General News
17 February, 2022
Woorndoo church holds final service
WOORNDOO Uniting Church held its last service on Sunday after members of the congregation made the difficult decision to disband.
WOORNDOO Uniting Church held its last service on Sunday after members of the congregation made the difficult decision to disband.
The St John’s Uniting Church had served as a place of worship in Woorndoo for 118 years, but the church held no services during 2021 due to the pandemic, and members voted to disband on July 11, 2021.
The decision was cited in the annual report 2021 due to declining numbers, people getting older, ongoing maintenance and the necessity of very few people needing to remain very committed.
“The COVID-19 restrictions illuminated our fragility,” the report stated.
The final service was led by Uniting Church Hopkins region Reverend Geoff Barker, who has been leading services in Woorndoo for almost a decade.
“It is sad but the time has come,” he said.
“I think it feels like the right time. People have thought about it, and prayed about it, for quite a number of years.
“I think the COVID-19 pandemic and having to be closed down was a contributing factor towards the decision that this was the right time to close.”
While faith is not bound by the confines of a building and members have been welcomed with open arms to join congregations in Lake Bolac and Mortlake, Reverend Barker noted an indelible sense of loss for the Woorndoo community.
“It’s another thing in the community which has gone, and these wonderful people have been holding it together,” he said.
Reverend Barker said it was a fantastic turnout for the final service, which while solemn was also full of optimism, laughter and rousing attendee participation.
The pews were lined wall-to-wall with current members, former congregation members and Uniting Church members from Mortlake and Warrnambool attending as a show of support.
Attendees shared stories on how the church had impacted their lives, from the joy of weddings, services and christenings to the heartbreak of funerals.
“The number of people who came back shows this church has been important to them throughout their lives,” Reverend Barker said.
A history of the church was provided by Woorndoo Uniting Church president of congregation Tony Ware, who has been part of the church throughout his whole life.
He noted the initial opening of the church in 1904 and the trials and tribulations it had experienced for more than a century.
“What is so hard to quantify is the meaning that this church has had on individual lives,” he said.
“A place of solace, comfort and inspiration, a place where we have shed tears of pain and tears of joy.
“This place where we have met God and sought communion with God. Where we have discovered the love of Jesus and the meaning of being Christian in today’s world.
“So with a heavy heart we are closing the Woorndoo Uniting Church, with a deep respect for our forebears who worked so very hard to develop and maintain St John’s at Woorndoo.”
Churchgoers met at the Woorndoo Recreation Reserve following the conclusion of the final service for afternoon tea and to peruse decades of church memorabilia, including a copy of a 1904 edition of the Mortlake Dispatch covering the first service held at the church.
The church building will now be released from its commission in to the care of the Mortlake Church Council.
Reverend Barker had a simple parting message for the members of the Woorndoo congregation.
“You are loved,” he said.
