Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, a Union Church is a

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

owned and maintained by a local

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

and available to multiple denominations. Such churches were once common in rural areas. Some were available to all denominations and even to other religions, others specified particular beliefs, such as the

Nicene Creed The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...

. Many still exist and are in regular use.

Existing Union Churches

New South Wales

Araluen Union Church

There is a Union Church at Araluen. It was built, in 1911, on land donated by William Mundy, on the condition that the building could be used by any denomination. It is used currently for Anglican and Uniting services on alternating weeks.

Caloola Union Church

In Caloola, New South Wales, this is still maintained by a Trust, and has a historic cemetery. It opened and was dedicated in 1865. As of 2021, four interdenominational Sunday services are conducted each year, with clergy from several denominations attending each.

Meroo Union Church

Mangrove Mountain Union Church

Moonan Flat Union Church

The Union Church in the village of Moonan Flat, in the Upper Hunter Valley, New South Wales, is used for Anglican and Uniting Church services.

Neurea Union Church

The small Union Church at the locality of Neurea, south of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, is currently in recess, but not officially closed.

Queensland

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, union churches are often titled using words such as "non-denominational", "undenominational", "united" and "community". * Caboonbah Undenominational Church * Purga United Church *

United Welsh Church, Blackstone United Welsh Church is a heritage-listed Union Church (Australia), union church at 6 Thomas Street, Blackstone, Queensland, Blackstone, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Samuel Shenton (architect), Samuel Shenton and bu ...

* Community church, Mount Mee * Hemmant Christian Community Church * Ravenswood Community Church

Historic Union Churches

New South Wales

Awaba Union Church

There is a small disused Union Church building at

Awaba, New South Wales Awaba () is a town and locality in the City of Lake Macquarie, Greater Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, inland from Toronto. The name Awaba is of Aboriginal origins, and means "flat or plain surface", referring to Lake Macquarie. Hist ...

Beckom Union Church

There is a disused Union Church building in the village of Beckom.

Brocklesby Union Church

The building that was formerly the Union Church, at

Brocklesby __NOTOC__ Brocklesby is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south from Habrough, south-west from Immingham, and is located close to the border of both North Lincolnshire and North ...

is now privately owned.

Burraga Union Church

There was a Union Church at

Burraga Burraga is located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, 47 kilometres south west of Oberon and about south of Bathurst. It is within Oberon Shire. At the , Burraga had a population of 91. History Aboriginal and early settler hi ...

Cooks Myalls Union Church

There is a Union Church at the locality Cooks Myalls, north-west of

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

, It is probably disused.

Craven Union Church

The building that was formerly the Union Church, at the locality of Craven, south of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, is now privately owned.

Girilambone Union Church

A Union Church was opened at Girilambone, New South Wales, in January 1913. It was in use until at least the mid 1930s.

Glen Alice Union Church

There is a Union Church building at the small settlement of Glen Alice. Its status is uncertain, but it was in use in 2014.

Glen Innes Union Church

The building that was formerly the Union Church at Glen Innes is now privately owned.

Gulgong Union Church

The first church in

Gulgong Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands and the wider Central West regions of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is situated within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is locate ...

, New South Wales was a Union Church, built around 1870. It was a pole and bark building that stood in Medley Street, probably opposite where the Memorial Hall stands today. After the various denominations built their own churches, the building was used, for a time, as the town's Catholic school.

Larbert Union Church

There was a Union Church building at

Larbert, New South Wales Larbert is a locality in the Queanbeyan-Palerang Region of the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales. It lies mostly north of the Kings Highway between Bungendore and Braidwood where it crosses the Shoalhaven River. At the , it had ...

, from around 1878 to some time in the 1970s. All that remains are its steps, foundations and the adjoining cemetery.

Marrangaroo Union Church

The heritage-listed stone building at Marrangaroo, was once a Union Church. It was opened in 1897, by Joseph Cook. Half the iron for the roof was donated by Lithgow ironmaster,

William Sandford William Sandford (26 September 1841 – 29 May 1932) was an English-Australian ironmaster, who is widely regarded as the father of the modern iron and steel industry in Australia. Early life in England Sandford was born at Torrington in ...

. Title was ceded to the Anglican Church, in 1972, and it continued to use the building until around 1980. In 1983 the building was used as a library block for the Gateway Christian School. It reopened as a church, 'Marrangaroo Prayer Chapel', from 1989 to 1997''.'' It is now privately owned.

St John's Union Church, Running Stream

There is a now disused Union Church, with a small cemetery, at the locality of Running Stream, off the Castlereagh Highway to the south of

Ilford, New South Wales Ilford is a village in New South Wales, Australia, beside the Crudine River within the Mid-Western Regional Council. It is located on the Castlereagh Highway (locally referred to as the 'Sydney Road'), about 220 kilometres north-west of Sydney ...

. It opened in 1906, although it seems that the associated cemetery predates the church building.

Turill Union Church

The building that was formerly the Union Church at the locality of Turill, south-west of Cassilis, is now privately owned.

South Australia

Renmark West Union Church

Made from the union of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches. The Church began operating in June 1918 in the Renmark West School with Rev. E. W. Sanders (Methodist) and Rev. A. E. Francis (Congregational) and built their own Church on donated land, starting on November 6, 1919 and opened on October 31st, 1920. The Church continues operating today under the Uniting Church of Australia and celebrated its Centenary in November 2019. Services are conducted by the Renmark/Loxton resident Minister every Sunday at 8:30am.

References

{{reflist Union churches in Australia