Snake Valley community saves beloved 130yo Uniting Church from closure

There are not many buildings in the small farming hamlet of Snake Valley in regional Victoria.

Green hills, sheep and the occasional pine tree dot the horizon on the drive from Ballarat to the once bustling mining town, but as the road turns a corner, an impressive church spire comes into focus.

Snake Valley resident Kaylene Baird said there was a common saying among locals when they saw the church.

The spire belongs to the 130-year-old bluestone Carngham Memorial Uniting Church.

Last year, the church was suddenly fenced off, as the spire was deemed crumbling and unsafe by the district's Uniting Church presbytery.

As fencing was erected around the church, a community fight to save the structure began.

The local congregation of around a dozen people feared their church was at risk of closure.

It's a familiar story, being played out across Australia, where congregations dwindle and ageing churches are deconsecrated and sold to private buyers.

There is even a Facebook page dedicated to listing churches for sale across the country.

It was a different story in Snake Valley, where steely locals not only believed their church had a future but also that it was their community asset to decide upon.

'The community rallied' 

Last year, the chair of Carngham Memorial Uniting Church, Kaylene Baird, told ABC local radio she feared the presbytery intended to sell the church and use the proceeds to support services in other towns. 

The presbytery had deemed the church unsafe, but Ms Baird denied it was structurally unsound. 

"We actively maintain our own church," she said at the time.

To save the church, parishioners wanted to gain independent congregation status – instead of being part of a cluster of regional Uniting Churches.

Beloved church saved

Last Sunday, on an icy winter's morning, around 30 people walked through the church doors to attend the first worship of the newly independent Uniting Church congregation in Snake Valley.

The church's organ, believed to be the last of its design still in operation, rang out across the space.

"We are the current custodians," Ms Baird said.

"So, it was very important for me to do my due diligence, if you like, and retain the church for the community."

Reverend David Fotheringham, moderator of the Uniting Church synod of Victoria and Tasmania, said the congregation was now responsible for maintaining the building.

"Insurance and maintenance can be very expensive, which is why some congregations make different choices about looking after old buildings," he said.

Reverend Fotheringham said there had been a "steady flow of sales of old church buildings" and the "proceeds of any sales go primarily towards ministry and missions in the region".

Congregation growing

Ms Baird said the congregation had grown during the process of saving the church, with 85 people now on their roll and 57 of them recognised as official members.

"That also sparked within those who are members of the congregation to return to the church."

In doing so, the Snake Valley church is bucking the trend of most places of worship in the country.

According to the National Church Life Survey, there was a decrease of some 1,200 churches between 1991 and 2016.

Almost half of all churches (47 per cent) around the country have less than 50 people attend weekly church services.

One of the new members is Elissa Callahan, who can see the Snake Valley church spire from her window at home. 

She moved to the region several years ago but didn't feel like the church was a place that she could enter.

When the call out came to save the church, she felt it was an invitation to get involved.

"There's something about being with a group of people who are singing together and being together and talking about their spirituality," she said.

"They're not the kind of conversations we have every day.

"That's one of the reasons I like being a part of this group; it's a different kind of conversation from what you have in the pub."

Ms Callahan said the congregation had also engaged with the wider community through music.

"Opening up the doors, saying this is part of your community, and [that] you're part of the wider congregation, come in and enjoy music with us," she said. 

After worship ended on Sunday, a blues band began to play, and several more people filed into the church for the performance.

"When you first walk in you're struck by the other-worldliness of it," longtime congregation member Susan Whiteley said.  

"It's like you're stepping into a space between this world and the next.

Ms Baird said the church was a place both for worship and celebration.

She said she wanted people "to feel safe coming in".

"[To have] a good time, mixing with the crowd, and for those who wish to worship and need that solace as well then we can provide that," she said.

"This is a community space, intended and gifted for the community."