A new chapter for a 130-year-old church began in Mernda last week.
St Paul’s Church held its final service before a small group of dedicated parishioners in Mitiamo two years ago. It was closed due to a lack of church-goers in the Bendigo area.
The timber building was given a second lease on life when Ivanhoe Grammar School purchased it from the Anglican Diocese of Bendigo. It was then transported to the school’s Mernda campus on an oversize truck and escorted though 12 municipalities.
The 1883 church has become the Plenty campus chapel, having been meticulously restored with its pews, pulpit and leadlight windows preserved despite their bumpy 200-kilometre journey.
The Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, and Plenty campus chaplain Warwick Grant conducted a service last Tuesday to welcome the chapel to its new home.
