Seven years in the making, St Mark’s Yarraville Anglican Parish is opening its redeveloped church at Spotswood.
The church, at the corner of Melbourne and Hudsons roads, was redeveloped to cater for a booming number of Chin refugees from Burma and to provide a childcare centre for the congregation’s young families.
To fund the redevelopment, the parish sold St Paul’s church at Kingsville to an Antiochene Orthodox parish.
The St Paul’s vicarage was purchased by a local real estate agent and a Nissen hut at its rear was bought by a parishioner.
Reverend Gordon Preece said the expanded church at Spotswood would cater for a modern parish, which had a lot of families with young people.
Mr Preece said reverend-to-be Jonathan Lopez would live at the new vicarage and help serve the new parish.
The childcare centre, run by Bloom Childcare, has 130 places and is 80 per cent filled.
The community is being invited to the opening and consecration of St Mark’s to be conducted by Reverend Philip Freier on October 18 from 7.30pm. RSVP by October 7 to yarravilleanglicanparish@gmail.com or call 0401 853 255.
