Edna Barrie founded the Church Opportunity with Maisie Robinson in 1975 in the Melton South Methodist Church building. Methodist and Presbyterian Churches of Melton had combined severing their long held connection with Bacchus Marsh. A Manse had been recently built for the Melton Minister. At a Parish Committee meeting at the Melton South Church it was suggested to use the building as an Opportunity Shop. It opened in July 1975, and it raised $1,600 contribution to the church budget in 1976. In 1977 The Uniting Church in Australia was formed and the Melton South Uniting Church Opportunity shop continued to go from strength to strength expanding the buildings providing the welfare needs of the community. Melton Uniting Church Opportunity Shop, view from Brooklyn Road.churches

In the early l 970's , when our population was increasing rapidly and resident ministers were needed at both Melton and Bacchus Marsh, and after discussion between both denominations over many months a decision was reached , that in both areas they would unite and be known as Methodist - Presbyterian joint parishes. In 1972 Ministers were appointed, and Melton's minister occupied one of the Bacchus Marsh Manses during the building of Melton's church residence in Y uille Street. Services were held at Scots Presbyterian Church Melton. Youth Club and church meetings were held in the Methodist Church at Brooklyn Road, Melton South. At a joint Parish Committee Meeting held in May 1975 at Melton South - a major item of business was finance, to meet the repayments on the recently built Church Manse and the minister's Stipend. The meeting closed without any solution to this problem being made. As the men restacked the chairs Maisie and I viewed the building with the possibility of opening an Opp Shop on the premises. We then made the suggestion to the other members and during the forthcoming weeks investigations concerning the feasibility of this idea were made, volunteers recruited and the shop opened in July 1975. The first contribution to the Church funds of $1,600 was made in 1976 and was followed by regular contributions to the church budget each year. In 1981 a 30'x 20' steel garage costing $2,000 was erected adjacent to the original Methodist Church to provide more space. Meanwhile an Opp Shop was opened in Melton Markets and operated from 1981 to 1985. Further accommodation was needed at Yuille Street and the Atco Hall was installed at the rear of the Bluestone Church (known as Melton Uniting Church - 1977). A large proportion of finance for this project was contributed by the Opp Shop $16,000. Simultaneously finance was being built up to provide further facilities at Brooklyn Rd, resulting in the commencement of a concrete block masonry and steel extension, with facilities & fittings, being commenced during 1986 & completed in 1989. The approximate total cost of this structure was $60,000. Over the 16 years, members and friends of our church have contributed many many hours to staff the shop and many other supportive works. As an acknowledgement of their efforts, our Minister prepared Certificates for Service and Dedication which were presented to 75 supporters at a special Church Service in June 1991. The assistance that has been given to the community of Melton & District has been extensive and much appreciated by many families. In addition many appeals for goods and clothing have been received and packages sent to many outside supportive agencies. Three volunteers having a tea break in the staffroom of the Op Shoplocal identities, churches

Rev Laurel Grace Davey was firstly a minister in the Methodist Church and then the Uniting Church. She was ordained in 1971 soon after the Victorian and Tasmanian Methodist Conference opened up the way for women to be ordained. Before that Laurel was a Deaconess, appointed to Geelong in 1956 as probationer. She also served in Parishes of Newport, Moe-Yallourn, Essendon, Nyah District (Mallee), Donald Heytesbury (Timboon), and was twice Presbytery Chairperson. She moved to Traralgon in 1993 after retirement where she was a one of the founders of the Fabric Art Group and the Friendship Club. [Source: Talking Point Traralgon District Uniting Church]B126 - Five badges pinned to a card with typed text. B126.1 - Christian Endeavour brooch - small silver bar with a Christian Endeavour emblem at the centre. The brooch has a safety chain with a safety pin at the end. B126.2 - Methodist Girls' Friendship brooch - metal bar with green enamelled MGF emblem at the centre. B126.3 - Methodist Youth Fellowship brooch - metal bar with small blue enamelled MYF emblem at the centre. B126.4 - Methodist Centenary Victoria lapel pin. B126.5 - Methodist Order of Deaconesses' badge - red and while enamelled badge with a safety chain. B126.6 - Not on the card: Methodist Girls' Comradeship badge - blue and white enamelled badge with safety chain.rev laurel grace davey 1927-2020, rev w j hunkin, christina davey, rev c w turner, christian endeavour, methodist girls'' fellowship, methodist youth fellowship, methodist order of deaconesses, methodist girls' comradeship

Rev Marlene Thalheimer was inducted as the first female minister in the Presbyterian Church in 1974.G146.1 Black leather-look hinged box with two clips and a handle at the top. The box is lined with white satin in the lid and blue velvet in the box. The contains: G146.2 communion chalice; G146.3 and G146.4 patens; G146.5 - G146.8 two lidded communion wafer containers; G146.9 plastic communion wafer container with wafers; G146.10 oblong tray with central handle containing G146.11 - G146.18 eight communion glasses. The boxed with fitted out to hold all these items together with a bottle which is missing. The box has two plaques on its front.Plaque on lid: ""PRESENTED TO REV. M.J.THALEIMER WITH APPRECIATION BY ST JOHN'S PRESBYTERIAN CHUIRCH ESSENDON - 1974 - "" Plaque on box: "PRESENTED TO ST JOHN'S UNITING CHURCH ESSENDON - 1991 - BY ROY, HUSBAND OF THE LATE REV. M.J.THALHEIMER A MINISTER OF ST JOHN'S THE FIRST ORDAINED WOMAN MINISTER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA"rev m. j. (polly) thalheimer, st john's presbyterian church essendon, st john's uniting church essendon

Land for the Methodist Church in Wodonga was reserved in 1864. By 1865 the Reverend Francis Neale, a Wesleyan minister was appointed to Albury from where he supervised the congregation at Wodonga Creek until a church was built in 1873. By 1885 Wodonga and the other preaching places on the Victorian side of the Murray had become a separate circuit under the Reverend L. J Rowlands. This circuit included Bethanga. Kiewa. Leneva, Kergunyah and Bonegilla. In the 1960s the Methodist congregation built a new chapel in Hovell Street, Wodonga. The creation of the Uniting Church during the 1970s meant that the services were held in the former Presbyterian Church and joint Sunday School classes were conducted in the Methodist Hall. In 1961 the Church building and land was purchased by the Ukrainian Community for £2,000. Ukrainian Catholic families in Wodonga donated £100 each towards the purchase. Additional fund raising such as carol singing in nearby towns (Benalla, Wangaratta, Albury and Wodonga) assisted with the purchase of the Church. The former Methodist Church was in poor condition and the members of its new congregation undertook the replacement of the floor, the footings, replastering of the walls and the construction of an altar. The renovations cost a further £400. Once a month a priest came up from Melbourne to conduct services in the Church. On completion it was blessed by Bishop Ivan Prasko to become St Olga's Catholic Church (Ukrainian). In 1965 the Church was dedicated to its patron St Volodymir, with Bishop Varlamm (Sydney) and Bishop Donat (Melbourne) taking part in the ceremony. The members of the Ukrainian Catholic community also built a hall and smaller chapel in Hunt Street, Wodonga. With a declining congregation, this property became more manageable to maintain than the original brick building and the decision was made to close the building in 2010. In 2022 the building and extensive block of land in Church Street was sold commercially for potential redevelopment.These images are significant because they depict an early Wodonga Church building.A collection of coloured photographs depicting the first Methodist Church in Wodonga, Victoria It was a red brick church with a steeply pitched gable roof and parapeted gable walls. There was a small front porch with matching roof and gable treatment to the front. Simple timber Gothic windows were along the sides, with a tri-partite window above the porch. Two sections of this window featured stained glass, the other was opaque glass. Red brick buttresses were topped with white-painted render, as were the parapets, and the windows were also outlined with white painted render. Timber joinery was painted white. A front path led directly to the porch and the Church was flanked by mature oak trees. A small, relatively modern red brick skillion extension was added to the rear of the building.wodonga churches, methodist church wodonga, ukrainian catholic church wodonga

Methodist services began in late 1893 in the bush, near the end of the present Silvan Reservoir. The seats were split rails and the pulpit a fallen log with a sapling rail. Then a miner's bark hut became available in on the Recreation Ground. The Methodist Church was built and opened in 1903 on the corner of Moxham's Rd and David Hill Rd., with the financial assistance of Mr. James Griffiths of Griffiths Tea. This booklet gives a comprehensive history of the development of the church, its congregations and ministers.Soft cover booklet of 40 pages. Cream coloured cover with a photo of Monbulk Methodist Church 1972.monbulk methodist church, betty hotchin