Jenan Taylor
1 February 2024
Members of a small central Victorian congregation recovering from catastrophic floods are drawing strength from their church to ease their fears of remaining in a disaster-prone area.
Holy Trinity Rochester was shuttered when record breaking floods devastated the town, displacing more than 1000 people, and damaging several buildings, including the church.
In January this year, just months after the church reopened, Rochester was hit with floods again.
Lay minister Sue Jackel said though the inundation was not as large, it retraumatised many people, and inspired deep fear about the future.
Read more: Anglican leaders focused on community recovery as flood trauma persists
She said Holy Trinity lost many members after the first flood and although it was hard for the remaining ones to live with uncertainty, they were devoted to the church.
A long-time member, Mrs Jackel said a sense of unity was important to the parishioners, and they were striving to retain that amid the fracturing community.
Standing together enabled them to support each other better even through hard times, she said. If they could do that then they could support themselves as a church.
Mrs Jackel said after the 2022 catastrophe many Rochester locals learned that they lived on a flood plain and that increased the risk of further natural disasters occurring.
This, along with the scale of damage many people were still dealing with, meant the flood and a sense of foreboding stayed on many residents’ minds.
Mrs Jackel said being able to meet for prayer and fellowship in their own church when it reopened, stirred a sense of connection, and helped make a difference to the parishioners’ outlook.
Read more: ‘Gift from God’ church escapes central Victorian floods
“We pray, reflect on gospel readings. That is time together and we feel good. It inspires us even though we still have fear and uncertainty that there might be another heavy downpour and catastrophe soon.”
Mrs Jackel said Rochester Anglicans had longed to get back into the church in the time it was shuttered, and the diocese had worked hard to get the building re-established again.
She said the parishioners were grateful to the many churches in the Bendigo diocese and beyond that opened their doors to Holy Trinity members and supported them in prayer and other contributions.
But they were relieved to get back into their own spiritual home, and were slowly trying to pick up the threads again.
“We all help one another. I usually take the service, a lady who is 94 years old and has been sacristan since year dot is back, and we have a reliable organist. We are a small, ageing group, but we are propping each other up in a place where we feel we belong,” Mrs Jackel said.
Community chaplain Samuel Kelly said the January floods came along so unexpectedly that there wasn’t sufficient time to put in place all the ideas and strategies needed to mitigate another disaster.
Mr Kelly said since the January downpour he hadn’t yet heard about anyone who wanted to leave.
“I think at this point a lot of the locals have been here their whole life and have decided to just dig in,” he said.
For more faith news, follow The Melbourne Anglican on Facebook, Instagram, or subscribe to our weekly emails.
