Jean Oliver
16 July 2024
On 21 July 1899, Bishop of Melbourne Field Flowers Goe consecrated the church, St Agnes.
It was named after the child saint, because the work in Black Rock started with a Sunday School.
This little weatherboard church would serve its congregation for 14 years until sadly on Shrove Tuesday 1913 a bush fire demolished it. The church today, which stands on the same site, was consecrated just over a year later on 11 April 1914 by Archbishop Lowther Clarke, Melbourne’s first Archbishop. Except for a small extension it is the same today.
In 1919 Black Rock became a parish in its own right, and the first vicar was the Reverend Wilford James who died four months later with Spanish flu. Since then, St Agnes has been blessed with a variety of priests, both men and women, who have all added to the rich tapestry of spiritual direction and worship.
To sit comfortably in the sanctuary is to be surrounded by the past and present. There is the beautiful stain glass windows of William Montgomery, lost in the fire, but replicated by him for the new church; the carvings of Elsie Traill and Duncan Gawler; the 1904 lectern by Robert Prenzel; and the little silver cross made out of a ball of silver, once a chalice, found in the ashes; blend seamlessly with the embroidered banners of Suzanne Savonna and the modern stain glass.
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The boy scouts, the tennis tournaments and the flower festival are no more, but today the outreach to the community is still a vital part of the St Agnes life. It features monthly concerts, an op shop, book and craft groups, fetes and special events as well as monthly Taize and weekly services. The choir is in full voice under the direction of Jacquie Bennett who has been musical director for over 40 years.
We live in a world totally unrecognisable to that of 125 years ago. What a comfort, therefore, to believe in a God who never changes, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever.
It is God’s love, and the love of God, that for more than a century has showed itself in the lives of faithful parishioners. At St Agnes, the same spiritual and practical love is genuinely shown to anyone who walks through the door.
We are looking forward with joy, and in faith, trust and hope, to sharing God’s love in Black Rock for another 125 years!
Jean Oliver has been a member of St Agnes’ Black Rock for 25 years. She is parish secretary and produces the church’s magazine Reach Out.
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