Building Project
St Barnabas Anglican Church began as a Mission church from All Saint’s Hindmarsh in 1905.
By the mid-1900s it held a significant place within the local community and the Adelaide Anglican Diocese. However, from the 1970s onwards, numbers declined and by 2012 there were only a handful of parishioners left. The church was set to be closed. But through an initiative of Bishop Tim Harris to try to revitalize the parish, the Anglican Diocese provided funding for a ministry position. So, in 2014 a team of 12 led by Rev Ben Woodd joined the 4 surviving members of the church.
Over the last 11 years we have experienced God’s faithfulness in remarkable ways as he has established a beautiful gospel culture at Barneys.
- There is a deep love for one another and a genuine sense that we are family.
- There is a hunger for God’s word; a hunger for discipleship. People at Barneys want to grow as followers of Jesus and to be equipped to serve him in every aspect of their lives.
- There is a heart for mission. Wonderfully, we’ve seen people come to faith in Christ and we’ve had the joy of sending members of the church out to serve Jesus in other parts of the world.
Barneys is a loving family of committed disciples and joyful missionaries.
There is a thriving kids ministry and a gospel-centred youth ministry run in partnership with two other local churches. There are weekly discipleship and fellowship groups, and regular evangelistic courses and events.
Members of Barneys are involved in many other ministries across the city and state, often in leadership roles.
When people visit Barneys they often comment that they were expecting the congregation to be much larger because the reputation of the church and the involvement of our members across the city is so significant.
The next chapter…
Over the coming years we have plans to significantly develop our ministry.
We are working towards launching an evening congregation in the building of St Cuthbert’s Prospect. It is a strategic location on Prospect Road, within easy reach of the student colleges in North Adelaide and Adelaide University on North Terrace. The new ministry will have the same rich gospel culture as Barneys but will particularly target university students and young adults.
Jack Hamer, who has been working with AFES for the past 7 years, is joining the staff at Barneys in 2026 to recruit and build a team with the hope of launching an evening service at the beginning of 2027. Under God, we hope that this new ministry will be a place where many young people can come to know Jesus, can be trained and equipped to serve him, and where future missionaries and church leaders can be raised up.
At the same time, we want to lean into the connections we have in our local Croydon community: building on the trust and goodwill that has been established over the last 11 years and pursuing further opportunities to reach out in blessing and gospel witness.
- We have partnered with an organisation called Kids Hope to establish a kid’s mentoring program in the local primary school.
- We would love to relaunch a Mainly Music group or similar ministry to connect more with local families, and
- We are exploring the possibility of starting a ministry out of the UK called Bubble Church which provides an opportunity for young families to explore and experience church together.
Building for growth…
The reality is that very little was done to maintain the church property over the previous 50 years and so the current generation is faced with needing to finance some major building works.
- In 2019 brickwork was repointed and internal cracks were repaired.
- In 2023 the church hall was comprehensively renovated including replacing the roof.
- In 2024 the church spire was repaired and repainted.
The total cost for these three projects was approximately $150,000 and was paid in cash from the church’s bank account.
We now have plans for a significant building project in 2026. Work is urgently needed to further restore the church building and to develop the site. There are five aspects to the project:
- We need to restore the 100-year-old church roof to prevent further water damage and to ensure that gospel ministry can continue at Barneys for generations to come.
- We need to repair and repaint the inside of the church and thereby restore the beauty of this historic heritage building
- We need to upgrade the bathroom facilities, bringing them in line with current building regulations, particularly in relation to disabled access
- We need to enlarge and refurbish the kitchen to make it fit for purpose and to enable catering for church ministries and community events
- We would love to Install solar panels and batteries to reduce our environmental impact and electricity costs.
The total cost for the project is $350,000
We could stagger the work and have a fundraising appeal that continues over a number of years. But we are conscious of the potential for that to distract us from gospel ministry and the plans we have to expand our influence and impact. Therefore, we hope to complete all five parts of the project in 2026.
Investing in this story
The church congregation will give generously to this project and we are making applications for a number of grants. But we are also going to need investment from external supporters.
We believe that this is a church with a bright future and a story worth investing in. We’re really excited about the next chapter and would love you to be part of it.
Would you be willing to invest in this story?
Donations toward the church restoration work are tax deductible through the National Trust. Visit https://nationaltrustsa.org.au/appeals/ and choose “St Barnabas Church, Croydon” as the Donation Recipient.
Donations toward the new toilets, kitchen and solar are not tax deductible. Donations can be received directly into the church property bank account:
Name: Congregation of St Barnabas
BSB: 705-077
Acc: 00041442
If you have any questions please contact our Pastor, Ben Woodd at ben@sbac.org.au
Thank you for your interest in what we’re doing and thank you for any support
you are able to provide.
