Moggill Methodist Church (former)

The Wesleyan Methodist congregation in Moggill had attended services from as early as 1854 at the home of early pioneer Thomas Makepeace. As the congregation grew the services were held in his barn. This was not satisfactory and by 1868 a one acre portion of land at Moggill had been set aside for the construction of a new church. The trustees for the property were Thomas Tindale Makepeace, Robert Sexton, Enoch Horne, James Shields, Thomas Makepeace [jnr], Henry Heiner and George Sexton. 

The timber church was constructed in 1868 and formed part of the Ipswich Methodist Circuit. It was officially opened on the 9 June 1868. As the district was remote and accessibility by road was arduous the preachers from Brisbane would travel by rowing boat down the Brisbane River to Moggill.  In 1898 Queensland’s Methodist groups (the Wesleyan, Primitive, United Free and Bible Christians) amalgamated and with this the Moggill Wesleyan Methodist Church was known as the Moggill Methodist Church. 

By the turn of the century the Methodist congregation had expanded further and so in 1905 the church was extended. These alterations cost £90 and it was reported that “The building should now be quite ample for all requirements”1. In 1909 the Moggill Methodist Church (former) became part of the Bundamba Circuit. By 1911the predominately rural community had 250 residents and by 1947 the population had risen to only 364. The slow growth of the area was due mainly to its limited access, with only one main road, Moggill Road, from Kenmore into the area.  

On 8 November 1941 an article was published in the Courier Mail reporting a generous donation given to the Moggill Methodist Church (former) by two residents, “Mr and Mrs J. Sinnamon, 80-year-old residents of the Moggill district have given £300 to build the hall now being erected at the Moggill Methodist Church”1. Earlier that year the Moggill Methodist Church was recorded in the Register of New Buildings. The additions to the church were listed as “wood and iron hall” and the builder was J. Krueger of Bundamba with an estimated cost of £250. The hall was constructed on an east-west axis at the rear of the original church building built on a north-south axis.  

Joseph Sinnamon and his family were important figures in the district. From the late nineteenth century Joseph Sinnamon had established a farm at Moggill and for almost sixty years had farmed prize winning Jersey cows. The donation of the hall for the Methodist Church reflects the contribution made by the Sinnamon family in the early years of settlement in the Moggill district. The hall was named the ‘Sinnamon Hall’ and continues to be known as this today.  

The Moggill Methodist congregation embraced the 1977 union of the Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Methodist churches and the building is now a Uniting Church continuing to serve as a focus for the local community.  The Moggill Methodist Church (former) retains much of its original fabric. The additions to the hall can be easily read and these features contribute to the understanding of the evolution of the church.

1. The Brisbane Courier, Monday 22 May 1905, p3

2. The Courier Mail, Saturday 8 November 1941, p8

3. Cameron, Ian, A Green and Pleasant Land: An Account of the Pullenvale-Moggill District of South-East Queensland, Ian Cameron, Pullenvale, 1999

4. Wager, Libby. Historic Brookfield. (Pullenvale: Pullenvale Field Study Centre. 1988)

5. Queensland Places, Moggill and Bellbowrie, University of Queensland, http://queenslandplaces.com.au/home

6. Sugars, Bruce and Mabel Kelly, A Time to Remember: Descendants of Moggill Pioneers, Souvenir Booklet, 1988

7. Lawson, Ronald 1973, Brisbane in the 1890s: A Study of an Australian Urban Society, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia

8. Historic Titles, Department of Environment and Resource Management

9. Queensland Post Office Directories

10. Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Survey Maps

11. Brisbane City Council Building Register, October 1941

12. Rev R S C Dingle ed Annals of Achievement: A Review of Queensland Methodism 1847- 1947, Queensland Book Depot, Brisbane, 1947

13. The Brisbane Courier, Monday 7 May 1928, p18

14. The Brisbane Courier, Monday 22 May 1905, p3

15. The Courier Mail, Thursday 8 February 1945, p4