Churches of Tasmania

Latrobe is a large country town situated between the Bass Highway and the Mersey River. The first dwelling built on the town site was in 1836 and land sales took place some 20 years later. It was named after Administrator Charles LaTrobe, who was acting Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania for a few months (1846-7). Latrobe was once an important port town with boats operating from Bells Parade until the Mersey River silted up. Little information is available about this former Assembly of God church which was located 129 Gilbert street. Up until the early 2000s the Assemblies of God was still a significant religious denomination in Tasmania. The Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies provides the following review of the denomination: “Assemblies of God are made up of autonomous Pentecostal churches led by an elected state President. Pentecostals are distinguished by their belief in spiritual gifts, most notably 'tongues', prophecy and healing. They are generally characterised by con...

Rocherlea is an outer northeastern suburb of Launceston. The area was previously known as Rocher’s Lane, which was the location of Rocklands, a house built by Charles Rocher, a barrister of the Supreme Court. The suburb was developed in the 1960s with the construction of public housing. Rocherlea’s Full gospel Church is located in a former supermarket on Blackwood Drive. The church was established in 2013 and is associated with ‘Australian Christian Churches’, a movement of Pentecostal Churches in voluntary cooperation. Before 2007 ‘Australian Christian Churches’ was known as he Assemblies of God . The Assemblies of God in Australia was formed in 1937 and currently consists of over 1,000 churches with over 375,000 constituents, making it the largest Pentecostal movement in Australia.  

George Town is one of the oldest towns in Australia and is the second oldest town in Tasmania. It is therefore unusual that most of the town’s churches were only established after World War Two. The emergence of Launceston as the administrative centre of the North in the early years of the colony meant that George Town was destined to remain a backwater until more recent times. The construction of an aluminium smelter at nearby Bell Bay in the 1950s as well as the development of industry south of the town, accelerated George Town’s population growth in the post-war era. Cornerstone Family Church was founded in 1989 by Max Triebe and James Cloudsdale. Church meetings were initially held in ‘The Grove Restaurant’ on Sunday evenings. In 1994 the church purchased the Gordon Square Kindergarten and converted the building into a meeting place. In 2014 the church was extended after it acquired two adjoined demountable classrooms from St Patricks Primary school, Latrobe. In 2015 the original k...

Devonport was established in 1890 with the merging of two towns on the opposite banks of the Mersey River; Formby on the west bank and Torquay on the east bank. The area was first settled in the 1840s. The Gateway Church, also known as the “Don Centre”, is located on Don Road south west of the city centre. The church was previously located on George Street and has been active in Devonport for about 50 years albeit operating under different names. Gateway Church is a member of the Australian Christian Churches (ACC); the World Assemblies of God Fellowship in Australia. Gateway Church provides substantial support for the community through various associated charitable entities. Gateway Church's previous premises at George Street. Image credit: Halliwell Property Links of interest: https://www.gatewaychurch.net.au https://www.facebook.com/gatewaychurchdevonport/

Exeter is a small town approximately 25 kilometres north of Launceston on the junction of the Frankford and West Tamar Highways. It was once the centre of the Tamar Valley’s orchard industry. Exeter has three churches; a Methodist (Uniting) church, an Anglican church and a pentecostal church. The Tamar Valley Christian Church was established in 2012. It is a pentecostal church associated with the Bethesda Movement. Bethesda Ministries International was established in 1985 and has 14 associated churches across Australia as well as churches in India and the Phillipines. Apart from the Tamar Valley Christian church, two other Tasmanian churches belong to the Bethesda movement; one at George Town and the other at Scottsdale. *Update:  The Tamar Valley Christian Church is now associated with A2A Churches Australia. Additional information about this church is most welcome as all articles are continually updated. I can be contacted through this page or my Facebook page "Churches of T...

Rokeby is an eastern suburb of Greater Hobart which falls under the City of Clarence local government area. Rokeby was a small village until the 1970s when the State Government Housing Department established a large housing estate. The area is is named after "Rokeby House" which was built by George Stokell in 1830. Rokeby is a village in Yorkshire, England. The origins of the Grace Church date to 1958 when it was known as the Assembly of God. Around 2010 the church moved from Hobart to Mornington where rented premises were used as a place of worship for about five years. Services are currently held in the Performing Arts Centre at the Emmanuel Christian School at Rokeby.   In 2015 the Rokeby Tavern was purchased by the Grace Church. It is not used as a place of worship but has been transformed into a community meeting hub, as a gift by the church to the local community.  The interesting story of the pub’s renovation and conversion into a church is recounted in a program reco...

Risdon Vale is a suburb of Greater Hobart. It was built by the Housing Department in the late 1950s and it is also the location of the Risdon Prison Complex. The Christian Family Centre is associated with CRC Churches International, formerly known as the Christian Revival Crusade. This is a Pentecostal Protestant Christian denomination founded in New Zealand and Australia by Thomas Foster (Melbourne) and Leo Harris (Adelaide). The Christian Family Centre was established in 1979 In addition to regular Sunday worship the church is engaged in charitable work to support families in need through food relief and other practical support. It works with prisoners and the homeless to relieve their distress through the social and spiritual agencies of the Church. The church serves the Risdon Vale community and supports families and children of prisoners incarcerated in Risdon Prison. In 2016 the Christian Family Centre received a $50,000 community infrastructure grant from the Tasmanian Commun...

The historic colonial cottage located at 150 George Street Launceston was for a time used as a place of worship. After locating the building’s listing on the Tasmanian heritage register, I assumed that it was originally built as a chapel and later converted into a house. The register’s statement of significance notes that the building is an “early colonial cottage with previous residential and religious functions”. It is also states that the building was “originally used as a chapel”. However, the cottage’s status and function as a chapel is in fact relatively recent. The Launceston Examiner’s 1976 publication, “History in Trust”, a collection of newspaper articles on the city’s historic buildings, is a useful source of information about the building’s origins and use: “The land in this part of George Street…was granted to Geoffrey Eager, who arrived in Launceston in 1830….William Lachlan Jordan bought the land from Eager in 1834 and built the house, recently known as the Georgian Cha...

Blackstone Heights is an outer western suburb of Launceston built on the Blackstone Tier after which the suburb is named. The South Esk River flows along its western side and Lake Trevallyn on the northern end. Blackstone Heights is one of Launceston's newer suburbs. The Blackstone Christian Centre is associated with CRC Churches International, formerly known as the Christian Revival Crusade, is a Pentecostal Protestant Christian denomination founded in New Zealand and Australia by Thomas Foster (Melbourne) and Leo Harris (Adelaide) Previously known as City View Christian Church, the Blackstone Christian Centre is located on Neptune Drive. Photograph - Duncan Grant 2019 Sources and Links of Interest: https://crcchurches.org/churches/59-blackstone-christian-church-blackstone-heights-tas https://crcchurches.org

New Norfolk is a large town on the banks of the Derwent River approximately 40 kilometres west of Hobart. It is a historic town with its origins dating back to 1806. There are seven active churches in New Norfolk; of these perhaps the most unusual building is the ‘Energizer Church’ located on Circle Street. At first glance it would appear that the church is a converted commercial building. A photograph of the church taken in 1995 shows a large cross on a tower-like structure above the building, suggesting that it may have been designed as a church or hall.  However it was in fact a former fire station built in the 1940's.  When New Norfolk's fire station moved to Back River Road, the building was acquired by the church and converted into a hall. The building has since been extended and a modern church hall is located at the rear. The Energizer Church was previously known as the Derwent Valley Christian Church. The church identifies itself as pentecostal. Additional informa...

Ravenswood is a suburb north of the city of Launceston. The area is probably named after the farmstead ‘Ravenswood’ which was established in the 1830’s. Over a period of 160 years eight places of worship have existed at Ravenswood. In recent times this has been reduced to three churches, one of which is the Ravenswood Revival Centre. The Revival Centre is a part of Revival Centres International, a pentecostal church which back to 1948. Most pentecostal churches have fractious and complex histories of schisms and this is also true of Revival Centres International. The movement which was founded by Lloyd Longfield has grown into an international church with its headquarters in Melbourne and has centres in 22 countries. Over the years we’ve been known as Revival Centres of Australia, Revival Centres International, and more recently Revival Centres Church. The Church has a strong emphasis on the need to show evidence of glossolalia or "speaking in tongues”. Revival Centres do not aff...

Scottsdale is the largest town in north-east Tasmania. It is named after the Government Surveyor, James Scott, who explored the region in the 1850’s. Scottsdale is viewed as part of Tasmania’s Bible belt. With 10 places of worship in a town with a population of a little over 2000, perhaps there is something to this perception. The Hilltop Christian Church, which is literally is perched on a hill at the highest point in town, is a relative newcomer to Scottsdale. It is a pentecostal church, with roots in the Bethesda Movement and now part of Bethesda Ministries International, with 13 associated churches across Australia as well as churches in India and the Phillipines. Apart from the Hilltop Church, there are two Tasmanian churches forming part of the Bethesda movement; one at George Town and the other at Exeter. Like many pentecostal churches, the churches are often not purpose built but converted from buildings designed for other purposes. Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019 S...

The Legana Christian Church is a pentecostal church founded in February 1987. It was originally associated with the Assembly of God. In 1991 land for a church was bought at Legana to build a church. The building was partly constructed from material from the former Charles Street Primary School in Launceston. The building was completed December 1995 and officially opened in August 1996 as the Legana Assembly of God. In 2003 the name was changed to the Legana Christian Church. In 2010 the church ‘realigned’ from the Assemblies of God to ‘Christian Life Churches International’. Christian Life International subsequently became known as ‘Acts 2 Alliance’. Acts 2 Alliance Australia is a movement of churches across Australia where each church is committed to the values found in Acts chapter 2 which has a strong emphasis on making disciples. Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019   Photograph: Duncan Grant 2019 Sources: https://legana.org/about-legana/ http://www.a2a.org.au ...