personalities such as Mrs Pat Jenkins for the display of arts and crafts, has been enormously successful. It also attracts Brisbane patrons travelling up by special steam train.26

Churches

The hallmarks of the religious observance in the Brisbane Valley have been both ecumenism and conservatism, particularly in the German Lutheran and Apostolic denominations. In the 1850s itinerant priests visited the pastoral stations. In the 1870s selectors commenced subscription lists to erect halls for all denominations. The Caboonbah Undenominational Church has been a successful example of this tradition.

Church congregations expanded as districts

prospered. In 1871 the Lutherans established a church at Fairney Lawn. The Apostolics formed a group at Tarampa in the early 1870s as did the Baptists in 1873. The same year the Presbyterians

established a congregation at Esk and bought land. The Roman Catholic congregation began in 1877, the Anglicans formed their parish in 1889, the Methodists established a congregation in 1882 and the Salvation Army in 1892. The Methodists had

already established themselves at Wivenhoe in 1871. Lowood had German Baptist and German Lutheran churches since the formation of the town. The Wesleyans had been holding services in a store in Lowood but in February 1892 decided to build a church.27

The most architecturally interesting church in

the Brisbane Valley is St Andrews Anglican Church at Toogoolawah. It was designed by the diocesan

and renowned Queensland architect, Robin S. Dodds, and dedicated by Archbishop Donaldson on Sunday 12 May 1912. The wooden church, 78 by 30 feet with shingle roof and silky oak altar was built for £900. Mrs Mary E. McConnel played a significant role in having the shingle roof erected. The carving on the altar was crafted by a Miss Crouch in honour of Herbert P. Gardener's son. The wardens at the time were H.P. Gardner and George Launder, both long serving Shire Councillors as well. The first wedding in the

church was that of Sid Hill and Bertha Jones in June 1912.

Within a year the building was damaged in a severe storm causing it to bulge out some six inches. The building now has been listed by the National Trust for its architectural significance. A new shingle roof of 32,000 crows ash shingles was put on as a single gable roof in 1964 and completed in 1966. The external walls of brown stained weatherboard feature buttresses supported by

Cultural and Social Activities

timber stumps angled into the ground. The interior lining consists of natural timber in tongue and groove with V joints. The doors and windows are gothic in style. A new rectory was built in 1925 for £1,008.28

The Anglican and Roman Catholic residents of the Brisbane Valley were catered for by itinerant priests riding round their parishes, so the first church buildings constructed in the valley were those of the German Lutherans and Baptists, established between 1871 and 1873, soon after selectors occupied the land.

German residents of Fairnie Lawn district

gathered in mid November 1871 to plan a Lutheran church. A £35 subscription was raised at the meeting and subscription lists were sent around the district and to Ipswich. Local trustees for the

church were chosen and a site selected on rising ground near the new bridge. St Peters Church was consecrated on 2 June 1872 by Rev. E. Heiner of Ipswich. Rev. F. Schirrmeister of the German Station in Brisbane and Rev. C. Hellmuth of Logan River also preached. About 250 people gathered at Fredrich Draheim's house for the service by Rev. Heiner and then marched to the site of the church for the consecration. The church (32 by 21 feet) was built of hardwood and the roof and doors of pine. The total cost of the building and seats was

£80 and it was almost paid off. The building was submerged in the 1893 flood and later shifted to higher ground about a mile west. It has continued to serve the community for over a century and special celebrations were held on 10 September

1972.29

The early churches of Lowood all conducted their services in German. A Lutheran church known as the Bethel Church was erected in the early 1880s, with services conducted by Rev. Heiner. Bandidt, Weise, and Marback were the first elders; the adjacent cemetery was the first in the district and available for all persons. The Lutherans opened a new church in 1896 with a fulltime minister, Pastor Hartwig in 1897. They had been part of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod but in 1906 changed to the United German and Scandinavian Lutheran Synod. Between 1897 and 1923 monolingual German-speaking Pastors S. Horelein and H. Wallatt served in Lowood. The first bilingual pastor came in 1913 and Pastor Ludwig Doehler came from Alberton in 1923. They built a new 50 by 28 foot church costing £400 in 1910. President ofthe Synod, Rev. J. Kolhke opened it on 21 August 1910. The new Bethel Lutheran church was opened at Christmas 1915; its altar was designed by B.Qualischefski of Boonah Rural School. The opening services were held in

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