Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church

About

Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church is a heritage-listed church at 64 Spence Road, Wavell Heights, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by James William Gibson and built in 1966. It is also known as St Luke's Presbyterian Church. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 September 2022.

Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church (1966), in Wavell Heights, Brisbane, is a pentagonal brick church set within a church complex with mature trees. Built in a post-war suburb, the modernist-style church resulted from the Presbyterian Church's post-war building program, and its desire to remain relevant to contemporary society. Its plan, lighting, and furniture arrangement were designed to give the congregation a sense of community and involvement in the service, through gathered worship.

Wavell Heights, part of the traditional land of the Turrbal people, is located west of Sandgate Road, north of Kedron Brook. Prior to the 1940s, most of the area was characterised by dairy farming and pineapple growing, although by 1917 there were some residential subdivisions. The area was known as West Nundah until a public poll in July 1941 selected the name Wavell Heights, after the British General (later Field Marshall) Archibald Percival Wavell. Wavell Heights was formally christened at a concert at the Imperial Theatre in Nundah in October 1941. Other naming options had included "Beverley Heights" or 'Inala'. The suburb grew rapidly in the immediate post- World War II (WWII) era. Undeveloped land in Wavell Heights and neighbouring Chermside was acquired by the Queensland Housing Commission, on which by August 1947 it planned to build 450 houses. At the time, it was the commission's largest housing project, and it increased the population of Wavell Heights substantially. The Wavell Heights Neighbourhood Society was formed in 1947, and later established a community centre on Edinburgh Castle Road. A non-official post office opened on 4 December 1950 in the premises of Mr CB Grace at the corner of Rode Road and Pfingst Road. Three schools, including a high school, opened in the late 1940s and 1950s. The suburb possessed several churches established in the 1930s, including the Nundah Presbyterian Church (built 1932, as at 2022, known as the Gateway Presbyterian Church), West Nundah Methodist Church (built 1938, as at 2002 known as Wavell Heights Uniting Church), the Catholic Church of St Pascal Baylon (built 1937), and the Holy Spirit Anglican Church (1904–6 building relocated in 1936). Post-WWII growth resulted in a timber Presbyterian church hall being opened on Spence Road in 1952.

The Presbyterian Church and the site at Wavell Heights

The first Presbyterian congregation in Queensland had formed in 1849, and the first Presbyterian Church opened on Grey Street, South Brisbane, in 1851. Other Presbyterian churches opened in newly settled areas of Queensland, and in 1863 Queensland's Presbyterian congregations combined into a Synod and the Presbyterian Church of Queensland (PCQ) was formed. In 1865 three Presbyteries (covering multiple congregations) were formed: Brisbane (including Ipswich), Toowoomba (including Warwick), and Rockhampton (including Maryborough). The Presbytery of Maryborough was formed in 1870, Townsville in 1886, and Mackay in 1948. A union of Presbyterian Churches formed the Presbyterian Church of Australia in 1901. By 1954, the top four Christian denominations in the Metropolitan area of Brisbane were: the Church of England (34.33% of the population); followed by Catholic (24.35%); Presbyterian (10.74%); and Methodist (10.57%). Presbyterians also made up 11.7% of Queensland's population at this time. In 1977, the Uniting Church in Australia was formed from most members of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational denominations, although a third of Presbyterian congregations remained in the Presbyterian Church of Australia.

Presbyterian congregations in Queensland were formed into charges, under a minister, and a charge could include one or more church congregations. Before a fully sanctioned charge was formed, "Home Mission" charges could be established by Home Missionaries. The expansion of Presbyterian charges in Queensland was mainly due to the Home Mission enterprise, which relied on missionaries and money sent from the Home Churches in Scotland and Ireland. The Nundah Charge, which later covered Wavell Heights, held its first service in January 1932, and was a fully sanctioned charge by the end of 1935.

The Spence Road site of the 1952 Presbyterian church was part of a 10-acre-3-perch (4.05 ha) undeveloped block that had been acquired by the PCQ for £4,500 in 1947. The site was originally intended to become an auxiliary hospital, connected to the planned St Andrews War Memorial Hospital in central Brisbane, but despite a cairn of remembrance being dedicated on the Wavell Heights site in September 1949, the auxiliary hospital did not proceed, and most of the land was subdivided for housing in 1972. The cairn of remembrance (not extant) was unveiled on 10 September 1949. The St Andrews War Memorial Hospital was eventually established in 1958 on the site previously occupied by Emmanuel College on Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, which had relocated to the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland in 1956.

The auxiliary hospital plan had included a church, hall, and manse (house for a Presbyterian minister) in the northeast corner of the site, and this aspect of the project did proceed. The first meeting to form a Presbyterian congregation at Wavell Heights, chaired by the Reverend RJE Martin (the Minister of the Nundah Charge since 1942) was called by the Nundah Presbyterian Session on 27 January 1949. The use of 1 acre (0.40 ha) of the hospital site for the Wavell Heights church buildings was later obtained from the Medical and Social Services Committee of the PCQ.

The growth of Queensland's churches and the influence of Modernism, 1950s-60s

The decision to build a Presbyterian church at Wavell Heights was part of wider trends in Brisbane during the 1950s-60s. The 1950s were a prosperous time in Queensland, with low unemployment and a growing sense of optimism. There was also renewed religiosity across most denominations throughout Queensland. In addition, the population of metropolitan Brisbane grew by 36% between 1950 and 1960, and new housing estates and new suburbs developed. There was a rapid increase in housing density to the west, south, and east of the intended Wavell Heights hospital site between 1946 and 1951, and to the north by 1958. The number of Presbyterian communicants in Brisbane also increased by 54% between 1947 and 1961, from 5351 to 8247; while Presbyterian Sunday School enrolments more than doubled in the same period, from 4201 to 9155. Between 1961 and 1966, the number of adult Presbyterian communicants rose 18% while Sunday School attendance dropped 1.5%.

This increase in communicants was accompanied by a marked improvement in church finances. In Brisbane, the total income of Presbyterian parishes rose from £96,000 in 1954 to £230,000 in 1960. The financial position and building programme of the Wavell Heights congregation during the 1950s was assisted by the principle of "stewardship", or regular donations by churchgoers and the PCQ had set up its own Committee on Stewardship by the late 1950s. It was stated during the Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church's Church Progress Campaign that "Christian stewardship is the practice of the Christian religion, namely, systematic and proportionate giving of time, talents and material possessions, based on the conviction that they are a trust from God". In 1955, the American-based fund-raising firm, the Wells Organisation, had extended its operations to Queensland, with "planned giving" and "stewardship" being the new catchwords.

The growth in Brisbane's population, church attendance, and improved church finances resulted in the construction of new churches in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1950 it was reported that "as Brisbane continues to expand rapidly in all directions, more churches, halls and Sunday schools are being built or planned to cope with the growing population", and that a £1,000,000 building programme was planned by Brisbane religious denominations. Planned Presbyterian buildings included church halls at Alderley, Holland Park, Wavell Heights, Seven Hills, with a kindergarten hall at Kalinga. A new brick church at Coorparoo was well advanced and tenders had been called for a new brick church at South Brisbane. During the post-war years (1945–1977) over 1350 church-buildings were built in Queensland, with over 366 built from 1955 to 1959. By the late 1950s, ambitious building programmes were resulting in new churches, halls, and houses for ministers in new suburbs, while older timber churches in established suburbs were replaced with brick churches. During the 1950s at least 178 new church buildings opened in Brisbane, followed by at least 160 in the 1960s. The rate of church construction in Brisbane declined after 1964, along with membership in Christian churches. Of the new 1950s church buildings, 34 were Church of England (now Anglican), 33 Catholic, 24 Methodist, 24 Presbyterian, and at least 63 by the other denominations. Of the 1960s buildings, 26 were Church of England (now Anglican), 45 Catholic, 13 Methodist, 20 Presbyterian and at least 63 by the other denominations.

The 1950s was also a period of substantial change within Christian denominations throughout Australia, as they sought to remain relevant to modern society. Coupled with their expansionary building program, this led to a radical departure from established architectural traditions. Reflecting international trends, church designs moved away from historical revival styles and became increasingly influenced by modernism. Modernism had emerged as a movement in architecture in Europe in the 1920s and would become the most important new style or philosophy of architecture and design in the 20th century. It embraced the ideals of functionalism, new technologies and the rejection of ornament in an endeavour to create new and appropriate architectural solutions that reflected the social conditions of the time. In Queensland, modernist ideas had begun to be adopted for ecclesiastical architecture in the late 1930s and early 1940s, including the Shepherd Memorial Church of St Peter, Proston (1937), the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, Clayfield (1938), and the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Brisbane (1940). However, it was still expected that a church would be recognisable as such, resulting in a wide range of variations combining traditional church elements, symbols, and functions with new construction techniques, materials, and forms. As the 1950s progressed, traditional church building forms adopted further Modernist features, such as modern brick and metal details, and shallower roof pitches, while retaining traditional spaces, configurations, and motifs. These trends continued into the 1960s, with new roof forms and plan shapes.

The Presbyterian building program at Wavell Heights

The Wavell Heights congregation did not immediately commission a Modernist brick church. The first building erected on their land facing Spence Road was a timber "church hall" (church). The stump-capping ceremony was held on 5 May 1951, but due to building delays the first service was not held until 11 May 1952, and the church hall was officially opened and dedicated on 31 August 1952. The Sunday School which was established in the church hall in June 1952 proved popular, and a second timber building, a Kindergarten (Junior Sunday School) hall, was constructed behind the church hall, with volunteer labour from the congregation, and dedicated on 18 March 1956. By 1957, there were 341 children in the Sunday School, with a teaching staff of 31, and around 200 families were affiliated with the church. Wavell Heights soon became its own fully sanctioned charge, St Luke's Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church, in October 1959, with its own minister.

Further church buildings were added. A manse was completed, on a separate lot south of the church hall, in October 1959. The manse was designed by local architect Ray Smith, who in March 1957 had been appointed "Advising Architect" to the Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church. The 1959 manse was sold in 1989, with the proceeds used to erect a new manse/caretaker's residence (extant by 1991) on the south-west corner of the church site with rear access from Silene Street. This was until recently occupied by the former minister and his family, with the parish vacant in 2021.

A new brick church followed in the 1960s, although construction was delayed due to issues of design and budget, and changes of architect. Sketch plans for a multi-purpose building were presented in October 1961 by Ray Smith, with an estimate of £18,000. The proposed building included 12 classrooms for Sunday School as part of main auditorium, with part height, swing-up screens. The building was to have a steel portal frame with a 54 ft (16.5m) span, timber-framed walls, a terracotta tile roof, and a glazed front gable. This idea had been abandoned by September 1962. Smith was then asked to design a new church building, with a budget of £20,000, and plans for a brick building with two levels were submitted in November 1962 with an estimate of £22,000. This building was to have brick walls and a terracotta tile hipped roof, a vehicle driveway under a roofed portico, a central entrance porch and central aisle, and a church office and minister's vestry either side of the entrance. The front side wings would contain a choir assembly room (with steps up to the choir balcony above the main entrance) and a nursery, while the rear side wings would contain the Committee room, film room, and minister and elders' assembly room. The basement would contain meeting rooms, toilets and a kitchen. Tenders for this closed on 20 December 1963, with the lowest being £36,621. A new design was consequently sought, and the firm of Cross and Bain was appointed on 4 November 1964, with Jim Gibson, who had joined the firm in 1956, nominated as project architect.

James Gibson, church design, and the renewal of worship practices

James (Jim) William Gibson (1932–2018) was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales and was living in Brisbane from a young age. Gibson studied at the Central Technical College and the School of Architecture of the University of Queensland from 1951 to 1956, graduating with Diploma in Architecture. He commenced full-time work with Des Searl (Searl and Tannett, Architects) in 1951, and then Cross and Bain in 1956, before joining Goodsir Baker Wilde Architects in 1978.

While working for Cross and Bain, Gibson designed almost 20 Queensland church buildings (plus other unbuilt schemes) between 1957 and 1977. These were mainly in Brisbane, for the Presbyterians, Church of England and Methodists. Gibson-designed church buildings have included: Holland Park, St Matthew's Anglican Church (1958), Indooroopilly Presbyterian Church redevelopment (1960), Toowong Presbyterian (Uniting) Church (1960), Ashgrove Methodist (Uniting) Church (1962), St Paul's Anglican Church in Manly (1964), Stafford Presbyterian (Uniting) Church (1966), Wavell Heights Presbyterian Church (1966), Knox Presbyterian (Uniting) Church in Moorooka (1968), Bundaberg Uniting Christian Education Centre (1968), Pope Street Methodist (Uniting) Church in Yeronga (1970), Wellers Hill Presbyterian Church in Tarragindi (1970), Aspley Presbyterian (Uniting) Church, Tamborine Presbyterian Church (1975), Strathpine Presbyterian Church (1976), Indooroopilly Uniting Church (1976), St Stephen's Presbyterian Church Ipswich (vestries) (1977), Chermside West Presbyterian Church (Maundrell Terrace), Inala Uniting Church (church extension to existing hall), and Oakleigh Church of the Nazarene. An inaugural member of the Queensland Presbyterian Assembly Architectural Committee (1963–77), and its convenor for much of this time, Gibson advocated changes to church design within Queensland's Presbyterian and Methodist churches. He was also well known within both churches, attending and speaking at events, and was involved in merger discussions prior to the formation of the Uniting Church of Australia in 1977, even designing the logo for the new organisation. In 1977 he became a member of the Uniting Church Architectural Advisory Panel.