Historical information

St Luke’s Anglican Church officially opened on 15 March 1863 and originally operated as a branch of the Albury church. The first minister to conduct a service there was Rev. Robert Potter, followed by Rev. B. Brownrigg , Rev. J. H. May, Rev. D. E. Jones and Rev. J. K. Tucker. The first resident minister at Wodonga was Rev. J. H. White who came in 1879. The Church was constructed from locally hewn stone.

From the early 1900s the building was showing signs of serious structural problems. The community instigated a series of fund raising activities to enable renovations to be carried out. One of the most successful and long-lasting initiatives was the Annual Flower Show and Industrial Exhibition. The inaugural event took place in 1916 and the show continued as an annual event for several decades.

Unfortunately the costs of the necessary structural and remediation work were too high. After serving the congregation for more than a century, the St Luke's Church was closed by the Health Commission due to its deteriorated condition which was judged to be beyond repair. It was demolished by voluntary labour on the 10 – 11 August 1968.

Significance

This item is significant because it documents an important Church and community fundraising activity which was conducted annually for several decades in the early to mid 20th Century in Wodonga.

Physical description

A full-page advertisement from the Wodonga and Towong Sentinel of 1933 promoting the St Luke's Church Flower Show and Industrial Exhibition. The feature advertisement is surrounded by advertisements placed by a wide range of Wodonga businesses.