Surfcoast Anglican Parish

Torquay, Anglesea, Aireys Inlet
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Transfiguration, Anglesea

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Service Times

Eucharist, Sundays @ 9.00am,
Every Week.

Regular services at Anglesea commenced in 1886 and the Church of St Andrews was built and completed in April 1888, however it was burnt down in the bush fire of 1893. Anglicans then shared the Presbyterian Church and the RSL premises until the formation of the Parish of Mt Duneed with Torquay, Freshwater Creek and Anglesea in August 1951.

In March 1955 the Reverend Ron Durance was appointed as Vicar. Land at the corner of Camp Road and Inverlochy Place was generously given to the church and the new building was used for the first time on the Festival of the Transfiguration – 6 August, 1956. The church was dedicated on May 19, 1957 by Archbishop JJ Booth.

The church was designed to provide an expandable area to accommodate holiday congregations and this extension was completed in May 1967. The 50th anniversary of the church was celebrated in 2006 in the presence of the widow and family of The Revd Ronald Durance, the first priest. The interior was reordered in 2009 and dedicated by Bishop Graeme Rutherford on the feast of the Transfiguration, February 11, 2010.

There is a beautiful Transfiguration window which was given by a private donor when the church was built. It was designed and made by John Ferguson a stained glass artist whose work is in many churches in Victoria. He and his partner Papas “worked for an essentially conservative clientele, always urging them towards contemporary solutions of traditional subject matter.”

He died in November 2010 and Dr Bronwyn Hughes, noted stained glass historian, who has made a study of Ferguson's work, said: “he made a significant contribution to Modernist stained glass in Australia … (and) his windows will stand as fine examples of the art in a hundred years”. We are blessed to have such a beautiful window in our church. (The quotations in italics are from the Obituary of John Reginald Ferguson by Ken Scarlett, The Age December 24, 2010.)

Information about the window was provided by Ray Woods.

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