Pilgrim Uniting Church

Pilgrim Uniting Church is a church in the heart of the City on Flinders Street, Adelaide, South Australia. It is a church of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Pilgrim Uniting Church
34.926891°S 138.600926°E / -34.926891; 138.600926
LocationFlinders Street, Adelaide
South Australia
CountryAustralia
DenominationUniting Church in Australia
Websitepilgrim.org.au
History
Former name(s)Gawler Place Wesleyan Chapel
Pirie Street Wesleyan Church
Pirie Street Methodist Church
Stow Memorial Church
Union Church in the City
Architecture
StyleRevival Gothic
Specifications
MaterialsGlen Osmond stone, finished with cut freestone from Glen Ewin
Clergy
Minister(s)Rev Dr Greg Elsdon
Deacon(s)Rev Sandy Boyce

It has a rich history reflected in its traditions and in the building. Pilgrim is a community of people who have centred their Christian involvement in the city. It offers patterns of worship that are not identical to one another so as to cater for its varied congregation that come from far and wide. It is a vibrant, proactive gathering place that does a great deal of volunteer work for the disadvantaged and is a strong advocate of social justice. Pilgrim offers many music programs to the public, has an art exhibition space and turns out one of Adelaide's finest choirs. The church attracts musicians from all over the world to play its organ (the largest in Adelaide) and to sing, because of its outstanding acoustic quality. The church is also an active supporter of local and young and upcoming artists.

Its mission is:

"We are called by God to be a Prophetic Witness in the city of Adelaide so that New Life and Vitality will be generated in our city and in its people.

We are blessed to be a blessing".

Pilgrim's mission activities seek to grow our commitment to being a place of welcome and hospitality in the City of Adelaide. Our overriding purpose is to bear witness to the teaching and example of Jesus Christ. Social Justice is at the heart of all that we do as articulated by the Uniting Church in Australia in the inaugural Statement to the Nation (1977), and the Statement to the Nation (1988) for Australia’s Bicentennial celebrations.

History

Pirie Street Wesleyan Church The congregation was originally at the Gawler Place Wesleyan Chapel. The first minister at the Pirie Street site was Daniel Draper.[1][2] The first service was held on 19 October 1852.[3] William Bowen Chinner was organist and choirmaster at Pirie Street from 1869 to around 1899. His nephew Norman Chinner filled the same positions from 1939.[4]

Stow Memorial Church The first Congregational chapel in South Australia was a temporary structure on North Terrace. George Strickland Kingston was the architect for a building in Freeman Street (now Gawler Place), with the congregation then moving to the Flinders Street site.[5]

Stow Memorial Church, designed by Robert G. Thomas, was named in memory of the Reverend Thomas Stow, who had officiated at the first service in a tent on Adelaide's Park Lands in October 1837. The foundation stone was laid on 7 February 1865[6] and the inaugural worship service was held on 12 April 1867.[7] The first minister was Cadwallader William Evan. The organist, who served for 45 years, was James Shakespeare.

Union Church in the City Pirie Street Methodist and Stow Memorial congregations united on 1 June 1969 to form the Union Church in the City. In November 1975 the church changed its name to become Pilgrim Church.[8] The congregation joined the Uniting Church at its inauguration in 1977.

Buildings

Pirie Street

The foundation stone for the Pirie Street Wesleyan Chapel was laid on 15 July 1850.[9] The church was designed by Henry Stuckey. Completion of the building, after Henry Stuckey's death in 1851, was under the supervision of Edmund Wright,[9]

After the merger of the two congregations the building was bought by the Adelaide City Council and demolished in 1976.[10] Wright was also the architect of the Methodist Meeting Hall, located between the Pirie Street and Flinders Street churches. The hall was built in 1862 and is the only remaining part of the Pirie Street property and is now part of the Adelaide Town Hall complex.

Flinders Street

The building had it foundation stone laid on 7 February 1865.[7] It is designed in the Revival Gothic style.[11]

The architect for the building was Robert George Thomas who was among the first colonists, arriving in South Australia in 1836 aged 16 years.[12]

Church buildings relating to the Pilgrim Uniting Church congregation
  • The first Congregational chapel in South Australia (building on right) SLSA B-467
  • Gawler Place Wesleyan Chapel Engraving from a work by C. W. Calvert 1842 SLSA B-4500
  • View of the Wesleyan church in Pirie Street, Adelaide, demolished in 1976 SLSA B 62412-8
  • Stow Memorial Church (now Pilgrim Church), Flinders Street, Adelaide, about 1870 SLSA B 1941

Organs

The organ in the Flinders Street building was initially installed in 1855 in the Pirie Street building[13] with that from Flinders Street being sold to St John's Lutheran Church in Malvern.[14] Improvements over the years have made it the largest organ in the state of South Australia.[15]

Notable people

Stow Memorial Church

Pirie Street Methodist Church

Pilgrim Uniting Church

References
  1. "Odd Aspects Of City Church's Centenary". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 8 July 1950. p. 2. Retrieved 9 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Hambly, William Frank (Frank) (1966). "Draper, Daniel James (1810–1866)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-01-09 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  3. "Opening Of The New Wesleyan Chapel, Pirie-Street". Adelaide Times. SA. 20 October 1851. p. 3. Retrieved 10 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Farewell Social to Mr. Norman Chinner, LRSM". Australian Christian Commonwealth. 52 (2636). South Australia. 28 April 1939. p. 3. Retrieved 24 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Freeman Street Congregational Chapel, Adelaide Memories, State Library of South Australia
  6. "The Stow Memorial Church". The South Australian Advertiser. VII (2038). 8 February 1865. p. 2. Retrieved 18 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Stow Memorial Church". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 15 April 1867. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Libraries Australia Authorities on Union Church in the City
  9. "New Wesleyan Chapel, Pirie-Street". South Australian Register. Adelaide. 16 July 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 8 January 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. Pirie Street Methodist Church at Adelaide City Heritage, National Trust of Australia accessed 8 January 2016
  11. Stow Memorial Church at Adelaide City Heritage, National Trust of Australia accessed 8 January 2016
  12. Christine Sullivan, (2008), Architects of South Australia: Robert George Thomas, Architecture Museum, University of South Australia http://www.architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au accessed 8 January 2016
  13. Pilgrim Uniting (formerly Stow Congregational) Church, Organ Historical Trust of Australia
  14. Organs in Malvern, South Australia, Organ Historical Trust of Australia
  15. Pilgrim Uniting (Congregational) Church, Organ Historical Trust of Australia
  16. Condon, Brian (1986). "Muirden, William (1872–1940)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-11-25 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  17. Piper, R. W. (1988). "Piper, Arthur William (1865–1936)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-11-25 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  18. Warburton, Elizabeth (1988). "Sellar, James Zimri (1830–1906)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-11-25 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  19. Symes, G. W. (1976). "Todd, Sir Charles (1826–1910)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-11-25 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  20. Hilliard, David (1990). "Sykes, Alfred Depledge (1871–1940)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-11-25 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  21. Jones, Helen (2005). "Colton, Mary (1822–1898)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-01-11 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  22. Hambly, William Frank (Frank) (1966). "Draper, Daniel James (1810–1866)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-01-09 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  23. Hunt, Arnold D. (1996). "Hambly, William Frank (1908–1972)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 2016-01-09 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  24. Pilgrim Church website

34°55′37″S 138°36′03″E

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