St Andrew’s Berwick Uniting Church began in 1857 as a church plant from Cranbourne, and has served Berwick and the surrounding districts ever since. Today we are a happily multicultural congregation of all ages, with a lively mix of activities and community groups.

We have an active Church Council and operate as a Safe Church. Our active ministers are Revd Sue Stott-Floyd, Revd Dr Tony Floyd, Revd Charles Sundasaran, Revd Chang-Bae Hyun and Revd Neil Peters.

How we are led

We are a congregation of the Uniting Church in Australia. Locally, the Church Council is responsible for the management and practical oversight of the congregation, and the Elders Council are our spiritual and pastoral leaders, developing the part we play in the mission of Christ.

We are under the authority of the Presbytery of Port Phillip East, our regional council, and the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. Nationally we are led by the Assembly of the Uniting Church. Any lay or ordained member can be elected to these councils, and we strongly support equal representation of lay and ordained women and men on all councils, and in ordination and all positions of leadership.

Our history

St Andrew’s is the oldest church in Berwick. The congregation was founded in 1857 among Scottish and English settlers by Rev Alexander Duff, an Irish Presbyterian minister based in Cranbourne. A wooden church came first, followed by the heritage building we worship in today, opened on 15 February 1885. It was a visionary building for its time: it was built to hold more people than lived in Berwick then. The church and the Berwick Hotel were the town’s first two significant public buildings.

The congregation was first named Berwick Presbyterian Church, and “St Andrew’s” was added in the 1930s to honour its Scottish and Irish heritage. In 1977 it became part of the Uniting Church in Australia, when the Presbyterian, Methodist and many Congregational churches joined together.

The Ministry Centre opened in 1992 and the Fellowship hall replaced the old hall in 2000. Our pipe organ came from the old Dandenong Presbyterian Church in the early 2000s. For our first 30 years we also hosted the Berwick Anglican congregation.

Our story is told in St. Andrew’s Uniting Church Berwick: A Celebrated History by Russell Patterson (2005), a 72-page book. Copies are available from the church.