Caboonbah Undenominational Church

Caboonbah Undenominational Church stands beside the Cressbrook-Caboonbah Road, approximately 21k from Toogoolawah in the Somerset Region of South East Queensland, Australia. It was founded by Henry Plantagenet Somerset, and built by Lars Andersen in 1905 to serve a farming community at Mt. Beppo. It is a wooden structure thought to be designed by Mrs. H.P. Somerset and takes its name, "Caboonbah", from her husband’s property nearby. Originally it had a shingled roof, an unusual church spire and verandahs on its eastern and western sides. One small room is set aside for mothers with small children and another as a robing room for visiting clergy.

Caboonbah Church was developed as an undenominational or 'Union' church when all denominations in small communities used one building for worship according to their own faith until each denomination could afford a building of its own. Resident Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist ministers residing at Esk by 1905 visited Caboonbah Church regularly. Now Caboonbah Undenominational Church is one of the very few remaining churches in Queensland that still welcomes services for congregations of any faith.

The original trustees of this church were John Thomas Milner, David Walker Smith, Charles Henry Soden, Edward William Soden and Robert Dawson Soden “all of Mt. Beppo & Caboonbah”.

The Church celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a crowd of 250 sharing luncheon under tarpaulins and its honoured guests on that occasion were Dr. Don Cameron, M.H.R., Mr. Alec Skinner, M.L.A. and Cr. William Wells (Chairman, Esk Shire Council). The Queensland Times’ report includes a photo of the church.

Ten years later there is a more comprehensive report of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations with another photo of the shingled roof that was replaced with iron immediately afterwards. This report includes a history of the Church and lists 67 ministers of the Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian faiths who had preached at the Church. It finishes with the sentence: “The Caboonbah church is set on a hill and looking towards the mountains from all directions the scene is one of tranquillity and unsurpassed beauty, especially when the sun changes the mountain colours to various shades of blue, green and gold.” Since that time its beauty has been enhanced by the establishment of an olive grove beside its boundary fence so that the first sight of Caboonbah Church by road from Toogoolawah is its tall, white spire rising above the perpetual green of the olive trees.

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