NEW CHURCH.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19803, 16 December 1929, Page 3

NEW CHURCH.

PRESBYTERIAN HEADQUARTERS. BIG SYDNEY BUILDING. \ (rsoit oca own cobbbspokdsst.) SYDNEY, December 5. The foundation stone was laid by the Governor-General, Lord Stonehaven, last Saturday of a magnificent edifice which the Presbyterian Church of Australia is about to have erected in Sydney at a cost of £203,041. It will be one of the greatest of Sydney's great buildings, unique in architectural style and thoroughly inspiring in its beauty. The building, it is intended, shall constitute a monument "appropriate to the universal character and inherent nobility of Presbyterianism, a material consummation of the Church's pioneer efforts in this new world of Australia, and appreciation of the substance and vitality which actuate the Church toward the problems of the future." It is intended, in short, to have a building which will be a landmark in the city, and of which Presbyterianism in Australia will be proud. It is proposed that this giant structure will be the headquarters of the Chureh in Australia. The whole scheme is a most ambitious one, and provides for a building of twelve storeys, but for the present five storeys will be sufficient for the scheme. There will be an assembly hall that will seat 1500 people, which will be reached from an imposing main entrance —probably the most imposing entrance, if the plans are adhered to. of any building in Sydney. There will be two miuor halls

with extensive seating accommodation, and the building will house all the offices of the Church. The activities of Presbyterianism in Australia ar° now so extensive that considerable office accommodation is necessary, an-: the need for a new home was forced upon the Church when its city property was resumed by the Government to make way for the approaches to the new harbour bridge, which is now making such rapid progress. Towards the cost of the new building the Church has on hand £67,000 which is available from the resumption claims, and the rest of the money has been obtained on satisfactory terms. The new structure will be in the city proper, on the spot where John Dun-

more Lang, the father of Presbyterian ism in Australia, built the Scots' Kirk a little more than a hundred years ago He little dreamt then that there would arise a building which, it is anticipated, will usher in a new era for the Church in Australia. It is of interest to note, also, that the Presbyterians are building in Canberra a great cathedral which will be the headquarters of Presbyterian worship.