Ebenezer Church

The Ebenezer Church is a heritage-listed Uniting church and cemetery and former schoolhouse located at Coromandel Road, Ebenezer, City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Andrew Johnston and built from 1809 to 1823. It is now part of the Uniting Church in Australia, having been a Presbyterian church prior to amalgamation. The church was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. History Ebenezer Uniting Church is Australia's oldest remaining church. It was the first Presbyterian church in the colony and is the nation's oldest functioning church. Worship began on the site as early as 1803, when 15 families, under the leadership of Pastor James Mein, met beneath the tree which still stands adjacent to the church today. The Covenanted Membership of the Church which was formed in 1806, was made up of people of Methodist, Anglican and Catholic backgrounds with a core group of Coromandelers. A church which doubled as a school and chapel was built in 1809. The first burial occurred in 1812 and a cemetery was established in the churchyard. The schoolmaster's residence is believed to have been constructed in 1817. Ebenezer Church was the first and for many years the only church built and paid for by voluntary gifts and labour. It was formally established as a church of the Presbyterian Order in 1824. The first ordained Minister to serve at Ebenezer was Dr John McGarvie, who was brought out to Sydney by the Rev. John Dunmore Lang in 1826 for this purpose. When Lang went overseas in 1830, McGarvie went back to Sydney to officiate at the Scots Church in Jamison Street and assist in the associated college.