Christ Church, Rouse Hill, Sydney

Christ Church is an historic church building belonging to Rouse Hill Anglican Church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney located on Windsor Road, Rouse Hill, in the north west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Christ Church, was built in 1863 and is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Rouse Hill.

History

The land for the church, ¾ acre in total, was donated by Robert Fitzgerald to the Bishop of Sydney in 1863. [Warren, J.; Wilson, P.; Pullen, N. (2006). "Rouse Hill Village: a step back in time". The Hills District Historical Society Inc. ISBN 0-95-776023-X]

A summary of the history of Christ Church and its buildings, as recorded by Warren et al. (2006) follows:

* 1863: Land gifted to the Bishop of Sydney
* 1863: Christ Church built for the sum of 603 pounds 3 shillings
* 1863-1869: Christ Church building used as both a church and school
* 1869: A separate school building was built on the same parcel of land
* 1875: School changed from a denominational school to a public school
* 1878: Christ Church consecrated
* 1888: School closed and pupils transferred to new Rouse Hill Public School
* 1908: School building demolished and replaced by a hall (still standing)
* 1963: School master's residence demolished
* early 1980s: Church closed
* 1998: Church re-opened as a home for the congregation from St. Stephens, Kellyville
* 2004: Church closed when a new building for St. Stephens was completed in Kellyville
* 2006: Development Application lodged with council to redevelop the site

In recent years, the site has once more become active with construction commencing in 2007 on a new Ministry and Education Centre to be built alongside Christ Church. As part of this project, restoration works were undertaken to Christ Church and the 1908 hall. In March 2008, Rouse Hill Anglican Church moved back to the site from their temporary home at Rouse Hill Anglican College. The Ministry and Education Centre was officially opened on 27 April 2008 by the Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen. [ cite news
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Current Ministry

The current rector is the Senior Minister Martin Morgan, previously from Orange Evangelical Church (see History of Independent Evangelical Churches in Australia). The church currently has two contemporary congregations at 10am and 6:30pm each Sunday. A third congregation, which commenced as a church plant, meets as Stanhope Anglican Church at the Blacktown Leisure Centre in Stanhope Gardens each Sunday at 10am.

References

External links

* [http://rhac.org.au Rouse Hill Anglican Church home page]
* [http://www.stanhope.anglican.asn.au Stanhope Anglican Church home page]