Churches of Tasmania

Three Methodist churches have been built in the vicinity of Margaret Street: 1. A small wooden chapel on a brick and stone foundation which opened in 1837. 2. A brick church which replaced the original church in 1858. 3. A third church opened on Balfour Street in 1918 which was originally built as a Sunday school in 1889. The church on Margaret Street (1858) was converted into a Sunday school and hall in 1918. This article’s focus is on the first church built which was built in 1837 and was in use for just over 20 years. The earliest reference to the establishment of a Methodist church in Margaret Street is found in the minutes of the quarterly meeting of the Launceston Circuit in May 1836 in which it was “deemed desirable to have a place in which to hold religious services in the south end of town”. The history of the establishment of this church is set out in a lengthy article in the Launceston Examiner in 1939. The history was written by Reverend Lewis Barnard following early record

This is one of a series of articles that explores Tasmanian places of worship other than Christian churches. These buildings include mosques; synagogues; temples and gurdwaras. At least five religious denominations have established purpose-built places of worship in the Tasmania. A “Joss House” (or more correctly, a Guan Di Temple), was a term used to describe a Chinese temple or shrine which typically includes altars, statues, incense and other religious artefacts. The term "joss" is derived from the Portuguese word "deus", meaning God. In 19th century Tasmania Joss Houses were established at mining settlements with significant Chinese populations such as at Weldborough, Garibaldi; Lefroy and Beaconsfield. Until the 1870s Tasmania’s Chinese population was negligible. In the early 1870s a small number of Chinese miners arrived to work on the gold fields at Mathinna and elsewhere. In the mid 1870s the discovery of tin fields in the North East led to the arrival of a

Dodges Ferry is a small township on the eastern side of the entrance to Pittwater in south eastern Tasmania. It is situated about 40 kilometres east of Hobart. Dodges Ferry was named after Ralph Dodge (1791-1871) who operated a ferry service across Pittwater from the 1820s. ‘Southern Beaches’ is part of the South East Anglican parish which is comprised of Anglican communities at Richmond, Koonya, Sorrel and Dodges Ferry. The Southern Beaches community at Dodges Ferry worships in the Conference Centre at the Blue Lagoon Christian Camp. The Camp is operated by an independent, non-profit, public benevolent association and is supported by the Southern Tasmanian Evangelical Churches. Further information about the church and campsite can be found via the links provided below. Source: Blue Lagoon Facebook page Further information: https://www.southeastanglican.org.au/locations/southern-beaches/ https://www.facebook.com/SouthernBeachesSEA/ https://www.bluelagoon.org.au/

The focus of this article is on St David’s, Hobart’s first permanent church, which was elevated to the status of a cathedral in 1842. The church stood for a little over 50 years before it was demolished in 1875. The first formal religious service in Tasmania was conducted in 1804 by Reverend Robert Knopwood, chaplain to the settlement. Knopwood's sermon was, at the request of the Governor, upon "the prosperity of the new settlement, and to pray to God for a blessing upon it.” In the afternoon of the same day, a second service was held at Risdon. A large tent did duty as the first church then a Government workshop was used. On May 28, 1808, a Government Order was issued, intimating that Divine service would be performed every Sunday, at which the settlers were expected to attend. A small wooden church was erected in St David's burial ground, and beneath it Governor Collins was laid to rest in 1810. A storm destroyed the building a couple of years later. Services were then h

C3 Church Launceston is a part of C3 Church Global, a charismatic church founded by Phil Pringle and Christine Pringle. The first church was started in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney in 1980. C3 Church Global now has over 500 churches worldwide. The Launceston church was established in 2015. In September 2023 the church relocated from St Catherine’s Hall at Norwood to a converted warehouse on Merino Street at Kings Meadows. Further information about the church can be found in the links provided at the end of this page. The Launceston C3 Church on Merino Street, Kings Meadows. Photo:  realcommercial.com.au Links: https://www.c3launceston.com.au/ https://www.facebook.com/c3launceston

The Devonport Uniting Church operates from commercial premises on Forbes Street. The Forbes Street church opened in 2018 following the closure of the original Uniting Church (Methodist) on Steele Street. The closure of the Steele Street church was a consequence of the high cost of maintaining a heritage building. Many of of Tasmania’s historic churches face a similar challenge. The Uniting Church’s magazine ‘Crosslight’ reported the church’s closure as follows: “In his sermon, Rev Allan Thompson conceded that many attending the service would have mixed feelings knowing it was the last time the building was being used for the purpose for which it was built. But the purposes for which this sacred place was built can be fulfilled without this building. Indeed, the present congregation is committed to ensuring just that,’’ he said. “This is not the end of the Uniting Church in Devonport. This is not the closing of a congregation. The congregation continues to thrive, and it is committed to

C3 Church at Devonport is a part of C3 Church Global, a charismatic church founded by Phil Pringle and Christine Pringle. The first church was started in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney in 1980. C3 Church Global now has over 500 churches worldwide. Devonport C3 Church is based in the former Uniting Church on Steele Street. The Church website describes the origins of the church as follows: “C3 Devonport started 14 years ago in the home of pastors Brian and Sharon Webber before moving into Reece High School and on to rented premises, a converted Motors car maintenance workshop on the corner of Fenton and Parker Streets. The church called the sprawling site home for five years until the owners put the site on the market”. In 2018 the Uniting Church on Steele Street closed and was sold television chef Ben Milbourne who planned to use the site for his production company. The intervention of COVID brought an end to this enterprise and the building was then sold to the C3 Church. Th

Kingston is a large town located approximately 12 kilometres south of Hobart. The area was first settled in 1804 and was known as Browns River, after Scottish botanist Robert Brown, who had visited the area. The settlement was developed as a town in the 1830s which officially adopted the name Kingston in 1882. Kingston’s original Wesleyan-Methodist church was the first church of any denomination built south of Hobart. The Methodist cause was led by Jesse Pullen, who arrived in Hobart in 1822 as one of the colonies first Methodist preachers. In 1834 Pullen settled at Browns River where he worked as a blacksmith and acted as the local postmaster. The first Methodist services were held in Pullen’s home which was located at Browns River ford. In 1838 land for a church and cemetery was donated by local landowner James Firth. The site of the church was alongside Settlers Park Cemetery on the Channel Highway. On 7 December 1838 a small weatherboard chapel was opened and dedicated. It was bui

Black River is a location on the Bass Highway approximately 10 kilometres south east of Stanley. In the 1850s a settlement was established about a kilometre inland from the river’s mouth. Timber was processed at Black River and exported to Victoria. At its peak the settlement had a hotel, school, post office and two churches. Little is known about the establishment of Black River’s Wesleyan church. The only reference to this is found in a report of a Wesleyan District Meeting held at Launceston in November 1871. The report mentions that a “small wooden church” had been built at Black River in the Stanley District. Presumably the church had been built earlier in that year or in late 1870. Other information about the church is derived from a handful of newspaper reports published over a period of 30 years, a few of which are reproduced in this article. Services at the church seem to have ended shortly after 1900 and in 1911 the Mersey District Methodist Synod gave permission to sell the