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North Adelaide Congregational Chapel
The foundation stone of the new chapel, to be erected in North Adelaide, for the church and congregation under the pastoral care of the Rev Mr Jefferis, will be laid this afternoon by the Rev T Q Stow. It is to be hoped that a numerous attendance may be present.
Should the designs be carried out, the intended new Chapel will be one of the most beautiful churches in the colony, if not the most beautiful of all. Those who may be unable to attend at the laying of the foundation stone will have an opportunity of taking part in the subsequent proceedings of the day, which include a tea, and public meeting in the evening. The services connected with the laying of the foundation stone are advertised to commence at half-past 3 o'clock.
Ref: South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide SA) Tuesday 15 May 1860
FIFTY YEARS AGO
A RELIGIOUS JUBILEE
BROUGHAM-PLACE CHURCH
For many years one of the handsomest and most conspicuous buildings in Adelaide has been the Congregational Church in Brougham Place, North Adelaide.
The excellent proportions of the main structure and of a shapely tower have always been a source of pride, not only to its congregation, but also to the whole community. From whatever elevated position in the metropolis North Adelaide is viewed that classic tower "pointing heavenward" is a feature of attraction.
The church speaks silently but with eloquence of the faith and confidence of the Congregationalists of a by-gone generation, for although so long a period has passed since it was originally opened the edifice is still worthy to stand in the front rank of the ecclesiastical buildings of the capital, which is known all over Australia, whether rightly or wrongly, as "the city of churches."
The time of jubilee has come, and tomorrow the series of services in honour of that notable event will begin.
Dr Jefferis has prepared a valuable record in connection with its first half-century. He deals not only with the building itself, as also with the growth of the cause of which it is the commodious home. To the Colonial Missionary Society, he remarks, is owed "the first overt act to found a Congregational Church, in South Australia."
In the year 1837 the Rev T Quinton Stow was sent to Adelaide, where he arrived when the State was barely a year old. He conducted service first in a tent, next in a pine hut thatched with reeds, and then in a church in Gawler Place, which now forms part of the factory of Messrs A Simpson & Son. Thence the congregation passed to Stow Memorial Church in Flinders Street. Mr Stow it was who selected the site for the future church in North Adelaide, and collected the money to pay for it. Two members of his church resident in that part of the city (Messrs Thomas Frost and Manoah Morris) were associated with him in the initiatory work.
On the advice of Dr Halley, principal of New College, the Rev J Jefferis, pastor of Saltaire Church, who had been urged by his doctors to seek a warmer climate, was invited to come to Adelaide. He accepted, and on April 24, 1859 he arrived with his newly-married wife. In the meanwhile a hall in Tynte Street, North Adelaide, had been secured and the first services were held there on May 15, 1859 the Revs T Q Stow and F W Cox taking part. Three months later at a public meeting it was resolved "without delay to secure the erection of the intended Congregational Church," and a committee of 32 was appointed with that object.
On October 20, 1859, the church was formed by 52 persons entering into fellowship.
The first church meeting was held on December 2, when the Rev J Jefferis accepted the offered pastorate. Mr George Fife Angas presented the Sunday School, which began with 16 classes and 180 scholars, with a library. Mr Frost was the first superintendent. Sunday and weekday church services were all well attended.
At the last church meeting of the year the pastor announced that the building committee had selected a design for the church submitted by Messrs Hamilton & Wright. The tenders being too high the basement of the building was begun under the supervision of Mr Frost on May 15, 1860, exactly a year after the first service in the hall.
Mr Stow laid the foundation stone, and later there was a tea and public meetings in Archer Street Methodist Church. Among the gentlemen who took part in the gathering, and who are still living, were Sir Charles Todd and Mr R A Tarlton. In aid of the building fund there was a course of lectures in White's Rooms (now the Tivoli Theatre) by Sir Richard Hanson, Sir Charles Todd, the Revs Isaac New and Dr Jefferis.
A bazaar yielded £705. One Sunday an unknown friend put £100 in the collection plate, and Mr R Barr Smith gave £500, with £100 a year for current expenses.
On February 22, 1861, the new church, still in an unfinished state, was opened by the Rev T Q Stow.
On March 4, 1861, the Young Men's Society was definitely begun, and it was the first of its kind in the State, if not in Australia.
"In the early years of the society an audience of 400 or 500 listeners was readily secured," says Dr Jefferis, for lectures.
The Sunday School flourished, too, and within a year 250 scholars were admitted, while it attained a strength of 400, with 40 teachers, and its juvenile Missionary Society raised £1,000 in five years for the London Missionary Society.
The Young Christians' Union was established in 1874, its aims and methods being singularly like those of the Christian Endeavor movement," of which it was the forerunner.
The mission to Lower North Adelaide then known as Irishtown - was started in November, 1860. An empty store was engaged there as a Sunday School, with Mr Richard Searle as Superintendent. Today it is the chief auxiliary of the church.
For some time the Houghton Church pulpit was supplied by lay brethren from North Adelaide, and in 1876 the two churches were affiliated. High-water mark was reached at North Adelaide in 1876, in which year the church income was £1,343.
In March, 1877, Dr Jefferis left for Sydney after a happy ministry of 18 years. He was succeeded by the Rev Osric Copland in May, and during his pastorate the Medindie church was built. The Rev Samuel Hebditch followed in 1884, and in 1889 he gave place to the Rev Frederic Hastings, who remained until November, 1893. In January 1894, Dr Jefferis, who had in the meantime gone to England, returned as pastor, and five years later the Rev W H Lewis, of Ballarat, became co-pastor. Dr Jefferis retired on March 6, 1901, having been pastor altogether for a quarter of a century. Mr Lewis remained until February, 1905 and then resigned.
For two years and four months the church was without a minister, but on May 29, 1907, the Rev A E Gifford, of Malvern, Victoria, accepted the charge of the church, and he still fills the pastorate.
The original committee of the church, appointed in 1855 were Captain Bagot, Messrs Thomas Graves, Robert Stuckey, Alexander MacGeorge, John Richardson, Daniel Kekwick, Thomas Frost and Manoah Morris
Ref: Advertiser (Adelaide SA) Saturday 16 October 1909
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