St Barnabas Anglican Church, Broadway

St Barnabas' Anglican Church
Barneys
The new church, completed in 2012
33°53′01″S 151°11′46″E
Address	Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Denomination	Anglican
Website	barneys.org.au
History
Status	Church
Dedication	Saint Barnabas
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Francis-Jones Morehen Thorpe
Architectural type	Church
Style	International modernist
Years built	2010–2012
Administration
Diocese	Sydney
Parish	Broadway
Clergy
Minister(s)	Rev. Mike Paget

St Barnabas' Anglican Church (destroyed)
St Barnabas' Anglican Church in 1872
Country	Australia
Previous denomination	Anglican
History
Status	Church (destroyed)
Founded	1858 (1858)
Dedication	Saint Barnabas
Architecture
Functional status	Destroyed
Architect(s)	unknown
Architectural type	Church (1858 – 2006)
Style	Gothic Revival
Years built	1858
Closed	10 May 2006
Demolished	2010

St Barnabas' Anglican Church, Broadway, is an Anglican church in the Diocese of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The church is located on Broadway, near the University of Sydney and University of Technology in the Sydney suburb of Ultimo.^[1]

Commonly called "Barneys", the church is well known in Sydney for its church signs, including a celebrated "battle" with the publican across Broadway. The church would put up one sign and the hotel would have another with a witty reply to the church's sign. Some of the signs attracted the attention of the Sydney media.

History

Built by slum labourers in the Inner West region of Sydney, the foundation stone for the building was laid in 1858. Much later, some of the land in front of the church was sold and became the site of a commercial building in the Beaux-Arts style.

Arthur Stace, the "Eternity" man, was a member of the church.^[2][3]

2006: fire and destruction

A fire ravaged the church building at 3.30 am on 10 May 2006. It took firefighters around eight hours to completely contain the fire.^[4] Destroyed in the fire were a 100-year-old pipe organ, a historic stained-glass window (valued in the media at over a million dollars) and memorials to parishioners who died in World War I.^[5]

The investigation concluded that the fire was probably started at the power box. No accelerants were found, indicating that arson was not a cause.^[6]

2010: demolition of old church building and rebuilding

The old church building was demolished in 2010 and the new building, designed by Sydney architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, was opened in June 2012.^[7][8][9][2]

The new church building also houses a social community centre and creche. It was awarded a High Commendation (buildings of religion) at the 2013 World Architecture Festival in Singapore^[10] and the 2013 International Architecture Award.^[11]

"Eternity"

Arthur Stace, a member of the congregation, attracted attention for writing the word "eternity" in chalk on the streets of Sydney from the 1940s through to the 1960s in a distinctive copperplate style. "Eternity" was featured on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the 2000 New Year's celebrations.

A documentary about Stace, called Eternity, by Lawrence Johnston was released in 1994.^[12]

Battle of the signs

R. B. S Hammond began the weekly ritual of the St. Barnabas message board. His witty and often thought provoking messages were what made St Barnabas famous. Some include; "Drink and trouble are like petrol and fire", "Alcohol makes your mind stagger long before your feet do", "Do not nurse a grievance, teach it to walk" and "Divorce is the hash we make from domestic scraps". Continuing on the tradition was Robert Forsyth, who found that he had competition from Arthur Elliot, publican of the nearby pub, Broadway Hotel. The two noticeboards would often display subtle wordplay, including the following:^[13]

• St Barnabas: "This church is for sinners"
  • Broadway Hotel: "This pub is for drinkers"
• St Barnabas: "Money does not make you happy"
  • Broadway Hotel: "I'd rather be rich and happy than poor and happy"
• St Barnabas: "God made sex for marriage not for money"
  • Broadway Hotel: "Wish he had made money for marriage"
• St Barnabas: "Free Grace brothers and sisters" (St Barnabas was next to a Grace Bros store)
  • Broadway Hotel: "Free David Jones too" (referring to another Australian department store)
• St Barnabas: "The best things in life aren't things"
  • Broadway Hotel: "Things are not all what they seem to be"

Nowadays and perhaps somewhat ironically, after some services, particularly the later services, parishioners share fellowship with each other at the pub opposite St. Barnabas.

Ministry

The senior minister since 2010 is the Reverend Mike Paget.^[14] Other senior ordained staff include Jason Cheng, Erica Hamence and Rhys Duggan. St Barnabas' also employs a music director, Steve Crain, and a substantial ministry team.^[15]

Previous ministers at the church include:

Officeholder	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Ian Powell				Evangelist
W. A. Charlton	13 February 1901 (1901-02-13)			[16]
R. B. S. Hammond OBE	1918	1943	24–25 years	Started the tradition of the Church's signs[3]
Howard Guinness				Student ministry pioneer who was related to Arthur Guinness, founder of Guinness beer.
Paul Barnett AM				Christian scholar, historian and bishop
Peter Jensen	1969	1976	6–7 years	subsequently Archbishop of Sydney
Robert Forsyth	1983	2000	16–17 years	subsequently Bishop of South Sydney[17]
Mike Paget	12 August 2010 (2010-08-12)	incumbent	14 years, 138 days	[14]

Gallery

• 
  Church the morning after the fire
• 
  Some of the remains of the old church

See also

• Australian non-residential architectural styles
• List of Anglican churches in the Diocese of Sydney

References

1. Rauscher, R. C.; Momtaz, S. (2015). Sustainable Neighbourhoods in Australia: City of Sydney Urban Planning. Springer International Publishing. p. 212. ISBN 978-3-319-17572-0. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
2. Huxley, John (4 June 2012). "Message from a feisty congregation – we're back in the house". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
3. Lake, Meredith (2012). "Hammond, Robert Brodribb Stewart". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 20 March 2020. [CC-By-SA]
4. Just a Fiery Glitch Sydney Morning Herald 29 June 2006
5. Bishop vows to rebuild gutted church ABC News 10 May 2006
6. Police rule out arson at St Barnabas Archived 13 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 2006.
7. Maley, Jacqueline (20 February 2010). "Pastor and publican set for more punchlines as church rises from ashes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
8. Payne, Kaley (5 June 2012). "St Barnabas back on Broadway with a new church for a new generation". Bible Society. Bible Society. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
9. Campion, Vikki (4 June 2012). "Newly rebuilt St Barnabas Church on Broadway reopened". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
10. Drew, Philip. "St Barnabas Anglican Church". architectureau.com. Architecture Media Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
11. "NEW YORK ARCHITECTS SELECT PRESTIGIOUS INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE AWARDS FOR 2013" (PDF). International Architecture Awards. The Chicago Athenaeum. 10 August 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
12. "Eternity". IMDB. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017.
13. "Signs of the times". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 13 September 2006.
14. "Barney's turns a new Paget". Sydney Anglicans. 12 August 2010. Archived from the original on 15 August 2010.
15. "Barney's Staff Team". St Barnabas' Anglican Church. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
16. "St Barnabas' Church induction of the Rev W A Charlton". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 February 1901. Retrieved 20 March 2020 – via Trove, National Library of Australia.
17. Rob Forsyth Archived 10 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine Bishop Rob Forsyth's page, Rector of St Barnabas 1983–2000.

External links

• Official website
• Anglican Diocese of Sydney
• St Barnabas Broadway Soccer Club