The local Anglican Parish has announced there are “currently” no plans to sell St John’s Anglican Church in Riddells Creek, contradicting a statement they made in May that suggested otherwise.
Fr Scott Mudd sent a letter to parishioners on May 12 and advised “To realise the necessary funding for the redevelopment of Fisher Street [Gisborne], we will be seeking approval from the Diocese of Melbourne to sell the entire site of St John’s, Riddells Creek”.
The letter cited the sale’s purpose was to realise the “necessary funding” to redevelop the Parish Centre in Gisborne. It was co-signed by the three wardens of the local Parish Council.
David Latham, a political lobbyist and media advisor for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, sent an email to the Express to provide an updated statement from the local Parish Council:
“After a discussion with our congregation at St John’s Anglican Church, Riddells Creek, it was decided that, due to the small and shrinking size of the congregation there, we should pause services in that location. We have found alternative options for the seven parishioners that have been attending St John’s. We have arranged for these parishioners to be transported to and from nearby Anglican Churches at Gisborne and Macedon, and to connect them with other parishioners from those congregations. There are currently no plans in place to sell the Riddells Creek property or put it on the market”.
Going Once… Going Twice…
Rachael Thompson, a resident of Riddells Creek for more than 20 years, has a background in finance and joined the parish in September last year to become more involved in the community. She was at the meeting when they told parishioners they were closing it down.
“It was so surreal and weird. Ladies were crying,” Ms Thompson said.
“They said, ‘we’re going to go bankrupt if we don’t sell the church’.”
Ms Thompson offered to look at the church finances.
“When I looked at the budget, there could be a little bit of tweaking, but they’re absolutely not going ‘bankrupt’. There is enough for everybody in all three churches across the three towns. Why close it down when it’s a growing community?”
Other sources within the church argued the regional Parish was financially burdened and there had been plans to sell the Riddells Creek site for years. Property.com had the church’s address listed for sale in Jun 2015 and images portrayed a developer’s digitally generated house on the property.
St Johns is labelled with a ‘local significance’ and heritage overlay from the Macedon Ranges Shire Council, so if it were to be sold, the digitally generated house on Property.com couldn’t be built where St John’s stands without a permit from council.
Across Australia, Anglican Dioceses have been selling off their churches – mainly in regional areas – in recent years due to financial strains and dwindling congregations.
The ABC has reported the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland was “on the brink of financial collapse” and the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania was selling off “more than 100 properties” to assist in funding the $8.6 million required to compensate victims of child sex abuse.
However, many sales have been hindered by graveyards on church grounds. The bodies need to be removed, otherwise they are subject to a covenant that allows public access for worship. St John’s may also be subject to this.
Land of the dead
The Diocese of Melbourne said they did not have the burial records of St John’s in their possession, however, a source within the church suggested there were two gravestones on site. The source also confirmed the local parish had a photo with the tombstones onsite.
The Express obtained a low-quality version of this photo, where the tombstones are said to have been. There is no understanding at present of what happened to them, or if possible bodies are still buried there.
‘Local Significance’
St John’s has been at its current site for 99 years, but has operated from 1858 over two locations. The Gisborne Gazette reported St John’s centenary in 1964. It, too, provided a statement from the local Parish Council at the time:
“A centenary is a great event in the life of a person, a town, or a church… We have received from the pioneers a priceless heritage. How will we hand it on to those who in another one hundred years will be celebrating the second centenary of St John’s?”
Time will tell.
