All Souls 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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the Diocese of Sydney. The church is located in the corner of

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada *Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

and Marion Streets,

Leichhardt, New South Wales Leichhardt is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leichhardt is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and is the administrative centre for the local government are ...

, Australia.

First building

The first All Souls' Parish Church was opened for public

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

on Saturday, 7 January 1882. The building and the land together cost £800.Home page, http://www.allsouls.net.au/About%20Us%20History1.htm

Current church building

Soon after the first building was opened, the first Rector of the parish Thomas Holme encouraged the parish to build a new and bigger church to house the congregation. The new church was designed by Blacket Bros. This is the architectural firm founded by

Edmund Blacket Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn. Arriving in Sydney from Engl ...

who was a prominent Anglican Church architect of the eighteenth century. The church is designed in the early English Gothic style. It has a simple brick façade with a tile roof and is finished with sandstone details. There is also a box shaped tower with a slender style spire which was built at a later time. The building is heritage listed as be notable for its landmark tower. The church's website describes the building is being "distinctively evangelical with its short sanctuary and lack of cruciform design". The first service in the new building was conducted on 2 February 1884.

In the news

The church came to notice in the media with its introduction of a "café" style church service in 2004. This was to accommodate the changing nature of the Leichhardt area since the post-war immigration of Europeans to Australia. Since World War II, the area has become known as the "Little Italy" of Sydney. The café service was there a natural extension of the café streetscape of the

Norton Street Norton Street is in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. It is located 5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the main commercial street in the suburb. Norton Street contains ...

. Later during the soccer world cup, the church posted a sign outside its building that read "Jesus saves better than Kalak". Later, another sign read "We're putting the mental back into fundamentalism." and then later "We're putting the fun back into fundamentalism".

Prominent members of Ministry

The Rev Dr Leon Morris, later New Testament scholar and Principal of Ridley Melbourne, taught Sunday School at the branch church of St Mark's Lilyfield as a young man in the 1930s. The Rev. Dr. Tim Foster was appointed in May 2002 and left in May 2009 to the role of Director of Ridley Melbourne. His replacement, announced on 7 June 2009, was Rev. Darren Hindle, a graduate of Sydney Mission and Bible College who has previously served at St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Kowloon, Hong Kong and St John's, Shaughnessy, Vancouver, British Columbia, and as Anglican Chaplain to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

Notable parishioners

* Thomas Chaplin Breillat, merchant and founder of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce.

References

External links

Anglican Diocese of Sydney website

New South Heritage Office
{{Anglican Church in Australia 1882 establishments in Australia Anglican church buildings in Sydney Anglican Diocese of Sydney Churches completed in 1882 19th-century Anglican church buildings in Australia