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Anglican Parish of Kingston |
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Additional parish informationContacts
Youth Pastor Manager Rector's Churchwarden People's Churchwardens Office address100 Beach Road Postal addressPO Box 103 Telephone 03 6229 7678 Facsimile 03 6229 3271 Email apok@netspace.net.au Website: www.apok.org Youth Website: www.crossroadsyouth.cc The CommunityThe Anglican Parish of Kingston is within the Southern Mission Region of the Missionary Diocese of Tasmania, situated in Kingborough, 10 kilometres south of Hobart. The Parish has three centres within a 13-kilometre radius with a combined attendance in the vicinity of 500. Kingborough is an attractive municipality with opportunities for both rural and urban living within easy access to both regional centres and the capital city, Hobart. The municipality covers an area of 717 square kilometres and has an extensive coastline with beautiful river, coastal and mountain views. The municipality has a population of approximately 28,000, with a high proportion of young families. The majority of the population live in the Kingston/Blackmans Bay area (with an estimated population of 15 000). It is one of the fastest growing local government areas in Tasmania. The population in the main urban areas of the municipality have high income and home ownership levels. Kingston is the primary commercial, retail and administrative centre for the municipality. There is currently a major redevelopment of the shopping precinct. Kingston provides a range of employment opportunities. It is the site of Australia's headquarters for Antarctic research, the Antarctic Division and the Vodaphone Call Centre facility. Industries operating in the region include: aquaculture and fish processing, boat building, civil engineering, heavy transport contracting, saw milling, quarrying, building and joinery. Kingborough provides a wide range of recreational, sporting, shopping and educational facilities. The recent State budget announced significant development in the municipality, including a new high school and a senior secondary college. Information is provided on the Kingborough Council website www.kingborough.tas.gov.au on the local area, leisure activities, community organisations, schools, employment, business directory, churches and a 'Tour of Kingborough' highlighting areas of interest for new residents. If you want to know more about Tasmania and Hobart in particular these links will tell you more... http://tourtasmania.com/tasfaq/lifestyle/index-text.html http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm?SiteID=192 http://www.hobart.world-guides.com/hobart_photos.html Parish historyUntil the 1980s the parish was known as the Parish of Kingston and Channel. After a Diocesan boundary realignment, the name changed to the Anglican Parish of Kingston (APOK). The boundary now includes churches in Kingston (St Clement's), Blackman's Bay (St Peter's) and Sandfly/Longley (St Luke's). St Clement's KingstonIn 1842 the first building was completed on land donated by John Lucas. It was consecrated in 1856, although the first Baptism was conducted at Kingston in 1842 by the first Rector, the Reverend W Freeman. A noted convict architect, James Blackburn, designed the original St Clement's. In the parish office there is a sketch of this building, together with a distant photo taken in 1874. The building was poorly constructed and quickly fell into a state of disrepair. The red brick building, opposite St Clement's and formerly known as the Parish Centre, was the original parsonage, completed in March 1846. The building is Heritage listed and was sold in 2005 to a local Christian School for extension of their junior campus. The second church building, now functioning as a Chapel, was constructed in 1894. Stone from the original church was used in the foundations and the retaining wall which fronts the corner of Channel Highway and Beach Road. Planning for the main church building began with earnest prayer during the early 1980's. The construction project became a major factor in the church's developing history and the building was consecrated in 1985. The second Rectory at 100 Beach Road was transformed into the Parish Offices after the completion of the new Church. Several phases of construction have seen the centre grow into a building, which caters for five individual offices, a general administration workspace and a kitchen/serving area. The continuing building project will see a new Parish Centre erected on the site adjacent to the Church with access from its foyer. St Peter's Blackmans BaySt Peter's has a regular congregation of approximately 30 parishioners. In 1968 $10 000 was provided by the Estate of the late Annie Calvert for the purpose of the establishment of a church in Blackmans Bay. As a result of the devastating bushfires of 1967 consideration was given to the establishment of a church using new modular building techniques for the Blackmans Bay Church. On 4 August 1968, the Archdeacon of Hobart, the Reverend Ian MacDonald, unveiled the foundation stone. Bishop Robert Davies dedicated the building on 27 October. St Luke's SandflyThe first Anglican worship services were conducted in homes in the Sandfly area in 1891. In the following year, work commenced on a church building at nearby Longley. The building was consecrated on 22 February 1893. In 1931 the church was destroyed by fire and in 1932 rebuilt using the original foundation stone. The new church was destroyed in the 1967 bushfires along with many homes in the district. Unable to afford to rebuild their individual churches, the local Methodist and Anglican communities pooled their resources to build a place of community worship at Sandfly. The local Roman Catholic community provided the fit-out of the building. On 20 August 1969 Church dignatories from the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church, including Bishop Robert Davies, officiated at the consecration of the building. In recent years regular services in the Sandfly building have been held solely by the Anglican Church. The anchor on the cornerThis relic is from a C18-19 vessel long-since lost in the River Derwent. The anchor's design is classified as Old Admiralty longshank. It was inadvertently dragged to the surface off Castray Esplanade by the MV Straat Clement in April 1965. It was donated to the Parish, not only because of the link between the names of the salvaging ship and our Church, but also because an anchor is the symbol of Saint Clement. St Clement's anchor dominates the stained glass window situated near the altar in the chapel bearing his name at Kingston. |
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