Sydney
28 July 2002
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Feature: Ecumenical oasis in a desert of concrete and glass ...
Words by Damir Govorcin and John Pierce. Pictures by Marilyn Kerjean
So far as Christian religious observance is concerned, it’s probably the most historic area in Australia.
In the centre of the Sydney CBD is Lang Park, bounded by York, Grosvenor and Harrington Sts – and touching on Jamison St.
This was the site of Australia’s first church – the Anglican St Phillip’s Church, named in honour of the first Governor, Capt Arthur Phillip, who founded the first white setttlement in Sydney on January 26, 1788.
The present-day St Philip’s Anglican Church (pictured lower left), the third to be built on Church Hill, is named in honour of St Philip the Evangelist.
It looks across to the park from the western side of York St.
Two other churches look on the park – and across to each other and at St Philip’s – from the northern and southern flanks.
The church to the north is the historic 19th century St Patrick’s Church Hill (pictured left), built on the site of the Grosvenor St home of William Davis where many of the colony’s early Catholic church services were held.
And on the southern side, on the corner of Jamison and York Sts (and Margaret St), is the more recent Scots Church (pictured at top of facing page).
The relatively small area is a crossroads of Christian cultures in a city that is itself a multi-cultural melting pot. This Christian triangle is also an ecumenical oasis in a desert of concrete and glass.
Much of it is dwarfed by corporate development. Indeed, the Heritage-listed six-storey Scots Church and Assembly Hall building is undergoing a makeover which will result in a luxury city apartment block with its own church in situ.
The Scots Church congregation has been sharing a church at the other end of the city centre (Chalmers St) for a few years while demolition and construction work have been under way.
Now the regulars have moved back to Church Hill.
But their church is not ready.
So this month they moved into the crypt at St Patrick’s, where they now hold their Sunday services.
“One lady from our congregation had tears in her eyes,” says the parish priest of St Patrick’s, Fr Garry Reynolds. “That’s how excited she was to welcome our new guests.
“There’s been absolutely no negative reaction to the parishioners from Scots Church. In fact, their arrival has created a great deal of excitement.
“I assume this arrangement will last for around a year, but we’re only too happy to help out.”
Only one of the three churches – St Philips — has traditional church bells.
But when they ring out across Wynyard, the CBD and the Rocks on a Sunday, their chimes can be taken not only as a sign of celebration, of worship, or of a public call to the faithful, but also as a signal that Christianity is alive and well on Church Hill.