Anglican and Uniting churches in Boggabri have combined to bring the light of the gospel to the community
by Liz Hogarth
Two denominations in a rural community ravaged by drought merged recently to ensure the town of Boggabri retained one healthy Protestant congregation instead of two ailing ones.
The Anglican and Uniting churches ‘co-operated’ to form St Barnabas Community Church in the small country town, part of the Diocese of Armidale in northern New South Wales.
“I think it is going well,” says Anglican minister, the Rev Simon Waller, of the experiment. “It’s something that has been talked about in the parish for probably 20 years. The idea was always there, but it needed the right circumstances to make it happen.”
The right circumstances included the fact that the Uniting church had not had a full-time minister for seven years. “In part I think it is going well because people not only expected it to happen, but wanted it to happen,” Mr Waller says.
However, the merger did not take place without some important issues being worked through. “The main problems occurred before we co-operated, when we were trying to work out how to do it,” Mr Waller said. “I had to put it to the congregations that one of the churches would have to close. A town like Boggabri, with around 1000 residents, can’t really support two Protestant congregations.”
As a result, two years ago last month, the congregations agreed to meet in each other’s churches on alternate weeks for a trial period of six months. Mr Waller says this was a great way for the congregations to learn to accept different styles of service, though there were a few complaints to begin with. “Some of the Uniting Church congregation had problems with our prayer book and did not see the need to use it every week,” says Mr Waller. “Alternately some of the Anglicans found it hard to go through a whole service while holding nothing in their hands.”
But these minor points of difference were soon overcome, and last year the Uniting Church congregation ceded from the Uniting parish structure and signalled their intention to join the co-operative venture to establish one congregation.
St Barnabas Community Church now has a prayer book service two Sundays a month and a more informal service on the other weeks.
“I think it has certainly given me a lot more scope and freedom when we meet together,” Mr Waller says. “I try new things and the people seem to appreciate it. We now have a lot more lay participation in the services and a greater cross-section of the community attend the meetings.
“It’s a hard thing to get used to but we try not to talk about Uniting and Anglican anymore. There are times when it’s necessary, but we are now St Barnabas Community Church.”
Penny Rees, 63, a former elder in the Uniting church, finds no fault with the new set up. “Of those from the Uniting church only one couple decided not to come with us to the Community Church,” she says. “We all feel very comfortable. Simon has been very sensitive and gone out of his way to make the transition as smooth as possible, though I think it has been a learning curve for him.”
Retired local farmer, Neil Kemmis, who was baptised at St Barnabas’, Boggabri 77 years ago, has been a stalwart of the congregation all his life. He was one of the pioneers in getting the churches to co-operate. “Seven years ago I told the Uniting Church minister, when they had one, that the churches needed to work together more closely,” he says. “I told her we couldn’t afford to go our separate ways.”
Once the merging process was underway he comments: “I would say there was about 90 per cent acceptance on both sides.”
One of the biggest benefits is that the churches can now share resources to help combat the hardships of the drought. Mr Kemmis also considers that the community church label will help to draw in some of those on the fringes of the Christian community in Boggabri.
Simon Waller says that attendance at his church has grown from an average of 27 to a healthy 52 – around five per cent of the town’s population. “Some of that growth can be attributed to the Uniting church,” he concludes, “but not all.”
With rural communities increasingly struggling to attract young people to country areas, it seems likely that the co-operative venture in Boggabri could or should be mirrored in other parishes in rural NSW. However, Mr Waller is not convinced the experiment would work in other places. “There is a long history of co-operation here,” he says. “But I don’t know about other small towns.”
The Bishop of Armidale, Peter Brain, sees the move as a very positive step for smaller communities. “It is an obvious advantage for any town to have a full time pastor, and the local Christians recognise that,” Bishop Brain said. “The beaut thing about this was that it happened from the ground up. Local people made it happen.”
