Presbyterian Church

Early Presbyterian churches were established at “Springfield” and “Murray Vale” Mount Crawford.

A stone building, known as Murray Vale, near to the home of John Murray, was centre of the parish from One Tree Hill and Lyndoch to Chain of Ponds. Before 1850 there was a break away congregation and John Warren, an elder, obtained a gift of land from the Government and the Springfield church, which was a Church of Scotland, was built just 5 kilometres from Murray Vale.

At the same time families were moving eastward and a church was established at South Rhine east of Springton.

For 14 years the Rev. H. L. Tuck conducted services at Murray Vale each Sunday. This church continued to serve the congregation until 1879. Today it is a ruin, with a cemetery nearby, whilst Springfield is a ruin.

Springfield was under the care of Rev. James Roddick who had been sent out by the Church of Scotland after a meeting held on 10 February 1865 was held to make a request for a local minister. At this time there were many members of the church in Mt Pleasant where services were held in the local schoolroom. He lived in the basement of John Warren’s home until a manse was built. Roddick attempted to reconcile the two congregations to no avail. Soon after his arrival a storm and earthquake damaged Springfield and the congregation began to move further afield. Roddick began services at Mount Pleasant whilst still living in the Springfield manse, but in 1865 church services were held in the schoolroom until 1866 when a church was built at Mount Pleasant and the congregations merged there, with a manse being built adjacent the Mount Pleasant church in 1867.

James Roddick was the first minister to occupy the manse. He was Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Australia when he died in 1872 aged 40. He was buried under a gum tree in the church grounds. His grave is still there and the stained glass window by the pulpit commemorates this pioneer minister.

On 29 June 1865 a committee met with the idea of erecting a place of worship. It was to be built on a block of land donated by Robert Wyllie. £300 had been collected and this was enough to start the building. Tenders were received for £577 and James Hall was the builder. It was the Districts largest church building.

The foundation stone was laid on 28 February 1866 by Rev. James Lyall. A document with information about the church, was sealed in a bottle, along with some coins, and placed with the foundation stone.

The church itself was opened by the Rev. James Lyall on 28 July 1866, only 5 months after it was started. On Monday afternoon a tea meeting was held to celebrate the opening and to report on the building. The vestry and porch were considered too expensive and were were not constructed with the original building. These were added later in 1889. 'The building, which is 45 feet by 25 feet within, and will seat about 250, is of Gothic architecture, ornamented by two octagonal buttresses on the front corners, embattlements, which, with all the quoins, are of beautifully dressed soft stone, with which this district abounds. The seats are of cedar, and the pulpit with platform is on a very modern principle and well adapted for the Presbyterian mode of worship'.

South Australian Weekly Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1867), Saturday 4 August 1866, page 3

OPENING OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MOUNT PLEASANT.

This place of worship, the foundation-stone of which was laid on the 29th February, and fully reported at the time, was opened on Sabbath, the 28th, by the Rev. J. Lyall, of Adelaide, who preached in the forenoon and evening, and Rev. J. Roddick in the afternoon; the church being filled at all the services, and the collections, without any pressing, amounted to £27. On Monday afternoon a tea meeting took place in the schoolroom, and as the tempestuous weather of last week had subsided, and given place to a beautiful day, the good people of Mount Pleasant turned out en masse, and the ladies as usual were quite prepared to welcome them by loaded tables of every kind of tea attendants ; indeed the supply exceeded the demand, although full justice was done by the visitors.

At 6 o'clock a public meeting was held in the Church, which was crowded to excess — Mr. Smith, of Strathalbyn, in the chair — who, after a few introductory remarks, called on the Rev. J. Roddick, who read the Building Committee's report, as follows : — 'They desire to express their gratitude to God for that measure of success which has hither crowned their efforts. With regard to the plan of the building, while without architectural pretensions, utility rather than ornament has been steadily kept in view, the Committee have aimed to make it as neat and suit-able as possible, to meet the requirements of the district. They entered upon the work desiring, as far as possible, to limit their expenditure to within a certain sum, so as to entail little or no debt upon the congregation. With this view several additions, such as a porch and vestry, were struck out from the original plan, which might have still more improved the external appearance of the building. They judged it best, however, in the meantime, to dispense with all that was not essential and not affecting the actual accommodation required, and leave any such improvement to be hereafter decided upon by the congregation as they shall deem desirable. The building is at present seated for 200, while more sittings can be added should the attendance demand it. The financial statement stands at the present time as follows : — Church con-tract, £577 ; sinking well, and extras, £41 16s. 3d. ; total, £618 16s. 3d. While the receipts by subscriptions, &c., amount to £388 10s. 4d. ; opening services, £27 3s. 9d. ; tea meeting, £23 12s. ; public meeting to-night, £13—£452 6s. 1d. ; leaving a balance of £166 10s. 2d. to be relieved of, which they confidently expect will be fully met by the bazaar undertaken by the ladies of the congregation, which is expected will take place in about two months. In the meantime, the Committee are in-debted to several friends who have kindly lent from £100 down to £10 free of interest for a limited period, which will enable them to clear their present demands.'

Mr. RODDICK then briefly and very forcibly addressed the audience on their respective positions, and the gratitude he felt in the success of the work. After which, the The Rev. J. LYALL very suitably referred to the appearance of the building, and the work yet required to be done, namely, the machinery of a Church — as a Sabbath-school, which, for the number of young persons he saw in the great assemblage now before him, presented a wide field for usefulness, to which he hoped some would be found ready to apply themselves in teaching. The next he referred to was a prayer-meeting, which was necessarily adjunct to a Church, as being the sign of the life within it. He trusted there would be found praying members to sustain their minister, and draw down blessings from above upon their fellows. The next was the missionary field, and he trusted that the Presbyterian Church would yet be able to maintain and send missionaries to China and elsewhere. He also pointedly advised the young men of the congregation to make sure of their hope, and be decided on religion, which would afford them peace of mind amid all the upheavings and tossings of time. He farther impressed upon them the wide field for laboring for Christ in the bush and elsewhere, where the word was seldom pro-claimed, and where he was sure their efforts would always be accepted. Mr. HOWARD, of South Rhine, then spoke on the freeness of the Gospal, and the responsibility of all mankind, in refusing or accepting the gracious offer of mercy. The Rev. Mr. HILL (Wesleyan) also expressed the pleasure he felt in taking part in the opening services of such a beautiful place of worship, and addressed them on the power, uses, and efficacy of prayer, which was followed by The Rev. Mr. BAKER, who also presented the beauty of erecting a house of prayer ; after which a collection was made (as included in the report), when Mr. A CARMICHAEL expressed the great pleasure he felt in taking up the thread of the address which he gave them five months ago, impressing upon them all to do something in the work. The report read evidenced, by the collections and subscriptions, that they had done their duty. One thing, however, had that night been omitted, though not intentionally, which was that, though reference had been made to young men, the young women had been overlooked, who, considered in the relation of a young woman — wife or mother— was the most useful, the most effective in Society, whether for evil or for good ; and where was the man amongst us whose mind has failed to carry him back to those infant days when his mother taught him in pious simplicity of her God, and on bended knees to say ' Our Father.' The pious young woman, then, was she who could, humanly speaking, place indelibly the stamp on the rising generation, and should the young women of this congregation be pious, then a bright future is in store for Mount Pleasant, which was most earnestly to be desired. He then referred to the zeal they had evinced in the getting up of the tea, and concluded by moving a vote of thanks to the ladies for the tea, which was unanimously carried. Votes of thanks were then given to the chair, after which the dismission hymn was sung by the choir, led by a harmonium played by Miss Lowe, who very credit-ably conducted the psalmody at all the services of yesterday, and the Rev. J. Roddick pronouncing the benediction concluded these most interesting services at 9. ... ...The builders were Messrs. Hall & Ridler, under the inspection of Mr. A. Carmichael of Morphett Vale, who pro-vided the plans. And altogether it presents a. beautiful appearance externally, and an ornament to the town-ship ; while, within, the fittings, &c., reflect great credit on the Committee, who have so successfully completed the duty they were called to discharge.

A building was constructed for a Sunday School in 1957. This was utilised as a Kindergarten in the 1970s until a new Kindergarten was built nearby. The Sunday School building was damaged by an earthquake in April 2010 which began near Mount Barker, to the extent that the congregation decided to demolish the premises soon after.

The Mount Pleasant Presbyterians began a burial plot west of the township in 1878 with a burial of a child, Charles Frederich Matin, son of Charles and Mary Ann Martin, who died of diptheria. In 1991 it was taken over by the District Council as a general cemetery with responsibility for its administration.

On Sunday 12 September 1965 an inaugural service was held to mark the joining together of the Mt. Pleasant and South Rhine Presbyterian Churches and the Keyneton and Eden Valley Congregational Churches who formed themselves into a United Parish under the pastoral care of Rev. Keith Batt.

A centenary service was held on Sunday 30 October 1966. The church was thoroughly renovated. Walls were replastered and the building painted inside and out. A new roof, ceiling and floor were added. A new vestry in the name of the Maxwell family was donated. The dedication of the vestry and the rededication of the church were on the 23 October 1966.

Regular Anniversary celebrations were held, and fundraising often comprised a fete, with some at Rosebank, home of the Melrose family, and the Soldiers' Memorial Hall. A feature of the parish was the continuity of ministry for 100 years but in 2020 a final service was held at Mount Pleasant.

The stain-glass windows are a feature and are dedicated to various parishioners - George Melrose and his wife Euphemia, Rev. James Roddick, Peter Miller, John and Alison Murray, Edward Brice, John and Janet Thomson, and John and Mary Ann Gilmour.