ONCE a place of devout worship, a place to develop strong social and communal ties, a place to bond and gather, now empty and silent: another of the Riverina’s religious institutions will close its doors in coming weeks.
Services at Koraleigh’s Uniting Church have dwindled over the past several years from weekly, to once a month, to once whenever-it-may-happen.
The church building was constructed prior to 1950, the majority of the work undertaken by volunteers. The land was donated to the church, and the bricks were clad and cut on site, and lovingly placed, one after the other to form the house of worship.
Church council secretary Geoff Bradbury is one of the last vestiges of worship in the Koraleigh area, and has been attending services there since he was a boy.
“It’s been operating there for, I don’t know how many years, but the building itself opened in 1951,” he said.
Before that, the only outlet for Christians in the Koraleigh community was the town hall — the old town hall.
“You’d hardly call it a town hall, it was just a corrugated iron shed,” laughs Mr Bradbury.
The closure of the church in Koraleigh sparks a myriad of considerations for Mr Bradbury, the main of which are concerns for the community and the precedent the closure sets.
He recalls the closure of a football club in his area, wherein a member said that he hadn’t seen people he used to see every week, for over three years.
“Koraleigh itself has changed that much… There’s only two or three of the old original families still there,” he said.
Koraleigh is a small community, with the 2006 census claiming a population of only 373, and the practicalities of a dwindling Christian faith, insurance, and the costs of a minister, are all reasons Mr Bradbury cites for the church’s closure.
“The buildings themselves don’t belong to the local community, they belong to the church,” he said.
“We’ve got the responsibility of keeping them going, but it just became impractical.
“It’s a pity because it’s an icon in the community, it’s a heritage listing and it’s certainly a significant building.”
Worshippers under the Uniting Church are looking for a minister to lead the Swan Hill and Kerang regions, both areas can only afford a part-time minister, and by combining their efforts they are hoping to secure a full-time minister.
“That’s one of the problems now, is the shortage of ministers, and getting ministers to come to the country,” Mr Bradbury said.
The church is still for sale, a sad time for the community, however as Mr Bradbury understands, the building has been given a council heritage listing by the Wakool Shire Council, which will protect the outside from modification, and require council approval for any work to be carried outside.
The final service will be on September 20, at 2pm, and Mr Bradbury and the rest of the congregation extend a welcome to everyone, particularly those that have been involved with the church over the years. An afternoon tea will be held opposite the church in the new Koraleigh Town Hall.
Mr Bradbury and his wife Doris speculate that sporting commitments and the trappings of modern life may attribute to declines in attendance, and ultimately the closing of the churches.
“I suppose churches never close,” Mr Bradbury said.
“The church is the people… but the building closing, that will be a stressful thing.”
