St Thomas Anglican Church in Mulgoa reached an important milestone last month, celebrating its 180th Birthday, after it was originally consecrated on the 13th of September in 1838.

To celebrate the occasion, the church gathered on Sunday the 16th of September and held a very traditional service, more akin to 180 years ago than today. Around 50 people attended, many regulars but a few who had heard about the celebration from friends. People were encouraged (and largely succeeded) in ‘wearing their Sunday best’ as would have been the way back in the day. While this mostly meant suits and ties for men, dresses and hats for ladies; a few people dressed in period clothing.

For the service itself, they used the 1662 Book of Common prayer liturgy. This meant that there were lots of “thee’s and thou’s” as well as many old English words like enduedst, sitteth and shew.

Dr Adrian Sheen played traditional hymns on the pipe organ (‘And Can it Be’, ‘There is a Redeemer’ and ‘O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing’) and following the service they held a morning tea. This included a cake, cut by John Mahoney, as the minister and his 18-month-old son.

“St Thomas is a beautiful building in a beautiful location. I often just pause before heading into the building on a Sunday to listen to the birds and take in the sight. Despite the main road just through the tress you feel like you’re in the middle of the bush” said John Mahoney, Assistant Minister at St Thomas Anglican Church.

“But far more than the sights, the people of St Thomas are the real joy. As a new minister, fresh from Bible college, every member of the church welcomed me and my wife with open arms. Indeed, they haven’t just welcomed us but also our son who was born just 3 months after we’d arrived” he ended.