No. 388 - The Ulverstone Church of Christ

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In the 1870s the Church of Christ arrived in Tasmania and established itself first in Launceston and Hobart. Initially the denomination was simply known as the ‘Christians' then from 1885 as 'Disciples of Christ' and finally as 'Churches of Christ'. The Churches of Christ developed numerous congregations across the north of the Tasmania but especially in the north-west.

Church of Christ meetings were held at Sulphur Creek from 1898 and at the Rechabite Hall at Penguin from January 1905. By the end of that year a church was established at South Road about two miles outside Penguin, on the road to Ulverstone. The church was built by Mr Robert Hutton on his own property and opened on Sunday 24 December 1905. [See No. 376]

The establishment of a Church of Christ community in West Ulverstone in 1908 meant that the majority of the church’s members were located some distance from the South Road church. Services were held in homes at Ulverstone and although worshippers occasionally travelled to the South Road Church. It was inevitable that the South Road church would eventually close and it did so in 1920 when the wooden building was removed at reopened at Queen Street in West Ulverstone in March 1921. 

Over the years the old weatherboard church was renovated and extended. In 1959 a hall was built and attached to the rear of the church. However the continued growth of the congregation made the construction of a larger modern church inevitable. In 1971 the old wooden chapel was demolished after a final service held on the 23rd of May of that year. A new brick church was constructed using voluntary labour and opened on 14 April 1973.
 The original Church of Christ at Ulverstone which was demolished in 1971. The building was previously located at South Road. Photo: Libraries Tasmania item no. LPIC108/1/86


Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019
 
Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019

Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019




The old South Road church at the Queen Street site - West Ulverstone.  The new church was build on the land to the left of the store - Source: Courtesy of Craig Broadfield - posted on the Ulverstone & District Pictorial History Group Facebook page - 21 May 2014

 Sources:

 Advocate, Wednesday 2 March 1921, page 2

Advocate, Monday 21 March 1922, page 2

 Ellis, Bruce Ulverstone : an outline of its history. B. Ellis, Ulverstone, Tas, 1988.



Comments

  1. David Melhuish20 October 2022 at 01:11

    Church now closed, I believe 2020, now located 26 Leven, Ulverstone.

    ReplyDelete

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