History of the Church

The development of Mullumbimby Uniting Church reflects both denominational change and local community initiative across more than a century. Presbyterian and Methodist activity in the Brunswick Valley began in the late nineteenth century, with Presbyterian worship associated with Rev. J. Brotchie in 1886 and Methodist work established by W. H. Thompson in 1889. The Brunswick Methodist Circuit was formed in 1905, and the first Mullumbimby Methodist Church opened in 1907 after local trustees purchased land and organised construction through donations, loans, and voluntary labour. Over subsequent decades, the church expanded its facilities in response to congregational growth, including improvements to the original building, the creation of a kindergarten hall in 1952, and the construction of the Methodist War Memorial Church (our current church), opened in 1963 as both a place of worship and a district memorial.

Following the inauguration of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, the congregation entered a further phase of redevelopment, farewelling the original timber church and opening a new Fellowship Centre (our church hall) in 1979. Throughout this history, the church’s development was shaped not only by buildings and institutional change but by sustained lay leadership, voluntary labour, youth activity, worship, mission, and community service, demonstrating the congregation’s continuing adaptation to the changing needs of Mullumbimby and the wider Brunswick Valley.