No. 951 - Currie - Seventh Day Adventist Church

Currie is the largest town and administrative centre on King Island. The settlement at Currie began after the ship "Netherby" ran onto rocks, south of the harbour mouth in 1866, and was taken into the harbour for salvaging by Captain Archibald Currie. The harbour and later the settlement were named in his honour.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church was established in Tasmania in 1888. The denomination originated in the USA in the 1860s and in 1885 a group of Adventists travelled to Australia and began preaching in Melbourne. After a church group was established in Melbourne in 1886 members moved on to Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart. Public tent meetings were held in Sandy Bay in 1888 which led to the establishment of a church at Collinsvale and then Hobart and Launceston shortly after the start of the 20th century.

Currie’s Seventh Day Adventist church was established following a visit to King Island by members of the church in 1977. In 1978 ‘cottage meetings’ were held and soon after regular sabbath services were held in the local C.W.A Hall.

Between December 1981 and January 1982 the church was built by a “Fly ’n’ Build’ team over a three week period with use of local voluntary labour. In July 1982 the church was formally established with sixteen members and dedicated in a service led by Pastor R. Clifford.

Over the years the church suffered a serious decline in membership and permanent closure seemed inevitable. In 2014 a ‘Rescue Mission’ was launched to ‘save’ the King Island SDA church from ‘extinction’.  Five years of support with ministry from Victoria has enabled the church to survive and grow. 

 The SDA church at Currie. Photo credit: SDA King Island Facebook page 


Sources:

Australasian Record, November 13, 1982, Volume 87 No. 46, page 9

https://www.facebook.com/King-Island-Seventh-Day-Adventist-Church-SDA-210495686038959/

https://record.adventistchurch.com/2019/04/16/first-king-island-baptisms-for-24-years/

https://record.adventistchurch.com/2016/04/06/the-kings-island/






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