St Paul's Church, Manuka

St Paul's, Manuka
St Paul's Church (2010)
35°19′13″S 149°08′09″E / 35.32028°S 149.13583°E / -35.32028; 149.13583Coordinates: 35°19′13″S 149°08′09″E / 35.32028°S 149.13583°E / -35.32028; 149.13583
Location	Griffith, ACT
Country	Australia
Denomination	Anglican
Website	stpaulsmanuka.org.au
History
Dedication	Paul the Apostle
Consecrated	1939
Architecture
Status	Parish church
Heritage designation	ACT: Listed #157 National: Historic #17894
Designated	ACT: 2011, National: 1992
Groundbreaking	1938 (1938)
Administration
Parish	St Paul's
Diocese	Canberra and Goulburn
Clergy
Rector	Brian Douglas

St Paul's Church is an Anglican church in the suburb of Griffith in Canberra, Australia. Founded in 1939, it is part of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn. It is listed in the Australian Capital Territory Heritage Register as an "...excellent example of an Inter-War Gothic church with Art Deco influences". It was the first place in Australia to install a combination organ and has the only peal of bells in the Australian Capital Territory. It was the first Anglican church to be built following the foundation of Canberra as the national capital (St John's in Reid having been consecrated in 1845) and is the first Anglican parish in South Canberra. It is situated on the corner of Canberra Avenue and Captain Cook Crescent, opposite Manuka Oval and the Manuka shops.

The parish was formed as a district of St John the Baptist Church in Reid in 1914 and a corrugated iron hall was erected on the south side of Canberra at Eastlake (later renamed Kingston) to serve the needs of the nearby workmen's camps. The hall was much used in the 1920s and a regular congregation gathered there each Sunday with a Sunday school. In the 1930s there was an active choir, football and cricket teams associated with the congregation. In 1933 a building fund was commenced for a new site and permanent church. However, as this was during the depression, progress was slow. A design by Sydney architects Burcham Clamp and Son was approved in 1938 and W. J. Perry, a parishioner, successfully tendered to construct it. The foundation stone for the new church was laid by the Governor-General, Baron Gowrie, on 11 December 1938. The church was dedicated on 6 August 1939, five days after the 25th anniversary of the holding of the first Anglican service in the St Paul's Hall at Kingston. It was the first Anglican church to be built in the district since the 1840s. Initially St Paul's was part of the parish of St John's; the parish of St Paul, Canberra, was proclaimed formally on 26 March 1950. Neville Chynoweth was the rector from 1971 to 1974. An organ loft was built in 1988 for Queen Elizabeth II's Australian Bicentenary visit.