ORIGINALLY planned for this weekend, the Bannockburn St Mary MacKillop Church dedication has been postponed to 2022.<\/p>\n
St Joseph\u2019s Catholic Parish of Meredith priest Fr Charles Balnaves said the event – the first-ever church dedication to be held within the parish – will take place either just before or after easter when the archbishop is available, and it is COVID-safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther churches in the parish have been blessed, but there\u2019s no record that there was ever a special ceremony like the one we\u2019re planning that says we commit to this church always being used for this purpose,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
St Mary MacKillop Church has been operating on High Street for approximately 18 months, named after Australia\u2019s first and only saint, who served country people.<\/p>\n
The new church was build on the site of the former St John the Evangelist Church which was demolished after a deliberately lit fire in 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to the parish in 2016, eight months after the church had been burnt down. People were still in shock, struggling along with how to gather as a community and celebrate mass on the weekends, but we continued on,\u201d Fr Balnaves said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA new church was needed but it had to be a church that grew out of what the parish wanted, needed, and reflected how they saw themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Parish gave architect Sandy Law key characteristics to respond to; \u201clight, bright, welcoming, quiet, prayerful, spacious and traditional.\u201d<\/p>\n
While reflecting the \u201cdesires and needs\u201d of the community, it also needed to be functional and seat 220 people.<\/p>\n
Law Architects came back to the parish with \u201ca design that spoke to us.\u201d Costing $2.25 million, it was over budget, but the parish and community committed to the figure, seeing the facility as \u201cessential.\u201d<\/p>\n
Receiving $600,000 in insurance money, fundraising then covered $450,000, bequests provided $700,000, and the rest is being paid for out of sale of land at Winchelsea.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole coming together to build the church, the way the community\u2019s been around during the building, supporting with money, offering efforts and ideas, it\u2019s been a real collective effort,\u201d Fr Balnaves said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the same as other buildings I\u2019ve had something to do with the construction of. There\u2019s a sense of the Catholic faith tied up in this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new church was first used at the end of November, 2019 before the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ORIGINALLY planned for this weekend, the Bannockburn St Mary MacKillop Church dedication has been postponed to 2022. St Joseph\u2019s Catholic Parish of Meredith priest Fr Charles Balnaves said the event – the first-ever church dedication to be held within the parish – will take place either just before or after easter when the archbishop is […]<\/p>\n