Congregational history

St Andrew’s Berwick Uniting Church is the oldest church in Berwick, Victoria,  and the congregation was founded amongst Scottish and English  settlers  in 1857 by Rev Alexander Duff, an Irish Presbyterian minister based in Cranbourne, Victoria.  Initially a wooden church was built. This was followed by the beautiful heritage building we see today, opened on February 15th, 1885.  A truly visionary building for its time, as it was built to hold more people than actually lived in Berwick at the time!

The St Andrew’s Berwick church and the Berwick Hotel were the first two significant public buildings in Berwick.

The old hall was replaced by the Fellowship hall in 2000, and the Childcare centre, now Ministry Centre was opened in 1992.

Initially it was named the Berwick Presbyterian Church.  The name ‘St Andrew’s” was added in 1935.  It became part of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977.

The pipe organ is a comparatively recent addition, coming from the old Dandenong Presbyterian Church in the early 2000’s.

With such a long and interesting history, including hosting the Berwick Anglican  congregation for the first 30 years of its existence, the St Andrew’s Berwick UCA church has been  documented in a 72 page book, “St. Andrew’s Uniting Church Berwick: A Celebrated History” by Russell Patterson, (2005).  Copies can be obtained from the church by request.