking that the occasion of the 90th anniversary festal was an occasion for retrospect and thankfulness, remembering the men and women of the past who had labored for the Church, and thankfulness to God, whose love and chastening and inspiration had brought them safely through as a Church from the long-gone-by days to the present time. Further, the festival should form the occasion for a fresh dedication of each to that great Christian witness, having faith in Christ to see them through the tremendous issues with which the future would be fraught. The witness for Christ and Church in this generation might entail great sacrifice.
He presented to them that night no pale-faced Nazarene, but a millitant Christ. He was there to sound a call to arms - to ring the alarm to spread a note of splendid mili-tancy. In the near future all that called themselves Christians would be put to the test. Our civilisation had reached a point where it could not survive unless it was fittingly redeemed. The time had come for Christians to battle for the soul of our country - to fight to maintain their traditions, religious and social, and unless they put up a stern fight the whole body of the Church would become but a corpse from which the soul had departed. Battles were ahead, but it was the King's business, and the King’s business demanded faith and service.
There was, said the Bishop, a new face at the window internationally and socially, and the future was pregnant with enormous, perhaps catastrophic, possibilities. A new order of things was coming which must be faced. If they could face it and Christianise it, it would save us. We were on the verge of a great social movement, and if Christians only knew how to seize it, there would be a new birth in the world, a renaissance unequalled in the world's history, but if it was not Christianised it would grind the world into dust.
The real battle lay in England and Europe, spreading to America and the East, and reverberating here. The first battle was one of diplomacy, a very complex affair which called for disarmament, not merely in army and navy, but in our economics as well. Only a living Christian statesmanship could save Europe, and unless it was saved the whole modern world would be involved. Secondly, there was the battle for religion and morality. That was not coming but was here now, a battle as to whether the government of human conditions was to be according to Divine Laws or by naturalism or humanism the teaching that was even now getting into the hearts and minds of the children, that a man could find within the four walls of his own personality all that he needed for his justification in whatever path he chose to follow.
Thirdly, there was knocking at Australia's door a battle that centred around a change in which the menace of socialism, in its extreme and godless forms, was all apparent. How long Australia could stave off socialism with a democracy that was ceasing to function was a question worth consideration. This socialism, in its extreme and godless form, was a challenge and a menace, because it might evolve a struggle for the reorganisation of human personality itself, for these forms of extreme socialism recognised neither God nor morality. With such a socialism Christianity could make no terms at all. The battle was on, and the Church must take its part. We were on the verge of the most disturbing movement in Australian history. First, politically, from which we could not escape by calling the opposition names. Democracy must govern or go. That was what the Australian people had to face. If they were democrats they should see that democracy grow if they did not want it to disappear. Secondly, industrially. The present economic system was toppling, killed by its own sheer weight, poisoned by acquisitiveness, driven on by the very machines which were the symbols of its existence to its end. The increase of machinery was increasing the armies of the unemployed. They had almost reached the point of saturation. They were travelling in a vicious circle and if they were to find a way out there was going to be a light. Christianity could not stand out of it, industrially, politically, in the home life, in all our loves and affections, Christianity must have its part. Christianity must be carried out in our fatherhood, our motherhood and our childhood. That was the Christian programme. He would not travel from Bathurst to tell them anything less, or to give them less than this great, throbbing programme. Each of them must get on with the war, or else make way for Communism. There must be a militant note in their Christianity, for the nation was on the verge of corruption, it was to be Christ or Marx; therefore he did not call them to a bloodless banquet, but to a stirring, sacrificial light.
And as the Church was to be at war it must work on military lines, from strong central positions represented by the churches, with lines diverging and converging in all directions, There must be discipline and loyalty to the Church's leaders. It was not a battle of sticks or stones, but a war of the spirit. They must learn that Christianity was not merely theory, but a great question put to them by life.
In conclusion, His Lordship said that in looking back over the Church's history they could see that a great cloud of witnesses had arisen, and of those witnesses they should be worthy. They could send one small answer to the Christian summons by showing in their lives and homes the evidence of its teaching, and giving thanks to God for being allowed to be members of the great white army of the red cross. At evensong the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were sung to the choral setting by Villiers Stanford, and the anthem, 'O Come Let Us Worship' (Mendolssohn), was rendered by the choir, Mr. J. C. Chivers being the soloist. Mr. Leslie Needham played a selection of organ solos prior to the service.
PUBLIC WELCOME.
The very large congregation at evensong, after the service, proceeded to the Memorial Hall to give a public welcome to the Bishop, and the building was soon filled to over-flowing. The gathering was presided over by the Rector, Rev. Canon Parr, who had on his right the Bishop, Dr. Crotty. The other occupants of the platform, which had been most simply but tastefully decorated by Miss McDiarmid, Matron Campey and Miss Peterson, were: His Worship the Mayor, Ald. R. D. Bawden; Cr. A. W. A. Macarthur, Shire President; Rev. H. S. Michie, Presbyterian Church; Rev. H. C. Howard, Methodist Church; Rev. K. Davidson, B.A., of Bathurst; Revs. Searle and Caldwell, of the Church of England, Coolah and Gulgong; and Mr. V. G. Cox.
Apologies for non-attendance were read timing the evening from Mr. A. J. Lowe, of Capertee; Mr. V. D. Cox, who had been called to Sydney, but who sent his son to represent the Cox family; Rev. R. Douglas, of Kandos; Rev. R. Richards, of Rylstone; Rev. Maconochie, Mr. Mason and Mr. Page, principal of the High School.
In making the 90th anniversary address, Canon Parr extended a hearty welcome to visitors, to His Lordship the Bishop, who had given him every encouragement, and to the visiting clergy.
The history of the Church of England in Mudgee, he said, went back to 1841; when the parish of St. John the Baptist was founded. In fact, in 1839, two years earlier, preparations were being made to lay the foundation of a visible spiritual settlement for the town and district, but it was 90 years ago that day, that a Church building on the site between the existing Church and Market-street, was consecrated by the Bishop of Australia, Bishop William Grant Broughton. The pioneer priest first incumbent was the Rev. James Gunther. Mr. Gunther arrived in the then colony In 1837 with the rank of Government Chaplain. His first appointment was assistant to the Rev. Mr. Watson at the aboriginal mission station of the adjoining town of Wellington, but on November 1st, 1843, Mr. Gunther received his permanent appointment to the Mudgee district, where he had made only monthly visits. It was interesting to note in the first Register of Baptisms, that a large number of persons, of various ages, were baptised on the opening day. The first name in the first Baptismal Register was that of 'Alfred,' son of Nicholas Paget and Ellen Bayly, the service being performed by 'W. G. Australia,' the episcopal designation or signature of William Grant Broughton, the first Bishop of, and for, the whole of Australia at that time.
That was as much in a somewhat abbreviated form that he had been able to gather from the records of the Church's foundation and dedication. Then in 1857-76, years later, it was recorded that the congregation had outgrown the old Church, and a meeting was held to enlarge it or build a new one. The Rev. James Gunther was in the chair and there were present: G. H. Cox, N. P. Bayly. Edward Bayly, G. Rouse, R. Lowe, J. T. Bell, N Blackman, H. N. Oliver and G. Arthur. It was decided to build a new Church, and G. H. Cox and N. P. Bayly were appointed trustees. The sum of £700 was promised in the room. Plans were prepared by Weaver and Kemp and the tender of James Atkinson was accepted for the sum of £600. A start was made with the building in 1858, and the existing parish Church was opened for Divine Service in 1860-71 years ago. The preacher at the opening service was the Rev. Thomus Kemmis, son-in-law of the Rev. James Gunther, and Rector of St. Mark's, Darling point, for many years.
They could not allow this 90th year to pass without mentioning the name of Bishop George Mer rick Long, who did so much for this parish in the way of reorganisation of the Trust property and management. They owed much to his memory for the help and advice he gave in renovations and reconstructions during the years 1921-1928. It was in the latter year he laid the foundation stone of the memorial hall, which still remains unfinished. That was his last official act in this Diocese, for the next day he left Mudgee to take up his work as Bishop of Newcastle, from which he was so suddenly called away during the sitting of the Lambeth Conference in 1930.
In conclusion, the speaker said: 'Let the dedicating and consecrating of ourselves go on, and let it go on unhindered. It is what we owe to the Glory of God and our further usefulness in the service of our fellowmen through membership of his Church. It is what we owe to that bright army of departed ones of the Bishops, Clergy and laity who laboured here so nobly.'
The Bishop, in expressing the joy he had to be with them, said he conveyed to them not only his own greetings, but brought a message of greeting and inspiration of the larger fellowship of the diocese of Bathurst. It was a wider diocese than they perhaps realised, stretching from just west of the Blue Mountains to beyond Bourke. He congratulated the parish on its attaining its 90th birthday, and reminded his hearers that they should be proud not only of their 90 years of Christian work, but of the fact that they were heirs to a godly heritage and members of a Church which numbered its millions.
Humorously Dr. Crotty referred to the bad day Canon Parr had picked for the festival, and detailed some of his experiences that day over wet and slippery roads. Part of his journey, he said, had been accomplished in a bread-cart, but he added that it was fortunate that they got through at all, and if they could say he came home with the bread it could not be said he 'came home with the milk.' The Bishop's humorous reference to the events of the day was provocative of much merriment on the part of the audience.
Continuing, he said he had heard sounded, two notes, and the first was one of encouragement which they drew from the past. From its small beginnings as outlined by Canon Parr the parish had grown splendidly. In those early days Australia had been one diocese, in fact it was previously an archdeaconery of the diocese of Calcutta - but now it was divided into four great provinces. They had reason to be proud of past achievements. To the clergy of other denominations he brought fraternal greetings, and trusted the churches would be used by God, and in increasing unity.
If from the past they could draw inspiration, they must carry forth a dynamic force for a greater future. When they looked at all that the Church stood for, both morally and spiritually, they must realise they needed a body of men who would stand firm for their faith. It would be glorious if, when the historian told the tale of these days, it could be said that in Australia's darkest hours, the Christian Church, with heart and voice, guided the nations into the paths of peace; that the Church of God stood for love and light when all around was hatred and darkness, that it stood for truth in the midst of lies, that it made for heaven out of the hell which threatened.
This was what lay before them. They should remember they were representing things of great import. They must not defer to the opinions of those who held the Church and the gospel of Christ lightly. They must stand for the right and all that was heft in humanity. They must put back into the Australian body the soul it had lost.
Mr. R. D. Bawden, Mayor of Mudgee, offered the congratulations of the citizens to the members of the Church of England on attaining the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the parish. He referred to the families identified with the early Church history, and said many of those men had also been identified with the civic affairs of Mudgee. The Church of England had reason to be proud of its past history, and they could face the future with an inspiration drawn from the actions of those who had striven in the past. On behalf of the citizens he joined in their rejoicings, and wished them all goodwill and prosperity in the future.
The President of the Shire, Mr. A. W. A. Macarthur, who had been on the momentous trip of the day in the company of the Bishop, had some humorous references to make in regard to the mishaps and misadventures, and gave a few more details or the crossing of Pipeclay Creek in a bread-cart. It was worth a photograph, he said, to have recorded the event, but they would not have seen the Rev. R. Sansom. because he was locked up inside with the bread. (Laughter). Referring to the Cudgegong Shire, Mr. Macarthur said it had an entire acreage of 3½ square miles, had a population of 5000 people, and within its borders were many parishes. On behalf of those outlying parishes of the Shire he desired to congratulate the parish of Mudgee. Mr. Mason, of Wollar, intended to have been there that night to speak for those outer parishes, but unfortunately was unable to come. So on their behalf, and of the whole shire he congratulated Mudgee on the 90th anniversary of its foundation as a parish.
Mr. V. G. Cox said he appreciated having the opportunity of saying a few words on that occasion. His great grandfather had been a member of the first Church committee of Mudgee, and on behalf of his family he offered congratulations. Looking at the great development which had taken place in the district since the early days, he thought the Church had kept pace with its progress. It lay with them not to rest too much on the progress of the past, but to see to it that they in their generation carried on the good work.
Mr. G. G. Ford, Rector's Warden, outlined the financial programme that lay before the Church. There was a debt on the Memorial Hall of £750, which must be wiped out by the end of 1932. He gave an idea of a scheme they had to raise £1250 by that time, so that the debt could be paid and very necessary class-rooms erected.
Mr. Cecil Roth, speaking for the Sunday Schools of the parish, in congratulating the Church on its anniversary, stressed the need for the co-operation of the parents in their work. They must keep in view the necessity of added Sunday School class rooms, as only those who had to teach know the difficulty they encountered in endeavoring to teach in the Church. He hoped when they celebrated their centenary these necessary buildings would long have been in use.
The Rev. H. S. Michie tendered congratulations on behalf of the Presbyterian Church. Speaking of the grave social dangers he said he had appreciated the Bishop's sermon that night. The world was faced with a choice between Christ and Karl Marx, between materialism and spiritualism, between hate and love. If they chose wrongly the nation would go down to the depths of hell. Speaking for the 50,000,000 who represented the Presbyterian Church, he said they would strive for unity with other churches for the good of their race.
The Rev. H. C. Howard, on behalf of the Methodist Church, expressed pleasure in congratulating the Church of England on its 90th Birthday in Mudgee, and acquiesced in the necessity there was for co-operation in the churches. Their fears for the cause of Christ would pass if the manhood of the churches stood together.
The Rector of Gulgong, Rev. Caldwell, and the Rector of Coolah, the Rev. Searle, added their congratulations.
Mr. A. Lance referred to the great help to the Church afforded by the Ladies' Guild and the C.E.M.S. He hoped that the movement for the unity of the churches would grow, for as had been said by one of their Bishops, the things that united the churches were greater than the things that divided them.
Mr. Champion moved a vote of thanks to all who had aided and assisted in any way toward the success of the festival, and this was seconded by Mr. Redmond, after which supper was provided by and presided over by the Ladies' Guild, the C.E.M.S., the members of the choir and the teachers of the Sunday School.
At the social musical items were rendered by Mrs. A. W. A. Macarthur, Mrs. Roy Roth, Mr. C. G. Madell, Mr. A. O. Williamson, and the Church choir, with Miss E. Thomas as soloist. Mr. Leslie Needham acted as accompanist.
THE CHOIR'S PART
The choir's part in the proceedings is deserving of special mention. The singing at evensong was a splendid effort, and the members of the congregation may well be proud of them. In the singing of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittus to the setting of Stanford they reached a stage of proficiency that was most commendable, and the anthem. 'O Come Let Us Worship,' was well rendered. The simple words of 'Now the Day If Over,' set as a part song, and given at the conclusion of the social, was very sweetly rendered4
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1970
21 January 1970
From one church spire to another.
This is part of the panorama of the Mudgee valley that opens up for workmen involved in the restoration of St. John’s Church of England.
However, Ken Hourne is more concerned with the scaffolding to be put into place than the magnificent view of St. Mary’s Catholic Church across the way5
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References