Red Hill/Paddington Community Centre

The history of the Presbyterian Church in Australia stretches back as far as 1809, when the first Presbyterian services were held in New South Wales. Presbyterian ministers arrived in the 1820s and the Church continued to grow throughout the colonial period. The Presbyterian Church of Queensland was formed in November 1863, and remained a very small organisation for some time, with only three ministers delivering regular services. In 1901, at the same time as Federation, the various colonial Presbyterian Church bodies amalgamated to form the Presbyterian Church of Australia. The Sabbath School building at Jubilee Terrace was established very soon after this amalgamation took place.

The Sabbath School was an integral part of the Church’s activities in Queensland. The first edition of The Queensland Presbyterian Magazine and Sabbath School Messenger, published in January 1879, outlined its importance to the goals of the church:

The Sabbath School has of late years very much come to the front as a leading instrumentality in carrying on the Church’s work. Our Schools all over the colony are now banded together into one body, not separate from, or independent of the church…. The hope of the Church lies in the up-bringing of the young as Christians – as believers in Jesus, and followers of Him, - at once intelligent, consistent, and devout. 

The establishment of a Sabbath School was a demonstration of the Presbyterian Church’s commitment to the religious education of young people in the hope that they would grow to be good Christians and stalwart members of Australian society.

The Carmel Presbyterian Sabbath School was established in Bardon at a time when an increasing amount of church services were becoming available to local residents. In the late 1880s, few religious institutions were available to Bardon residents. People wishing to attend services were compelled to travel to nearby Paddington, Rosalie or Milton. The establishment of the Sabbath School at Jubilee Terrace was one example of the wider pattern of development of the Presbyterian Church’s activities in Queensland. It also shows that, though Bardon’s and surrounding districts’ populations were yet to experience the growth boom of the early decades of the twentieth century, there had been a sufficient local population to make a Presbyterian Sabbath School viable.

The Church at Jubilee Terrace served the parish until 1989, a total of 85 years, and has been in use as a community centre since 1992. This constitutes nearly a full century of community service.

 

The steeply pitched roof is clad with corrugated sheeting and extends beyond the walls to provide eaves overhangs. The gable ends of the main building, as well as the vestibule, are decorated at the top with diagonal battening infill and a finial.

Light and natural ventilation to the nave is provided by lancet windows. These timber-framed windows consist of a lower and upper window with a fixed panel fanlight above.

The architectural form itself emphasises economy and simplicity, and was typically used for churches of modest size, though larger and more ornate churches were constructed as well. Further, this church, in its simplified form mirrors the philosophy of the Presbyterian faith, which emphasises thrift, and rejects excessive ostentation. This type of ecclesiastical architecture is to be found throughout the eastern states of Australia and is a distinctive component of the Australian architectural milieu.

1. Richard Apperly (et al), A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian architecture Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1989

2. Brisbane City Council Water Supply and Sewerage Detail Plans

3. Brisbane Centenary Official Historical Souvenir 1923

4. Brisbane Post Office Directories

5. Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Queensland Certificates of Title

6. Queensland Presbyterian Magazine and Sabbath School Messenger

7. The Queensland Presbyterian Magazine and Sabbath School Messenger, January 1879