A rescue The Hope Vale community built their Church with their bare hands and is determined to ensure it lives on
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astoral services reach far from Hope Vale to Wujal Wujal and Coen, but the future of this country parish is under threat with funding sources drying up. The Church Elders and community leaders have rallied to save the Church and its spiritual support, launching a campaign that they hope will see the Church flourish for a long time to come. “We sing our hymns in our language, we celebrate the birth of our children, our marriages, and farewell our old people here,” a church Elder said. Chair of the Church Council June Pearson said, “The Church is more than a building, it is the people that make our Church.” “Together we can save our Church. If every Wujal, Coen and Hope Vale person signs on to this appeal we will achieve a great thing for our future and our old people.”
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A place of History and Hope Herman Bambie, a Church and community Elder helped build the St John’s Church where he would later marry his sweetheart Myrtle. Herman Bambie, Church Elder: “To me, why Hope Vale is a strong community, is because of the Elders of this community. Many of them have passed on their faith that was strong and it’s been passed down to us and we passed it down to our children. The Church is the centre of the community. I was in my twenties then when we started cutting timber out (to build the Church). There was no chainsaw, it was a cross saw and there was no dozer. When the Church was finished they wanted a steward to run the Church and I was picked as a young man. I see Pastors come and go but even on my retirement I still do Church work. Our old people aren’t here with us, they have passed on. But they’ve left this behind for us to carry on. I hope that won’t die out, for the young people to keep it going. The Church was important to them.”
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Myrtle Bambie, Church Elder: “We were married on 2nd June, 54 years ago. We were married in the Hope Vale Church. It was a happy day. There was no motor cars—we had to walk from home up to the church and back home. We packed out every seat in the Church. In those days the Church was full. For myself, I went to Wontulp training to be an Elder and I passed it and I help our Pastor today in the Church. We were taught when we were still young and we thank them for teaching us to live in the Christian way. We’ve got four girls and one boy. We want them to have a happy future.”
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The Congress of Clans and the Hope Vale Shire Council kick-started the appeal by donating funds and committing to an annual contribution. Pictured Mayor Greg McLean, Pastor David Spanagel and Deputy Mayor June Pearson
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