Kennedy Terrace Uniting Church

By the 1920s Paddington was densely settled and boasted two other Methodist churches on Given and Latrobe Terraces. The suburb began to experience close residential settlement when overcrowding forced residents away from what is now known as the city centre and Spring Hill in the 1880s. The first Kennedy Terrace Methodist Church was among the new churches to appear in the 1880s. Its formation followed the establishment of a Sunday School conducted by Mr William Gricks and Miss Jane Buchanan at a private home in Latrobe Terrace in 1883. As enrolments at the school grew, new accommodation was found and eventually church services were also held at the new premises. It soon became apparent that a permanent place of worship was required. With this in mind, part of the present church site at Kennedy Terrace was purchased and a small building opened in March 1884.

The extension of the electric tramlines along Enoggera Terrace to the corner of Kennedy Terrace in 1902 and further extensions later that decade served to intensify development in Paddington. By 1903, when Ithaca Shire was raised to the status of a town, its population had reached around 3000. The population consolidated further, growing to 17,500 in 1910 and exceeding 22,000 by 1923. With population growth came a need for a larger, more substantial place of worship for the expanding Kennedy Terrace congregation. To this end, plans were made for the construction of this new brick church. The foundation stone was laid by F.T. Brentnall, MLC on 6 December 1919 and the church was opened for service the following year.

As Brisbane continued to grow, adjustments were made to the boundaries of the Methodist church circuit. The Kennedy Terrace Church was part of the Albert Street Circuit until 1890 when the circuit was divided into three - Albert Street, Toowong and Enoggera - Kennedy Terrace was included in the Enoggera Circuit. In 1905 Kennedy Terrace and Paddington were joined to form the Ithaca Circuit and in 1907 were joined by the Leichhardt Street, Paddington, Latrobe Terrace, Torwood and The Gap churches. In 1908 Kennedy Terrace was separated from Paddington and grouped with Grove Estate, The Gap and Samford. The last alteration of boundaries occurred in 1924 when Kennedy Terrace became a single church circuit.

On Saturday 5 August 1933, the gates in the "Jubilee Wall" were opened by former Brisbane Lord Mayor, William Jolly. The wall had been erected on two sides of the church property and formed an integral part of the plans for commemorating the jubilee of the church's foundation. Tablets placed on the wall at the time honoured Mrs F.G. Harris and Mr W. Gricks, founders of the Sunday School in 1863 and two other members who had served the church for many years, Mr W.J. Abraham, who conducted the church choir for 53 years and Mr J.B Lugg. Also honoured on the wall are the Minister W. Shenton and P.W. Fulcher, organist 1906-1961.

Following the amalgamation of Congregational, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches to form the Uniting Church in 1977, the building has continued to function as the centre of worship for the Fernberg parish.

The generally two-storeyed building is rectangular in plan form with an apse protruding at the northern end. A small entry porch is attached to the southern end at ground level.

The church is constructed in face brickwork laid in English Bond. The tall sidewalls are stiffened with the addition of buttresses extending almost the entire height of the wall before terminating short of the eaves. The tops of the buttresses are weathered and rendered. The front wall rises from a brick plinth and is finished between buttresses with a rendered capping.

The asymmetrical parapeted gable front contains a bell-cote on the western side where the buttresses and brick wall have been extended. This bell-cote is terminated with a gabled top and rendered capping.

Buttresses to the front wall are stepped, the stepping lining with the tops of sidewall buttresses and windowsill line. The steppings are weathered and rendered. In the centre of the parapeted gable is installed a stylised tracery timber framed stained glass window surmounted by a label mould. A brick voussoir of different colour brickwork has been built into the wall directly above this stylised tracery window. Plain rendered shields on either side of the stylised tracery window add subtle decoration to the elevation.

The steeply pitched roof is sheeted with corrugated iron and terminates as a gable at the northern end. Eaves overhangs are lined with timber boarding. Ventilation to the roof space is provided by a vertical panel of fixed timber louvres installed high in the parapeted gable front.

The apse is independently roofed with corrugated iron and the eaves overhang is unlined.

Lighting and ventilation to the nave is provided by panels of four timber framed casement windows separated by mullions and transoms and located between buttresses along both sides. Each casement is glazed with four panes of clear glass which have been made opaque by painting. Concrete lintels above these windows have been rendered.

The windows to the enclosed lower floor area are similar but consisting only of a pair of windows. These windows line up with the overhead windows.

The entry porch, providing protection to the two pair of timber framed vertical joint double doors, is framed with timber posts containing fibro cement infill panels beaded in between the posts. These fibro panels are kept up above floor level and stopped short of the porch soffit. The space above these panels is glazed with opaque glass. The porch roof is sheeted with corrugated iron.

Rear access to the apse is provided by a flight of timber steps and landing supported on metal framing. The stair is L-shaped and appears to have been added at a later stage and is not in character with the remainder of the building.

Openings to the lower area of the apse wall are formed with brick voussoir arches. The openings either contain framed tongue and groove doors, full height vertical joint boarding, or a combination

of vertical joint boarding and eight pane hopper window.

The "Jubilee Wall" fence along the Kennedy Terrace alignment consists of a series of brick piers with rendered triangulated capping. Each pier contains a memorial tablet honouring members of the church. Infill panels between piers consist of wire mesh fixed to a tubular steel frame fixed into the brick piers.