{"id":196793,"date":"2017-11-28T23:14:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T13:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=196793"},"modified":"2020-08-10T13:51:40","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T03:51:40","slug":"church-gives-thanks-for-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/11\/28\/church-gives-thanks-for-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Gives Thanks For Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pastor Mark Doecke, Greg Hallam (Qld Rail), Jane Hodgkinson (HNCF) and Bishop Paul Smith at Sunday’s community celebration for the refurbishment of Nanango’s Immanuel Lutheran Church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 29, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nanango’s Immanuel Lutheran Church in Drayton Street was the scene of a special community celebration on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

A capacity crowd packed the church to give thanks for a Heritage Community Branch grant which had allowed extensive renovations to be carried out in the building over the past six months.<\/p>\n

The work included the installation of a new roof, new window awnings and a new side wall, and will ensure the property will continue to serve Nanango’s community for many decades to come.<\/p>\n

The church’s usual Sunday morning congregation of 18 was swollen by members from other local Lutheran congregations, members of other denominations, and Queensland Rail historian Greg Hallam, who produced a number of special posters for the occasion.<\/p>\n

The church building was originally the Nanango station master’s residence, and has occupied the same position at the corner of Drayton Street and Railway Lane for more than 106 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greg said the original station master’s residence was built around 1911 when the Kingaroy-Theebine line was extended to Nanango via Edenvale, Hornley, Coolabunia, Hodgleigh and Darlil.<\/p>\n

When the line was closed in 1964, the Lutheran Church purchased the building for $2734.75, and after refurbishment it was dedicated as the Lutheran Church Centre of Nanango, on December 19, 1965.<\/p>\n

Greg said that to his knowledge, the Nanango building is the only former Queensland Rail property that has ever been converted for use as a church, and he was personally pleased to see it still playing an important role in Nanango’s community.<\/p>\n

The celebrations began with a Sunday morning church service led by Pastor Mark Doecke accompanied by Pastor Paul Smith, Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Australia (Queensland District), who had made a special trip to Nanango for the occasion.<\/p>\n

After the service concluded, guests mingled over a generous morning tea on the building’s verandahs and posed for waiting photographers.<\/p>\n

Jane Hodgkinson, from Heritage Nanango Community Fund (HNCF), said the bank had been delighted to help the church with their project.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The building was an important historic property that is now listed on the South Burnett Regional Council’s Heritage Register, as well as vital for congregation members to use as a centre of worship.<\/p>\n

HNCF had also contributed towards the cost of refurbishing Nanango’s Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic church, which celebrated its centenary in September.<\/p>\n