OVER 130 YEARS OF WORSHIP AT CHRIST CHURCH MILTON

Anglicans have been worshipping in the inner Brisbane suburb of Paddington/Milton for over 130 years.

Early in 1872, a Sunday School was begun in a house in nearby Caxton Street. Later that year, the first services in the area were held in the former Mortuary Chapel which was situated in the Anglican section of the Paddington Cemetery.

In 1873, with the congregation growing, the Parish of Christ Church Milton was formed. The Mortuary Chapel soon became inadequate and it was decided to look for possible sites for a new church. A stone church with a shingle roof was built adjacent to the Anglican section of the Paddington Cemetery and dedicated in January 1876. It was named the Memorial Church. On 22 December 1890, the Memorial Church was extensively damaged in a thunderstorm. So severe was the damage that the building was considered to be beyond repair and plans were prepared for a new building. In 1891, a temporary wooden building with timber shingles was built adjacent to the site of the old church. This 'Temporary' church remains to this day and is a heritage-listed building. The heritage-listed Rectory was built in 1883 and is still in use today. Christ Church Parish is proud of its connection with the New Guinea Missions. In 1891, Fr Albert Maclaren left from Christ Church to co-found the New Guinea Missions with the Rev'd Copeland-King.

Christ Church Milton is also proud of the fact that the Parish's Mothers' Union organised a home nursing service. This was the beginning of the St Luke's Nursing Service, a well known and respected organisation in Brisbane, and still under the umbrella of the Anglican Church. It began in 1904 when the Mothers' Union employed a young nurse, Sister Emma Jane Packer, to tend the sick and needy of the district. Sister Packer did her rounds on a bicycle—up and down the hills of Paddington and nearby suburbs. The first branch of the Mothers' Union in Queensland was formed in Christ Church in 1904.

Many pioneers of the district were buried in the Paddington Cemetery (now the site of Lang Park/Suncorp Stadium). The Paddington Cemetery has been closed since late in the 19th century and the only gravestones that remain are in the Memorial Reserve situated behind the Church. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the Parish was challenged by the loss of their Church Hall to the Hale Street Ringroad. Over the years the area surrounding the Church has been transformed, from a quiet residential suburb to a bustling inner city commercial area. In the 1950’s Lang Park was upgraded to a major sporting complex, next door to Christ Church. And in the early 1990s, the Parish found itself situated next to a major arterial road. The Church and Rectory are now surrounded by a state-of-the-art sporting complex—with only the Church Spire visible from Milton Road.

Through the years Christ Church and its community have successfully faced many challenges, however if you venture down Chippendall Street you will find a place of peace and tranquillity within a bustling inner city suburb. So come and visit Christ Church Milton and its Precinct. You will be pleasantly surprised!