A blessed union
From left, Syd Whyte, Robert Harrison and Les Adkins are helping organise the centenary of Arawata”s Union (now Uniting) Church.
By Jane Ross
THE inside doors of the Arawata Union Church are a rich red velvet, with elegant brass handles.
They are the entrée to a majestic place of worship lined with timber.
The morning’s light filters through a single stained glass window and the Baltic pine floor shows the pock marks of many a stiletto heel. The floor was polished in the 60s when high heels were in fashion and while the indentations might have irritated those who laboured at that task, they are an indication that this is indeed a much loved – and well used community building.
It marks its centenary this Saturday and a celebration is planned.
There will be a morning tea gathering at the Arawata Hall at 11 am, BYO lunch to follow, a centenary service at the church at 2pm and afternoon tea at 4.
Anyone with connections to Arawata is invited.
“We’re expecting up to 120,” said Robert Harrison, a church elder who has lived in Arawata all his life.
He’s a regular worshipper who, as a youngster, frequently counted the squares in the cream, green and gold pressed metal ceiling.
“What else was a boy to do in church?” he shrugged.
Robert, fellow elder Les Adkins and Kardella resident Syd Whyte are helping organise the centenary celebrations. All have historic connections to Arawata and are descendants of the 1910 Arawata Union Church Committee.
Services are held every fortnight at what is now known as the Arawata Uniting Church. Last year it hosted two weddings and four funerals and sometimes there are pet blessings.
Someone once took a chook to one of those while another wanted to bring his horse, but the church doors aren’t big enough to accommodate such bulk.
The pet blessings are a fitting reflection of history, for a community photograph taken during Arbor Day at the union church in 1910, included a dog.
And Syd Whyte had his canine Molly with him when The Star visited the church to find out about the centenary.
Robert suggested the mutt was on the nose, but Syd took no notice; he and Robert are related through their great grandparents so in a familial tradition that is common to us all, the jibes fell on deaf ears.
The community’s sense of its history is strong in other ways too.
Original copies of the church’s opening service program are still held and carefully guarded, as are meticulous historical notes penned by two of the town’s best-known residents, the late Jack Western and Cath Ritchie.
In 1956, a Sunday School was built as a tribute to the memory of the pioneers of the Union Church. At that time, there were nine teachers and more than 60 children attending.
To mark the 60th anniversary, a memorial garden was dedicated in the grounds and a book of remembrance placed in the church recording details of deceased district residents.
Robert is the church organist. He will play during the centenary service, accompanied by his wife Hilary on flute.
Their repertoire will include some of the hymns sung during the church’s two inaugural services.
Arawata is tucked away in the hills between Korumburra and Leongatha and the drive from either centre is picturesque.
That the early settlers cleared the land by hand is remarkable.
That they built a shared church long before most of the Presbyterian and Methodist communities combined to form the Uniting Church is no less significant.
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