The St John’s United Church celebrates 55th anniversary
BENMORE GARDENS – The 55th anniversary service will be hosted on 30 September.
The St John’s United Church in Benmore Gardens will be celebrating its 55th anniversary with a celebration service and fun activities for community members.
In 1963, Benmore Gardens was a new suburb and did not have any churches. There was a desire for a Sunday school and the St John’s United Church was created. Anthony Griesel, from the church, said that although the church is under the pastoral care of the Anglican Church, it has been non-denominational from the start in order to accommodate all the new residents in the suburb.
In 1967 a small chapel was added to the Sunday school and three years later the Church of St John the Evangelist was constituted. It was agreed upon by the Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational churches that all the denominations would be combined so that there would be only one church for use by all.
The church now also host services for the Malawian Presbyterian Church and Ethiopian Episcopalian Church every Sunday.
“Community outreach has always been strong at St John’s and as an inner-city church, our presence is needed more than ever,” said Griesel.
The Narcotics Anonymous national office is located on the church’s premises with six weekly meetings and two weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings at the church. Some of the other community programmes hosted by the church include ballet and tap dance lessons, exercises for the over-60s, a weekly reading club for preschool children and an employment introduction service among many others.
This year, in order to celebrate its milestone achievement a celebration service will be hosted on 30 September and all the activities that the Church is involved in will be on display at the tea served after the service.
“St John’s was started to serve a need in the community and St John’s remains to serve its community,” concluded Griesel.
Details: St John’s United Church 011 783 1033.
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