About the Parish (continued)
Parish Diary 2008
February
3Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
5Shrove Tuesday (7pm Pancake evening in the Small Hall)
6Ash Wednesday (10:30am and 7pm Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes)
March
2Mothering Sunday
Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
7Friday Forum for March (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
Palm Sunday
Annual Vestry Meeting (11am in the Parish Hall)
20Maundy Thursday (7pm Eucharist and Commemoration of the Institution of the Lord’s Supper)
Good Friday (9:30am Eucharist and Good Friday Liturgy)
Holy Saturday (9am Working Bee in the Church)
23Easter Day (8am and 9:30am Festival Eucharist)
April
4Friday Forum for April (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
6Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
May
2Friday Forum for May (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
4Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
11Pentecost
18Trinity Sunday
June
Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
6Friday Forum for June (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
July
6Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
August
1Friday Forum for August (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
TBAPossible confirmation service
September
5Friday Forum for September (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
7Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
October
3Friday Forum for October (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
5Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
November
2Evensong with the St Paul’s Choir (4pm in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd at JamesFreemanVillage, Victoria St, Ashfield)
7Friday Forum for November (7pm-9:30pm in the Small Hall including light meal, forum and Compline)
30Advent Sunday (9:30am Family Service with Sunday School Prize Giving)
December
TBACarols Service at St Paul’s
TBAParish Christmas Party
24Christmas Eve (11:30pmMidnight Eucharist with Blessing of the Crib)
25Christmas Day (9am Eucharist)
Baptisms, Weddings & Funerals
St Paul’s is known as a beautiful, joyous, peaceful and dignified church with a welcoming spirit.
If you would like to arrange a baptism, wedding or funeral at St Paul’s, please contact our rector Father John Kohler directly, by phoning him at the Church Office, 97474327.
For more information on weddings click here
History
On this page you can read about the history of the parish of St Paul’s.
Saint Paul the Apostle (Link to below)
Origins of the St Paul’s parish (Link to below)
The ChurchBuilding (Link to below)
Recent Restoration Works (Link to below)
The William Davidson Organ (Link to below)
Saint Paul the Apostle
Our patron saint, Saint Paul the Apostle, was together with Saint Peter and James the Just, the most notable of early Christian missionaries. According to the Acts of the Apostles his conversion took place as he was travelling the road to Damascus.
Fourteen epistles in the New Testament are traditionally attributed to Paul. Saint Paul’s influence on Christian thinking has probably been more significant than any other New Testament author.
Origins of the St Paul’s Parish
For over 135 years, the Parish Church of St Paul’s, Burwood has been a place of committed Anglican worship and ministry, housed within one of the architectural landmarks of Sydney’s inner west.
The Parish of St Paul’s, Burwood was originally part of the Parish of St Thomas’, Enfield. St Thomas’ was consecrated in 1849 and had been the place of worship for Burwood Anglicans since that time. By 1871, however, parishioners of St Thomas’ had decided to form a building committee in order to construct a church specifically for the Burwood area. The Rector of St Thomas’, the Reverend Richard Young, together with a committee of Burwood laymen, commissioned the renowned church architect Edmund Blacket to design and build the church that was to be dedicated and known as St Paul’s Church, Burwood.
The ChurchBuilding
The church building of St Paul’s is a superb example of the work of Edmund Blacket. Dedicated priests and parishioners have cared for the church down the years such that its beauty remains undiminished.
The Foundation Stone of St Paul’s was laid on 29 July 1871. The first section of the church to be completed was the Nave, which was opened for worship in April 1872. Ten years passed before the chancel and transepts were brought to completion and opened on 1 July 1882. In 1883, a small choir vestry was added, which was later enlarged in 1904.
In 1883 Edmund Blacket died, his burial taking place in the churchyard of St Stephen’s Anglican Church in Newtown. Like St Paul’s, Blacket had built St Stephen’s in 1871.
The structure of St Paul’s was completed in 1924 with the addition of the tower, designed by Ernest Lindsay Thompson, the tower base having been in place since the 1880s. The tower remains the home of a peal of eight bells that were dedicated on 3 April 1960.Thompson also designed the stone fence along Burwood Road, constructed one year after the tower in 1925. The columbarium wall was built after World War II.
The fabric of St Paul’s is Sydney sandstone, rendered into a decorated Gothic style building. The church is cruciform in shape, aligned east west, and stands on the highest point in Burwood. Its windows sport a variety of tracery and provide the framing for a spectacular array of beautiful stained glass. The tower stands out as a landmark of the Burwood district, and the building as a whole is very much part of Burwood’s heritage.
Recent Restoration Works
In more recent times it became necessary to undertake repair and restoration works upon the fabric of St Paul’s. Heritage grants, as well as the generosity of parishioners and friends of the parish, have meant that all these works have been carried out with great success.
First, the William Davidson organ (see below for more information) required extensive refurbishment, both mechanical and cosmetic; in order to recapture its full potential as an instrument and a work of art. The organ was successfully recommissioned in early 2006 and is once again in almost daily use, for worship, practice and performance.
In 2007, the tower too required extensive repairs, both to its sandstone capping and to its wood louvres, which had fallen victim to the attentions of flocks of native birds. Though no small undertaking, the sandstone features were removed, reinforced and replaced, and the wood louvres substituted with metal, though still in keeping with the style of the building.
With such works behind and some still to come, St Paul’s continues to stand as a tribute both to the vision of Burwood’s pioneers and the enduring commitment of its priests and parishioners, both past and present. In spite of the vicissitudes of two World Wars, the depressions of the 1890s and 1930s, and the challenges of the present, still today St Paul’s functions as a place of faithful and joyful Anglican worship.
The William Davidson Organ
Click here to read about our magnificent William Davidson organ.
Link to external website: