St Margaret's Uniting Church, Hackett

Church in Australian Capital Territory, Australia

35°14′51″S 149°09′18″E / 35.2475°S 149.1551°E / -35.2475; 149.1551LocationCorner Antill Street and Phillip Ave., Hackett, Canberra, Australian Capital TerritoryCountryAustraliaDenominationUniting (since 1977)Previous denominationConcurrently (1964 – 1977):

ChurchmanshipLiberal ProtestantismWebsitestmargs.unitingchurch.org.auHistoryStatusChurchFounded1964 (1964)DedicationSt Margaret of ScotlandDedicated16 December 1967 (1967-12-16)ArchitectureFunctional statusActiveArchitectural typeChurchSpecificationsNumber of spires1AdministrationSynodNew South Wales and ACTPresbyteryCanberra RegionClergyMinister(s)Rev. Chris Lockley

St Margaret's Uniting Church is a Uniting church in Hackett, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

The church shares a spire^[1] with Holy Cross Anglican congregation is a major landmark in North Canberra, at the intersection of the four suburbs of Watson, Dickson, Downer and Hackett.^[2]

History

St Margaret's Uniting Church, together with Holy Cross Anglican Church, are the only remaining congregations from different denominations in the Australian Capital Territory to continue to share a church, hall and grounds, and on occasions ministers and even services.

The Church was founded in 1964^[3] as a shared congregation of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches in the then newly built North Canberra suburbs of Watson, Dickson, Downer and Hackett.^[4] In doing so it predated by over a decade the family of churches it now belongs to, the Uniting Church in Australia, which was formed in 1977 when the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches came together.^[5]

Services were initially held in school rooms until the completion and official dedication of the church building on 16 December 1967.^[6]

It faces the Signadou Canberra Campus of the Australian Catholic University, built in 1963 as the Dominican Sisters' Teacher Training College, across Antill Street.

The church is home to Meg's Toybox,^[7]^[8] the major toy library for North Canberra, and the Stepping Stones for Life disability support organisation.^[9]

Tradition

Worship at St Margaret's is in the liberal Protestant tradition of the Uniting Church in Australia.^[10]

References

^ "Welcome to HOLY CROSS ANGLICAN PARISH". Holy Cross Anglican Parish. Anglican Church of Australia. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.tams.act.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ St Margaret's : the first twenty years : a history of St. Margaret's Parish, Hackett, A.C.T. 1964-1984, National Library of Australia, accessed 2009-12-22
^ St Margaret's: the first twenty years: a history of St. Margaret's Parish, Hackett, A.C.T. 1964-1984. St. Margaret's Uniting Church. 17 December 1984. ISBN 9780959086102 – via National Library of Australia (new catalog).
^ "Synod of New South Wales and the ACT". nsw.uca.org.au. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ Radshaw, Hamer (9 March 2008). "English: Dedication plaque for St. Margaret's Uniting Church and Holy Cross Anglican Church Hackett ACT Australia" – via Wikimedia Commons.
^ "Meg's Toy Box - Phillip Avenue Hackett". ABC Online. Australia. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
^ "Meg's Toy Box Toy Library". ACT Library Service. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
^ "Canberra Region Presbytery - Canberra Region Presbytery". canberra.uca.org.au.
^ "Archived copy". assembly.uca.org.au. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)