Arrival & Establishment of

ChristianityIn Australia

1788 - 1981• Anglican Church in Australia was called

the Church of England in Australia

King Henry VIII

1788• Arrival of the First

Fleet• About 1/3 of the

convicts were Catholic

• Reverend Richard Johnson (1753-1827) was the first chaplain

• He arrived with the First Fleet

1792 and 1796• Petitions for a

Catholic Priest were ignored by the British colonial authorities

1803• The earliest recorded

Catholic Mass was celebrated by the Irish Priest Father James Dixon (1758-1840)

• He had been transported for allegedly encouraging the Irish Rebellion of 1798

Irish Rebellion

1804• Father Dixon lost his

official permission to celebrate Mass in public because he was suspected of complicity in the convict uprising at Castle Hill.

• All Catholic convicts were again compelled to attend Anglican services

Uprising at Castle Hill

1809• The Ebenezer

Presbyterian Church was built on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, under the leadership of a layman, James Mein. Ebenezer Presbyterian Church

1810• Australia’s first group

of Congregationalists met and conducted services in the schoolroom of William Pascoe Crook.

William Pascoe Cook

1812• Methodist meetings started

1815• The Methodist

Reverend Samuel Leigh arrived from the British Wesleyan Methodist Conference to conduct services.

1818• The Church and State were formally

recognised as separate and independent institutions within the colony

1820• Catholic Priests were

allowed to settle and conduct services in the colony

• Fathers John Therry and Philip Connolly arrived in Sydney

• Connolly then went to Hobart

Father John Therry

1820 & 1821• A Methodist Church was established in

Hobart (1820)• A Methodist Church was established in

Sydney (1821)

1823• The Presbyterian Reverend Lang arrived

in Sydney and Reverend Macarthur arrived in Hobart.

1824• The first Presbyterian communion service

was celebrated in the Ebenezer Church.• It remains the

oldest Australian church still in use today.

Prior to 1834• Australian Catholics were under the

jurisdiction of the Bishop of Mauritius

1834

• Authority over Australian Catholics was given to Bishop Bede Polding, based in Sydney

• The Baptist Church is established in Sydney

1838• The Lutherans first arrive from Germany and set

up in Queensland and South Australia

1839 - 1841• Baptist Church is established in:• Launceston (1839)• Adelaide (1840)• Melbourne (1841)

1850• Sydney saw the establishment of the first

Unitarian Group.

1851• Missionaries from the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) arrived in Sydney.

• Within a few short years there were Mormon missions in all colonies.

1880• Local people in Adelaide formed the first

Salvation Army Corps

1885• The first Australian Cardinal was

appointed in Sydney and he became the head of the Catholic Church in Australia.

• Some Seventh-Day Adventists came to Melbourne from the USA.

1896

• The First Greek Orthodox priest arrived from Samos to conduct services in Melbourne and Sydney

A Greek Orthodox Icon

1898• First Christian Scientist service in Australia was

held at Melbourne.• The first Orthodox Church was built in Surry Hills

(NSW), by Greek and Lebanese Christians, with assistance from Church of England clergy.

1904• The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society

(Jehovah’s Witnesses) set up its first branch in Melbourne.