St Stephen’s Emu Creek & Strathfieldsaye Uniting Church

On 19th October 1886 the inaugural meeting concerning the erection of a brick Church was held at Mr Fox’s vineyard. The foundation stone was laid Thursday September 15th 1888 by the Ven. Archdeacon MacCullagh from St Paul’s Bendigo.

Strathfieldsaye Uniting Church began as the Strathfieldsaye Methodist Church in the 19th century, serving the local community of landholders around Strathfieldsaye and Emu Creek.

Strathfieldsaye is a part of the Uniting Church Loddon-Mallee Presbytery, working with Arnold St, White Hills and Neale St Uniting Churches as the ‘Bendigo North East Cluster’ in coordination of ministry and pastoral matters.

Beginning in 2011, the Strathfieldsaye Uniting Church has entered into a partnership with the Anglican Parish of South East Bendigo and Bush Church Aid. The St Stephen’s (Emu Creek) Anglican congregation and the Strathfieldsaye Uniting Church congregations join together for combined worship on Sundays at 9am, alternating between the two churches.

On the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month, the 9am Sunday service is at Strathfieldsaye Uniting Church, providing a Uniting Church liturgical style with a Uniting Church Minister once a month, while the 2nd and 4th Sundays are hosted by St Stephen’s with traditional Anglican Prayer Book services. 5th Sundays and Easter and Christmas services are advertised at both churches and in local papers.

The next 5th Sunday service (April 29th) is at St Stephen’s Emu Creek.

A new monthly ‘Family Church’ has been initiated in Strathfieldsaye by the Anglican Parish of South East Bendigo, hosted by Strathfieldsaye Uniting Church, along with a holiday program. These new opportunities reflect the rapid growth of young families in Strathfieldsaye and the surrounding areas.

The Bush Church Aid Society of Australia (BCA) has enabled the Strathfieldsaye and Emu Creek agreement to be initiated and continued.