Community connections at Cherry Gardens

Posted in Culture

On Sunday 19 June, over 100 people attended Cherry Gardens Uniting Church to celebrate the opening and dedication of the church’s new meeting hall and the refurbishment of their “heritage room”.

With the church community first established in 1849, Cherry Gardens Uniting Church has witnessed to the local community for many years – and with these new building developments, it hopes to continue doing so for many more.

Uniting Church SA Moderator Dr Deidre Palmer reflected on the church’s history, noting her special connection to the Cherry Gardens community – she is the descendant of two of Cherry Gardens’ founding families. Deidre gave a message during the worship service part of the opening and dedication event, speaking on the topic of “Community in Christ: Living Compassion and Hope”.

The new church meeting hall was officially opened by Deidre after the worship service. Dr Alan Dube, the chair of the Cherry Gardens congregation, shared his reflections on the process of building the hall - how God had blessed the church in this process, and how the generous contributions and hard work of many had contributed to it being built. He spoke of the support from many small Uniting Church congregations, which was both humbling and a powerful expression of their faith in action.

Many of the organisations and individuals who supported the congregation in this building project were present at the opening and dedication. Included were government officials, ministers and congregation members, lay preachers, and past church pastors.

Members of the church’s founding families, the Cherry Gardens Garden Club (who meets at the church), neighbouring churches in Clarendon, Upper Sturt and Ironbank were also present. Representatives from Habitat for Humanity, an organisation who helped significantly in the project, were also invited.

Beginning in 2012, the meeting hall building project replaced the church’s 40-year-old tin shed with a modern facility including air conditioning, a deck area, kitchen, bathroom facilities, and multimedia. Although the project began with only a small budget, they have now managed to complete the build without accruing any debt.

The meeting hall and heritage room are welcome additions to the Cherry Gardens property, which is set in a lovely rural area. Already, the meeting hall has provided an ideal venue for retreats and training programs, and enquiries have been made about using the site for small weddings. This fits with the congregation’s vision of seeing their property used by the wider community.

The refurbished heritage room will be a valuable source of information about the ministry and life of the church community.

This building project required a huge step of faith for the small Cherry Gardens congregation, but they have seen evidence of God’s faithfulness throughout the process.

The meeting hall and heritage room will help the congregation to continue living out their faith – looking for future ways of connecting with the community, and valuing the contributions of those who made these connections in the past.


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