Our Vision:
Following Christ, walking together as first and second peoples, empowered through prayer by the Holy Spirit and seeking community, compassion and justice for all creation.
Our Mission:
To empower individuals to grow in faith and commitment so that they can share in the Good News of Jesus Christ and together embody and enact our Vision, thus enabling God’s mission to be fulfilled.
Our Values:
We value:
- The call to share the good news of Jesus Christ as a missional church.
- Prayer, listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit, being aware of the movement of the Spirit in our lives.
- Study of Scripture and the contemporary scholars of our times.
- The importance of compassion, pastoral care and deep listening.
- Mistakes being met with grace and understanding and without judgement.
- The opportunity to experiment, to be creative and to encourage.
- Walking in solidarity with our First Peoples and learning from their ancient traditions and wisdom.
- The imperative of peace making, environmental responsibility, reconciliation and justice for all of God’s creation.
- Working ecumenically with our neighbour churches and seeking understanding of other faiths and cultures.
- Welcoming people of all cultures, races, spiritual beliefs and sexual orientation.
- We seek to interact with our community and to financially assist other organisations in supporting those in need in our community, our nation and internationally.
Our History:
High Street Road Uniting Church
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
(Genesis:1-3)
In the beginning, when God’s Spirit swept over the hill in what was then High Street, Waverley. it inspired the Lechte family to open their home to their small Methodist community and on 12th June 1887, the first Methodist service of worship was held.
But there is more than one strand to the tapestry that is the High Street Road Uniting Church. In June 1958 the Syndal Presbyterian Congregation was officially founded and the new Hall-Church in Larch Crescent Syndal was opening on 20th February 1960.
Both Churches grew and prospered and the Spirit of God continued to inspire many good people over the decades and much was achieved to further God’s Mission in the City of Waverley.
In March 1971 the two congregations of the High Street Road Methodist Church and the Syndal Presbyterian Church agreed to unite – a process they called ‘Oneness’. The first service of the High Street Road Uniting Church was held on 3rd February, 1974 – three years before the inauguration of the Uniting Church in Australia.
The concept of ‘Oneness’ continued as High Street Road Uniting Church began working towards amalgamating with other Uniting Churches in Mount Waverley. This culminated in 2021 with the inauguration of a new congregation – High Street Road and St John’s Mount Waverley Uniting Church. With God’s grace, we envisage a bright future together.
The Australian Chocolate Lily
The symbol we chose for our 130 year celebration is the Australian Chocolate Lily.
It is a simple flower with six purple petals – three large and frilled and three small and fine – a double representation of the Trinity.
Each flower is carried singly on a slender branched stem suggesting the One-ness which was the foundation of the uniting of the High Street Road Methodist Church and the Syndal Presbyterian Church.
The Chocolate Lily was the floral emblem of the City of Waverley and was also used as the memorial emblem on the church fall made by Frances Friee in memory of her late husband Howard Friee – a faithful member of this congregation and former Councillor and Mayor of the City of Waverley.
To take the metaphor a little further, the Chocolate Lily has a sweet fragrance, reminiscent of chocolate or caramel – or perhaps the wind of the Spirit which ‘blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes’.(John 3:8)
It is the Spirit of God that has guided High Street Road Uniting Church for 130 years and will guide us into the future – inspiring our vision to reach out to the community and leave a lasting and faithful legacy and a Uniting Church presence in our city.
Alison Findlay, botanical artist and long-time member of this congregation, painted this lovely representation of the Chocolate Lily which now hangs in the church as a permanent reminder of our 130th Anniversary and our hopes for the future.
St John’s Uniting Church
St John’s has a long and blessed history. From 1947 onwards, occasional Methodist Church services were held in the home of Mr & Mrs Harry Downs in Sherwood Road, Mount Waverley. Later it was found that the Park Lane Primary School was available and on 31 October 1949, the first of ongoing fortnightly services were conducted by Rev Norman Smith and later by Rev George Harris.
Subsequently, Mr John Marriot, a devoted Methodist, donated two blocks of land in Virginia Street for use by the Methodist Church. On 15 December, 1951, a ‘folding church’ on this site was opened by Rev A.W. Pederick, Superintendent of Home Missions.
The Church grew, together with its Sunday School and Rev Keith Leigh assumed the responsibility for both High Street Road Church and St John’s. A more permanent building was clearly needed. A contractor, Mr Phelan, worked with the men of the Church and the John Marriott Hall was completed and opened in February 1955. The Chapel, Primary Room, Kindergarten Room and Fellowship Room were then built and dedicated on 27 September 1958.
The next stage was the acquisition by St John’s of two blocks of land east of the existing church property. Interestingly, the Looke family residence on one of the blocks was transported to land acquired by the Church in William Street and re-erected. St John’s had its parsonage and Rev Bruce Richards and his family become its first occupants in January 1964.
The time came for the construction of the Church.
On 11 July 1964, the Rev H.B. Freeman, President of the Methodist Conference, laid the foundation stone. The Rev Chas. Gallagher opened and dedicated the new building on 12 December 1964. Later years saw many fine changes to the suite of buildings.
The foresight of the St John’s pioneers and those who followed, together with the leadership and guidance of past ministers, gave a wonderful church to God’s glory in Mount Waverley. And the sharing of the buildings with the Bethel Presbyterian Church, a Korean congregation, in recent times has been an ongoing blessing.
Our New Leaders:
Ministers
Rev Semisi Tauali’i
Chaplain Cathryn Peppiatt
New Church Council
| Chairperson: | Colin Adam |
| Deputy Chairperson: | Paul Kirton |
| Secretary: | Fran Brooke |
| Treasurer: | Ron Adams |
| Deputy Treasurer: | David Brooke |
| Other Church Councillors: | Shirley Aldington, Alan Easton, Kathy Ferguson, Cliff Harding, Lois Litchfield, Rev Julie Ross, Rev Semisi Tauali’i. |
New Congregation Office Bearers
| Congregation Chair: | Paul Kirton |
| Congregation Deputy Chair: | Colin Adam |
| Congregation Secretary: | Fran Brooke |
| Presbytery Representatives: | Elizabeth Adam, Alan Easton |
New Elders
| Colin Adam | Brian Aldington | Shirley Aldington | Ian Bock |
| David Brooke | Fran Brooke | Alan Easton | Marie Edwards |
| Kathy Ferguson | Paul Kirton | Lois Litchfield | Shirley Lovel |
| Ian McKinnon | Tony Michell | Bev Pay | Carolyn Rooke |
Chief Stewards
| High Street Road: | Neil Whittington |
| Virginia Street: | Brian Aldington |