Centenary season at Epping

Judy Adamson

We aren’t surprised when churches in the city, or other centres of the early European colony like Parramatta and Windsor, celebrate major milestones. They have, after all, been around for a long time.

Amid the “big” history of these places, suburbs like Epping tend to go under the radar. But residents of Epping (formerly East Carlingford) have had Anglican services for 132 years and held them in a church building for 127 of those years.

Next month, parishioners past and present will gather to give thanks for the centenary of their second church, while at the same time rejoicing in everything that has gone before.

“Every generation needs to make a contribution for the next generation, and we have some great facilities here thanks to the sacrifices previous generations have made,” says Epping’s rector, Bishop Ross Nicholson. “This centenary recognises all that generation did and the vision that they had.”

And previous generations have done a lot at Epping. Parish archivist, Brian Haywood, says the impetus to build the suburb’s first church in the late 1800s came from local residents, who had been worshipping in a timber hall one of their members had built on his property. By 1895, however, this space was at capacity so a building fund was established and, impressively, the first St Alban’s church opened the following year.

As ministry continued into the 20th century and Epping became a busier place, parishioners decided that a larger church was needed. As before, construction was quick and efficient: six months after the laying of the foundation stone on June 16, 1923 by Archbishop Wright, the new St Alban’s opened its doors. And be reassured, the original church isn’t ignored: it stands next to its younger sibling and is still used as a parish centre and office.

Long-term parishioner Peggy Sanders refers to 2023 as the “year of centenaries”, because not only will members of St Alban’s celebrate 100 years since the foundation, building, dedication and opening of their current church, they will also mark the centenary of their church magazine.

“The first edition of The Parish Magazine was published in

October 1923,” she says. “[It’s] still going strong and we are rightly proud of its long, continuous history, and the fact that it is very widely read here and overseas.

“To achieve all that in the one year – really half a year – we think is pretty remarkable.”

Bishop Nicholson, while happily celebrating the history of the parish, is also rejoicing in what is happening now.

“COVID knocked a lot of churches around, but in the past six to nine months we’ve had new families coming along every single week... and many of the newcomers have been from the Subcontinent,” he says. “We’ve also started a new service at 4.30 on Sunday afternoon and, in the next little while, we’re looking at starting an international church at the same time as our regular morning service, which will meet in the hall and stream the sermon in. It’s an exciting time.”

St Alban’s plans to mark its centenaries next month with choral evensong on Friday, June 16, followed by supper. The preacher will be a former parish organist, the Rev Dr Daniel Dries, now rector of Christ Church, St Laurence. On June 18, the guest preacher will be the rector of Manuka in the ACT, the Rev Canon Dr Ben Edwards – also a former organist at St Alban’s –with a parish lunch to follow. SC

To inquire about the events, phone 9876 3362 or email office@ eppinganglicans.org.au . Those wishing to attend the supper and/or lunch need to book and pay at www. trybooking.com/CHIRI by May 31.