The community is invited to join the festivities as St John the Divine Anglican Church at Burnett Heads celebrates its 85th birthday with a community fair on Saturday 10 August.
The striking Tudor style church on a base of basalt rock has recently undergone repairs through Bundaberg Regional Council’s Our Stories Our Places Heritage and Character Grant program.
Longtime parishioner Neil Phythian said the fair provided an opportunity to promote the heritage work and celebrate various groups based at Burnett Heads.
“We hold a fair every five years to celebrate the consecration of the St John the Divine Anglican Church in 1939,” Neil said.
“The Anglican Church at Burnett Heads is the last surviving active church at Burnett Heads.
“The repair and repainting of the front wall and the repair and repainting of the bell tower are significant projects to preserve the integrity of the building.
“The 85th birthday is a significant milestone not only for our congregation but also for the wider Burnett Heads community.”
Neil said there would be a number of attractions at the fair including a sausage sizzle, plant, cake and craft stalls, musical entertainment and a vintage car display.
History of St John the Divine Anglican Church
In the 1930s, Burnett Heads was a small fishing village which consisted of men’s cottages and fishermen’s holiday homes.
Neil said, as the attractive coastal lifestyle indicated potential growth in the area, the Anglican Parish of Bundaberg saw it as a logical place to expand.
Mr Christie Mittleheuser donated a block of land for a church to be built, however it remained vacant for some years until 1939 when Rector of Bundaberg the Reverend Harold Osborn moved forward on building the church, named for Saint John the Evangelist.
Neil said Cordelia Osborn, wife of Reverend Osborn, sketched a building of an English Tudor design on a base of basalt rock with the intention of creating a structure possibly unique in Australia, rather than a wooden building on wooden stumps, which was the usual construction for country churches at the time.
The foundation stone was laid on 6 August 1939 by Lord Archbishop of Brisbane J.W.C. Wand.
Supporting the community
Neil said the Church continued to be active in the community.
“Churches are important buildings in the community but more importantly Churches are people,” Neil said.
“In a small way we hope to contribute to the spiritual growth of the folk at Burnett Heads.
“We actively support the welfare work of the Parish of Bundaberg.
“The Parish offers emergency relief packages to homeless folk in Bundaberg.
“They also support the homeless with a soup kitchen every Thursday and a free sausage sizzle every Saturday night near Buss Park.”
St John the Divine Anglican Church 85th birthday fair will be on Saturday 10 August from 10 am to 2 pm in the church grounds at 1 Paul Mittelheuser Street, Burnett Heads.
