It was not just a place for religious instruction; it was where the locals came together once a week for entertainment and social interaction at a time when travelling just a few miles could take hours.

The Parochial District of St Luke’s Anglican Church Junee covered a fairly large area and, during the pre-parish days, visiting clergy would travel to various rural communities to hold services in homes as early as 1851.

It is thought that Eurongilly was the oldest centre in the Junee district with worship held in the homes of residents. It is known that Archdeacon W Pownall would travel from St John’s Church at  Wagga to hold services at the home of Thomas W Hammond at Old Junee in the 1870s.

In February 1881, services began in the first Church of England church in Junee which was located in Belmore Street.  The foundation stone of the present St Luke’s Anglican Church was laid in 1889.

St Luke’s looked after many outreach churches within its parish. Most of these had their own small church buildings, paid for by their own parishioners and built on private land.

St Luke’s Parish had outreach churches at:

Wantabadgery

A small brick church with an iron roof was built on Wantabadgery Station in 1885 - 1886 which served as a school as well as a church. In later years, in 1959, St Mark’s War Memorial Church opened on land which was provided by Mr EJ Southwell.

Old Junee

St Thomas’ Church, built in 1890-1891 was a weatherboard building in which monthly services were held.  By 1958 a new church was rebuilt as a memorial to the old residents of Old Junee.  Mr W Burmiester and a number of local men donated their time and, with contributions from descendants of early pioneers, the cost of the new church was kept to a minimum.

Mitta

In 1898 St Stephen’s Church was built out of a “yellowish coloured stone” and is of early English design. Originally there was a tower and a spire but the spire had to be removed.  In 1925 St Stephen’s Hall was built by the parishioners of Mitta and Eurongilly to be used as a Parish Hall for the church at Mitta which in later years became a community hall.

Illabo

The waiting room at the railway station was the scene for worship at Illabo for a congregation of fifty residents from 1883. The foundation stone for St John’s Church was laid by Mrs CR Westmacott of Bethungra Park in 1901.  When the church was demolished in 1976 the foundation stone was transferred to St Luke’s grounds in Junee.

Strathmore

Services are still being held at St Margaret’s Church Strathmore. Prior to the church being built in 1929, services were held in the home of Mr and Mrs Robert Whitechurch. The foundation stone of the Gothic-design brick building was laid by His Excellency Sir Dudley de Chair, the Governor of NSW, on September 28, 1929.

North Junee

St Anne’s Mission Hall was built in 1933 in Regent Street, Junee. In 1928, Sunday School for twenty five pupils was held at the residence of Mr and Mrs Butler in Duke Street with Miss Ethel Ings being the first Superintendent. Evensong and Communion was held for many years for North Junee Residents.

Ivor/Dirnaseer

In the north of the Illabo Shire, Anglicans worshipped at the Union Church at Ivor which was built in 1905 and at the Union Church at Dirnaseer from 1933. When the northern boundary of the parish was changed, Dirnaseer was included in the Parochial District of Temora. The last Junee Parish service was held on January 13, 1977.

Pikedale

Before St Matthew’s Pikedale was built in 1905, Anglicans held services in a small Union Church which was located on what is now known as Tony Drum’s property “Strathbogie”. In 1904, the locals chose to build their new church in a more central position, on land owned by Mr AR Pike, later owned by Messrs C and N Campbell. The final service was held on August 19, 1971 and was conducted by Rev Keith Wilson.

A visitor to St Matthew’s Pikedale once wrote an observation of their visit which gives us a wonderful insight into what it might have been like to visit any of those small, family-like church communities:

“One Sunday morning I attended St Matthew’s, a little wooden church, nicely painted and set in bush surroundings. At the door I saw two fine looking lads dressed in their servers’ robes of red and white, waiting to welcome the Rector who had just arrived.

Entering the church I found it spotlessly clean and fresh looking. The stained glass of the windows helped to give a mellow light. The fine oak altar was decked with flowers and had on it a beautiful altar cloth.

Mrs Victor Dietrich was at her place at the organ and the congregation soon filled the pews. I notice that it was quite a family gathering with adults and children of all ages, and that all joined in the service and were quite at home to enter into the worship of God.

After the service the congregation did not rush away but gathered in groups outside talking. A group of men were talking of crops, a group of women were talking about whatever women talk about, a group of teenagers of both sexes were talking about the Young Anglican Movement, while two groups of children were playing happily together.

St Matthew’s is evidently a family church and plays a big part in the life of the district.”

The CSU Regional Archives is currently extending its opening hours to include the first Saturday of the month. This initiative has been put in place to cater for those researchers who are unable to visit the Archives on weekdays during normal business hours.

The next Saturday opening will be on December 6, 2014, from 10am to 3pm.

CSU Regional Archives is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm, and the first Saturday of every month from 10am to 3pm. Located in the Blakemore Building on the South Campus of the University, access can be gained via College Avenue or Hely Avenue in Turvey Park.

Members of the public are welcome to visit the search room where professional archival staff can assist with enquiries. For those people unable to visit the archives in person, staff can provide a research service for straight forward enquiries for a fee of $55 per hour (includes copying and postage).

For further information, please phone (02) 6933 4590, email archive@csu.edu.au, or visit our website at www.csu.edu.au/research/archives.

References: Anglican Parish of St Luke’s Junee. The First Hundred Years; Daily Advertiser 28 September 1936; St Luke’s Parish Paper Junee 8 October 1904, 9 March 1905; St Matthew’s Fiftieth Anniversary Booklet