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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-27 Daily Xml
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St Augustine's of Canterbury

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (15:40): Today I rise to speak about St Augustine's of Canterbury, an icon of Unley Road and part of Unley's significant heritage. In South Australia's founding years, Unley's Anglican community built the first of St Augustine's churches as a mission church of St John in Halifax Street, Adelaide. During the First World War, the Unley parish grew as the population of Unley grew to in excess of 30,000. They grew out of the small church and a larger church was required, so after years of fundraising the foundation stone was laid in 1922.

That original church today is our community hall and also houses the op shop that they call 'Aggies', which this year celebrated 30 years of providing collectables, curious and just handy things that have been donated by local people in Unley.

As construction of the church progressed, the size of it had caused those who passed it to call the new church 'the cathedral in the suburbs'. As the planning of the church followed the signing of the armistice, it was decided to incorporate a memorial belltower, as one in five men and women who served in the First World War from the parish lost their lives in doing so. Since then, the church has been seen as a beacon for the Unley community, with the bells ringing every Remembrance Day.

Our local communities have turned to St Augustine's in times of grief, such as the prayer service for the Sturt Football Club members after the Bali bombing in 2001. More than 700 people attended that service which was led by Reverend Brenton Daulby OAM, whom I had the pleasure of meeting as a young candidate nearly 20 years ago when I knocked on his door.

Just as the church was representative of its local community when it was founded, it remains representative of the ever-changing community that we have in Unley and has become the first Anglican church in Adelaide to host Mandarin-speaking congregations. As the centenary of the church approached, a centenary committee was formed. The chair of the committee was the Hon. Kevin Scarce, and members included Reverend Mee Ping Lau, Reverend Paul Monash, Andrew Marshall, Ian and Alison Haddy, Jeffrey Tan, Anne Ford and Josephine Marshall.

The launch of the centenary year's celebrations and commencement of the Morris windows and organ restoration fund was a concert opened by the Governor, Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson, on Sunday 25 August, just last Sunday. It was a pleasure to attend the centenary service of the new church—the 100-year-old church—to a packed congregation. We heard reading and psalms from the Reverend Canon Mee Ping Lau, Reverend Paul Monash, Alison Haddy, Elaine Tang—in Mandarin—and Dr Daryl Teague. The sermon from the Most Reverend Geoffrey Smith was translated by Miranda Lyu representing the Mandarin community.

The choir was beautifully led by Reverend Joan Claring-Bould. After an introduction by the Hon. Kevin Scarce, the Most Reverend Geoffrey Smith gave thanksgiving for the restored Morris stained windows and the pipe organ, which was purchased from St Augustine's Cathedral after it had upgraded to a larger organ for around about a quarter of a million dollars in today's dollars. It was a very precious piece and remains so today. It was played beautifully by Dr Josh van Konkelenberg, followed by the official launch of the book by the Most Reverend Geoffrey Smith, supported by the Hon. Kevin Scarce and Anne Ford.

The book was authored by Anne Ford with the support of the Hon. Kevin Scarce, Ian and Alison Haddy, Emeritus Archdeacon Bob George, Reverend Paul Monash and Josephine Marshall. It was a terrific service and a time to reflect on how Unley grew and evolved, and how involved the Anglican community were in Unley at that time to build such a spectacular and glorious building that is very much appreciated and valued today.

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