St Stephen's Anglican Church

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Bayswater, Victoria, Australia

Every Parishioner Canvass booklet

This is an extract of a written account of the history of St Stephen's written by Vicki Court.

A Lutheran Chapel was built in the early 1870s near the intersection of Mountain Highway and Sydney Road.  Other denominations held services in the chapel before erecting their own buildings.

The first Anglican Church services in Bayswater were held in the Lutheran Church in 1898.  As Bayswater was a rural area at this time there was a difficulty in having a regular clergyman to conduct services.

In 1905 a clergy house was established in Ferntree Gully where several clergymen and students from Trinity Theological College lived and it is they who provided the clergy who travelled on horseback to churches in the district of Vermont, Monbulk, Montrose, Bayswater and Macclesfield.

Since Anglican clergy conducted regular services at the Lutheran Church and there was difficulty in getting Lutheran pastors, many of the Lutheran congregation attended the Anglican services and later made up the congregation of St Stephen's Church of England when it opened in 1908.

One and a half acres of land was donated by a Mr Ridge in High Street as a site for the new church and the building was erected by Mr Garrett, a builder from Box Hill.  The church was dedicated on November 28, 1908 by the Very Rev. The Vicar General, Archdeacon Hindley, assisted by the Revs Canon Tucker, E.J. Withycombe B.A., C.A.M. Cerutty ThL., and the staff, clergy and reader from the clergy house.

On August 11, 1920 the district was subdivided into three parochial districts, each having their own priest in charge.  The Rev. Thomas McKeon was the first Vicar of the Vermont Bayswater Parochial District.

St Stephen's became an independent parish in the 1960s with the Rev. Harry Ellson as the first parish priest.

Church Buildings

St Stephen's Church of England was a brown timber building in High Street.  During the years alterations were made to the church building and many donations made for furnishings and decoration of the church.  Around the time of the first world war, services at the Lutheran Church ceased.  Most of the remaining Lutheran families had joined other churches in Bayswater, including St Stephen's.

In 1923 the Lutheran Church building was moved to the site in High Street where it became the church hall.  A supper room was added to the building.  The bell which had been imported from Germany for the Lutheran Church by Mr Carl Schmolling in 1888 was also donated to St Stephen's.  This is the bell that still calls the congregation to mass each Sunday.

A Book of Remembrance was established in 1939 and it records some of the donations and additions to the church between 1939 and 1955.

A pamphlet published in 1957 describes plans for the parish buildings.  An architect had begun preparing plans for a new parish hall, a new floor had been put in the old hall and the lower walls had been lined.  These were to be painted by the young people of the parish.  With the growth of the parish a vicarage would be needed as the parish would be large enough to have its own vicar.  The vicarage was built in 1960.

Bayswater continued to grow and in 1968 the decision was made that the church should move from the shopping and business area of Bayswater to the new residential area of western Bayswater and Wantirna.

In 1974 the church building was moved from High Street to its present site in Warruga Avenue.  The building was renamed the Kleinert Hall and is now the St Laurence Chapel.

A new building consisting of a church, narthex and a hall as well as a vicarage was built on the Warruga Avenue/Phyllis Street corner between 1975 and 1977.  The dedication service for the new church was held on Tuesday November 28, 1978.

The church is carpeted and has two contemporary stained glass windows.  There is an Aumbry near the high altar where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved indicated by a living flame nearby as well as a set of Stations of the Cross and an electronic organ.  The altar is placed for celebration of the Eucharist facing the congregation.  We also have a projector and screen for the overhead display of hymns and supporting overheads for the sermon.  The church can seat 140 people.  There is also a smaller chapel altar to the left of the main sanctuary.

The hall is adjacent to the narthex and has a well equipped kitchen where we hold our social activities and our Sunday School along with several Outreach program events.  The hall is often hired on an occasional basis.

The vicarage comprises of 4 bedrooms, lounge/dining room, entry hall, vicar's study, large kitchen and two bathrooms.  There is also a two-car garage and covered outdoor area.  Ducted heating and an air-conditioner are installed.

In 2004 the Chapel was rededicated to St Laurence and is today still used for monthly celebrations of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer mass.  The timber-lined building is also used for other occasional functions and concerts and maintains the original stained glass windows.  The church office is also located in the vestry of this building.