The Banora Point Uniting Church congregation have plenty to celebrate this week as they mark 20 years at their current location.
The church will mark the impressive milestone with a celebratory service on March 10 at 9am and a breakfast the following Saturday morning. The celebratory service will be attended by high ranking church officials and the first minister at the church back in 1993. Church Council secretary Ross Biggs said the church was one of the first buildings to be built in the then new estate, developed by the Baker family in the late 80s and early 90s.
The church has gone from strength to strength since making the move out from Tweed Heads to Banora Point and now runs everything from Men’s and Widows’ support groups to play groups, an annual fete and craft clubs, adult fellowship and was a founding groups behind the Blair Athol Homeless Service.
And while the building was officially opened on March 21, 1993 (they have brought the celebrations up a few weeks due to Easter) the story of Banora Point’s Uniting Church goes back a few years earlier.
“In 1988 the church decided that they’d outgrown the current church building which was in Frances and Beryl Street, Tweed Head. After 77 years of faithful service, the church was far too small,” Max Biggs, a member of the building committee from that time, explained.
“They decided to move the church or to re-establish the church in the fastest growing area at that time and that was Banora Point.
“The building committee, comprised John Wessell (the first minister), Dennis Richards and myself.
“The three of us made an appointment to see the Baker family who were developing the large area of vacant land in West Banora. This was prior to any development here at all. There was absolutely nothing at all. It had been filled and drained and it had roads and they were right at the start of developing the area. Approximately here on this site they had set up a little demountable office and the three of us visited the Baker family. We introduced ourselves and why were there and we were met by a great deal of courtesy.
“Initially the church looked set to be built on the corner opposite the shopping centre but this was later chosen as a better site for the service station.
“We purchased the land in December 1990,” Max said.
“It was an exciting time. This area was blossoming.”
The church elders also door knocked the local com-munity and asked them about the site of the church – part of the construction process was an engagement with the community.
“Funding came from the selling of the original site in Tweed and when it was opened, the church was debt-free.”
