ROWLAND FLAT : TRINITY
LUTHERAN
PAUL SCOTT
SATELLITE VIEW
This website is incomplete. Rowland Flat is to the south of the Barossa Valley, and as we were travelling through, I took the opportunity to photograph the exterior of Trinity Church. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to photograph the interior.
Seen from above, Trinity Church looks very interesting. The axis of the Church is about 20° off east-west, with the sanctuary at the eastern end. This is close enough for us to identify geographical directions with liturgical directions in which the sanctuary is designated to face East (with a capital letter), and the other directions accordingly.
Many of the Barossa Lutheran Churches have a rectangular plan with an attached bell tower at the Western end, and often an add-on vestry near the sanctuary. The design here is the more traditional cruciform shape with transepts, and an apse containing the sanctuary at the Eastern end. There is also a Western porch and bell tower. We shall see that the nearby building was constructed as a Lutheran School.
HISTORY
Year Built: 1867, 1955.
Address: Barossa Valley Way and Church Road, Rowland Flat SA 5351
It is difficult to find a coherent history of this Church. Here is information from two online sources.
Trinity Lutheran established itself after the disastrous flooding of the Hoffnungsthal settlement in 1853. In I855 the congregations of Holtnunesthal and Rosedale separated from Bethany. Around the same time the Hoffnungsthal members in the Rowland Flat area decided to form their own congregation. J.G. Schulz, a member of the congregation, offered as a donation the piece of land where the church stands today. The foundation stone was laid on 14th May 1867. The dedication service took place on 25 August 1867. A porch and vestry were added later and a Saturday School was established in 1899. A new Church was built in 1955 from a design by Mr S Chinney of Adelaide and the builder was Burley and Mader of Nuriootpa. The foundation stone was laid on 10 July 1955 by Pastor Georg. The cost was £15,000. A bell was donated by Messrs C and F Zerk and Mr and Mrs Liebich in 1937. A Wurlitzer reed electronic type organ was donated by Mr R.A. Gramp and his sister Miss O.R. Gramp in September 1960.
https://www.churchhistories.net.au/church-catalog/rowland-flat-sa-trinity-lutheran
Foundation stone [was laid on] 10 Jul 1955 by Rev J W Georg, [the new Church] opened 12 Aug 1956 on site of first church. First church: foundation stone [laid on] 14 May 1867, opened 25 Aug 1867, vestry 1880, last service 1 May 1955, demolished.
‘Special celebrations for the 70th anniversary of Holy Trinity Church at Rowlands Flat were discussed by members of the Lutheran congregation at a meeting on Sunday afternoon. The function will probably be held during August next. . . a special committee to investigate the possibilities of building a new church, or making improvements to the present buildings. Among suggestions received was one that the windows be replaced with coloured leadlights, and another that a substantial tower be added to the building.’ [Leader, Angaston 15 Apr 1937]
‘Lutheran adherents in the Rowlands Flat district are looking forward to consummation of a desire long held to erect a new Lutheran Church in the district. . . The first proposal was that the existing building should be renovated and brought up to date by the addition of a tower, the whole costing about £1,200; but other offers being made, a new construction was decided upon, the tower and bell complete being a donation to the movement.’ [Bunyip 1 Oct 1937]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/31967465@N04/9190845290
