Halifax Uniting Church
I've just been home to North Queensland to celebrate my granddad's 80th birthday, and while I was there I took the opportunity to visit the Halifax Uniting Church.
This tiny little church was once the local Methodist chapel, and it has a long association with my family.
It was here that my beloved late grandmother, Ethel Mary Barrett, played the organ, and ran at various times the Sunday School and the Methodist Youth League.
It was re-built in the early 60s, and is an almost perfect example of 1960s Australian Protestant Church architecture, with its clean lines, its retro touches referencing the by-then deeply unfashionable art deco, and its utter simplicity.
The church was constructed with side doors that could open up onto the wrap-around veranda, thereby taking advantage of any passing breeze.
My mother recalls many hot mornings sweating away in the little church. It still remains resolutely un-airconditioned, thus perfectly embodying the Methodist spirit of its original builders.
The interior decor is extremely low-key, with simple polished wood pews and rails and a couple of banners that change with the liturgical season.
Being in that little church gave me such an amazing feeling - a feeling of continuity, of deep connection with my history.
And of course, wonderful memories of my beautiful Grandmother, who I miss so very much.
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