Cambooya: a brief history

By “Hiding

the Lord,” they meant some of the congregation couldn’t see the priest’s actions at the altar during the Great Thanksgiving.

When the parish had five church centres, Cambooya was its geographical heart.

Because of this, many parish and town celebrations were held there.

Even now, the three denominations in Cambooya have this same sense of unity.

Four times a year, on the fifth Sunday, we still all meet together to worship, moving between the Anglican, Uniting, and Roman Catholic Churches.

But some things do not change. The Rev. Joseph Taylor, at his first Parish Council meeting in 1941, remarked on two things: the beauty of the parish’s churches and the parlous nature of the parish finances!

Drayton is an aging, yet enthusiastic and growing parish, but the beauty of our two main parish churches, St. Matthew’s in Drayton and All Saints’ in Cambooya, requires a startling amount of money to maintain.

Our vision for our communities on the Downs is to truly show the great love of God as we go out into these communities in the faithfulness and grace of Christ – just as it has been since Benjamin Glennie first came by horse to this “small and uncivilised” area of what was formerly part of the vast Newcastle Diocese. Originally published in Anglican Focus