St Barnabas Anglican Church, Broadway, is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in the Diocese of Sydney,

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, Australia. The church property is located on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, near the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

. Commonly called "Barneys", the church is well known in Sydney for its church signs, including a celebrated "battle" with the publican across the road. The church would put up one sign and the hotel would have another with a witty reply to the church's sign. Some of the signs attracted the attention of the Sydney media.

Arthur Stace Arthur Malcolm Stace (9 February 1885 – 30 July 1967), known as Mr Eternity, was an Australian soldier. He was an alcoholic from his teenage years until the early 1930s, when he converted to Christianity and began to spread his message by ...

, the "

Eternity Eternity, in common parlance, means Infinity, infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas ...

" man, was a member of the church.

History

Built by

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

labourers in the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

region of Sydney, the foundation stone for the building was laid in 1858. Much later, some of the land in front of the church was sold and became the site of a commercial building in the Beaux-Arts style.

2006: fire and destruction

A fire ravaged the church building at 3.30 am on 10 May 2006. It took firefighters around eight hours to completely contain the fire. Destroyed in the fire were a 100-year-old

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

, a historic

stained-glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window (valued in the media at over a million dollars) and memorials to parishioners who died in World War I. The investigation concluded that the fire was probably started at the power box. No accelerants were found, indicating that arson was not a cause.

2010: demolition of old church building and rebuilding

The old church building was demolished in 2010 and the new building, designed by Sydney architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, was opened in June 2012. The new church building also houses a social community centre and creche. It was awarded a High Commendation (buildings of religion) at the 2013

World Architecture Festival The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony, one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industry. The first four events were held in Barcelona, from 2008 to 2011, at which p ...

in Singapore and the 2013 International Architecture Award.

Ministry

The senior minister since 2010 is the Reverend Mike Paget. Other senior ordained staff include Jason Cheng, Erica Hamence and Rhys Duggan. St Barnabas' also employs a music director, Steve Crain, and a substantial ministry team. Previous ministers at the church include: * Ian Powell, evangelist *

Robert Forsyth Robert Charles Forsyth (born 8 June 1949) is an Australian Anglican bishop who served as the Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, a region of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, from 2000 to 2015. Before this he was the rector of St. Barnabas, Broadway ...

, Bishop of South Sydney * Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney * Paul Barnett, Christian scholar, historian and bishop * R. B. S. Hammond (started the tradition of the church's sign) * Howard Guinness, student ministry pioneer (related to

Arthur Guinness Arthur Guinness ( 172523 January 1803) was an Irish brewer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. The inventor of Guinness beer, he founded the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in 1759. Born in Celbridge, County Kildare around 1725, Guinness ...

, founder of

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

Beer) * W. A. Charlton

"Eternity"

, a member of the congregation, attracted attention for writing the word "

eternity Eternity, in common parlance, means Infinity, infinite time that never ends or the quality, condition, or fact of being everlasting or eternal. Classical philosophy, however, defines eternity as what is timeless or exists outside time, whereas ...

" in chalk on the streets of Sydney from the 1940s through to the 1960s in a distinctive copperplate style. "Eternity" was featured on the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

during the 2000 New Year's celebrations. A documentary about Stace, called ''Eternity'', by Lawrence Johnston was released in 1994.

Battle of the signs

R. B. S Hammond began the weekly ritual of the St. Barnabas

message board An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

. His witty and often thought provoking messages were what made St Barnabas famous. Some include; "Drink and trouble are like petrol and fire", "Alcohol makes your mind stagger long before your feet do", "Do not nurse a grievance, teach it to walk" and "Divorce is the hash we make from domestic scraps". Continuing on the tradition was Robert Forsyth, who found that he had competition from Arthur Elliot, publican of the nearby pub, Broadway Hotel. The two noticeboards would often display subtle wordplay. Here are some of them:Signs of the times: Photo gallery from the Sydney Morning Herald
- including some church signs * St Barnabas: "This church is for sinners" ** Broadway Hotel: "This pub is for drinkers" * St Barnabas: "Money does not make you happy" ** Broadway Hotel: "I'd rather be rich and happy than poor and happy" * St Barnabas: "God made sex for marriage not for money" ** Broadway Hotel: "Wish he had made money for marriage" * St Barnabas: "Free Grace brothers and sisters" (St Barnabas was next to a

Grace Brothers Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were re ...

store) ** Broadway Hotel: "Free David Jones too" (referring to another Australian department store) * St Barnabas: "The best things in life aren't things" ** Broadway Hotel: "Things are not all what they seem to be" Nowadays and perhaps somewhat ironically, after some services, particularly the later services, parishioners share fellowship with each other at the pub opposite St. Barnabas.

Gallery

File:SLNSW 479581 78 St Barnabas s Church SH 712.jpg, Church in 1872 File:BurntOut.jpg, Church the morning after the fire File:(1)St Barnabas Church Broadway Sydney-2.jpg, Some of the remains of the old church

References

External links

*
Anglican Diocese of Sydney

St Barnabas Broadway Soccer Club

Newly rebuilt St Barnabas Church on Broadway reopened – Daily Telegraph

*

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] {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnabas Anglican church buildings in Sydney Churches completed in 1858 Buildings and structures demolished in 2010 Destroyed churches in Australia Former churches in Australia Demolished buildings and structures in Sydney Churches completed in 2012 Anglican Diocese of Sydney 21st-century Anglican church buildings 1858 establishments in Australia 19th-century Anglican church buildings 19th-century churches in Australia 21st-century churches in Australia