Country parish celebrates a significant milestone
By Glenis and Don Heath
18 April 2026
Christ Church Warracknabeal - the oldest church in the town, build in 1886. Image credit: supplied
There are moments in the life of a parish that call us to pause, look back with gratitude, and look forward with hope. March 2026 was such a moment for the Anglican Parish of Warracknabeal — known to generations of faithful Wimmera families simply as Christ Church — as it marked 140 years of spiritual service to its community. The anniversary celebrations unfolded across two days that beautifully captured both the warmth of the parish’s fellowship and the dignity of its long Anglican tradition.
High tea
On Saturday 21 March, more than 90 guests gathered for a special High Tea to launch the anniversary weekend. Tiered stands laden with finger sandwiches, savoury pastries, and sweet delicacies filled the tables, and the room rang with laughter, warm embraces, and the kind of conversations that only happen when people who share deep history come together again.
For many, the occasion was a reunion — a chance to reconnect with former friends and present-day parishioners, and to reminisce about the many threads of life that Christ Church has woven together over the decades. Baptisms and confirmations, weddings and funerals, Sunday school picnics and harvest festivals: so many of the milestones that mark a life in this part of rural Victoria have been accompanied by the presence of this community and this church.
Thanksgiving liturgy
On Sunday 22nd March, the pews of Christ Church were filled to capacity for a special anniversary liturgical service presided over by Bishop Garry Weatherill, the Bishop of Ballarat. It was a service that honoured the past while breathing life into the future — a reminder that the church is not merely a building, but a living, breathing community of faith.
As the Reverend James Wood, the current rector, reflected in the parish’s commemorative booklet: “The church remains a place of Hope that dispels despair, a witness that Love can overcome hatred and discord, and a living reality that God’s Light banishes darkness.” Those words felt especially true on a day when so many gathered — some travelling considerable distances — simply to give thanks.
Following the service, a barbecue lunch in the Parish Centre brought the community together in the kind of easy, generous fellowship that country parishes do so well.
Planting for the future
The Rt Rev’d Garry Weatherill plants a commemorative tree in the church grounds with The Rev’d James Wood, Vicar.
In a moment that quietly captured the spirit of the entire weekend, Bishop Weatherill planted a tree in the grounds of Christ Church to mark the 140th anniversary. Spade in hand, with the Reverend Wood alongside him, it was a simple, grounded act — a reminder that faith, like a young tree, requires tending, community, and time. The roots that generations before us planted in this Wimmera soil have held through much. Those being planted now are an act of hope for all who will come after.
Roots deep enough to hold
The foundation stone of Christ Church was laid in 1886 by the Reverend Samuel Thornton, Lord Bishop of Ballarat, and the first service was held on 13th February 1887. Built by De Largy, D’Alton Bros. & Fitzmaurice for the sum of 460 pounds, the red-brick church has stood as the oldest place of worship in Warracknabeal for nearly a century and a half — classified by the National Trust and enduring through drought, depression, two world wars, and a global pandemic.
Across those 140 years, twenty priests have served the parish, reaching out not only to Warracknabeal itself but to the wider network of small district communities across the Wimmera — from Hopetoun and Beulah to Brim, Sheep Hills, and the tiny settlement of Beyal, where early services were once held beneath a peppercorn tree.
A parish regenerating
The anniversary comes at a time of genuine renewal for the Warracknabeal parish. Under the Reverend Wood’s leadership since 2017, “Project REGENERATE” has breathed fresh energy into the parish’s life — from the innovative Shed Project providing woodworking and mentoring opportunities for local young people, to the biennial Walk of the Cross pilgrimage from Hopetoun to Warracknabeal during Holy Week. The parish’s catering team continues to serve regular community lunches, and in 2026 a local teacher and parishioner, Fiona Holland, is to be ordained — a new chapter in a story 140 years in the making.
Christ Church Warracknabeal stands as a testament to what a small country parish can be: a community that has baptised and buried, married and sustained, fed and sheltered, grieved and celebrated alongside the people of the Wimmera for generations. As the anniversary weekend drew to a close, the feeling was not one of nostalgia alone, but of genuine, living gratitude — and of anticipation for the years ahead.
Glenis and Don Heath are former parishioners of Christ Church Warracknabeal.