SOME HISTORY OF THE NARACOORTE UNITING CHURCH:
History prepared by K. Viney with information and excerpts taken from "Centenary of METHODISM in NARACOORTE 1870 -1970" with foreword by Don Fuller, and "Wesley Church (the Methodist Church of Naracoorte) Opening and Dedication Ceremonies" by Rev. Dr. A. Harold Wood, M.A., President-General and Edwin N. Broomhead, M.A., B.D., Minister of the Circuit.
Henry Inglis, 1st Junior Circuit Steward, Naracoorte Wesleyan circuit
In 1858 Mount Gambier was first listed as a ‘station’ by the South Australian District of Wesleyan Methodist Conference of Australasia.
In 1859 occasional services were held in Naracoorte by a visiting minister on the Mount Gambier circuit.
In 1860 a resident Minister was appointed to Mount Gambier, Rev. William Bennett.
"At the first Mount Gambier Quarterly Meeting held on July 26th,1860, in answer to the question, "What more can be done to promote the work of God in the Circuit?" it was decided unanimously to purchase a horse, saddle and bridle for the sum of £25."
"We can imagine the laborious and dangerous journeys that the preachers made on horseback to the settlements scattered around the South East, and this would include Naracoorte, or Kingcraig, as the small town was then named. The Presbyterians of Kingcraig had built a church in 1858 and early Wesleyan Methodist services were held in this building."
Methodist Church cnr Ormerod and MacDonnell Sts Naracoorte
In 1868 the Kingcraig Wesleyan Trust was registered and the plan for a Wesleyan church building was made. The church was built by Mr Elisha DeGaris, a trustee, at a cost of £355. The foundation stone was laid on November 21st 1870 by Mr John Colton J.P. of Adelaide, with 150-200 people present.
"The Governments agricultural settlement policy of 1869 brought more families into the area and another branch of Methodism, the Primitive Methodists, became active in the South East and in Western Victoria. The Rev. John Barber was stationed in Naracoorte and services were held in the Courthouse."
The Primitive Methodists also built a chapel near Pioneer Park (on the North side of Naracoorte, on ‘Sale Yard Hill’), which was opened on July 17th 1870.
"The morning service was conducted by the Rev. John Barber and afternoon and evening by the Rev. Henry Holmes, who had travelled from Adelaide by a devious route through Milang, Meningie and Kingston, using both coach and paddle steamer."
In 1880 services in the Primitive Methodist Chapel ceased and the members merged with the Wesleyans. The building was being used "for industrial purposes" in 1957 at the time of the opening of the new church building on Foster Street.
The original Wesleyan Church was enlarged in 1904, and further extended in 1931. Some parts of the original stone walls still remain, built into the back of the Beaurepairs workshop on the site by the creek on Ormerod Street.
"The rapid development of the town and district in the post-war years compelled the Trustees to consider rebuilding and eventually moving to a new site."
The new Wesley Church (now the Naracoorte Uniting Church) was built on the present site of the corner of Loveday and Foster Streets, by Mr M.E. Stark, and designed by architect Mr Gordon Brown of Brown and Davies, Adelaide. A crowd of about 600 people attended the laying of the foundation stone on Saturday 22nd September 1956. The stone was laid by Mr A.C. DeGaris, a Trustee of the church and Grandson of the contractor who built the original Wesley Church. The first stage of building the main church cost "upward of £20,000" and it was hoped that with the addition of the Sunday School and Community Hall the entire project would cost approximately £50,000 at completion.
"The building of the new church was quickly followed in 1958 by the extensive Sunday School buildings. In this, another prominent churchman, Mr C.T. Perkins had the honour of laying the foundation stone. In 1965, Wesley Hall was added to complete a hollow square and a magnificent complex. Here the brothers Lloyd and Ronald Tiver had the honour of stone laying and opening respectively."
"The first manse was in Apsley Road and was followed in 1933 by a new building in Butler Terrace. In 1964 the Manse in Foster Street was completed and occupied."
"This, in the main has been the story of the church buildings, but the real story of Naracoorte Methodism is written into the lives of the men and women who have found their spiritual home here."