“Let us, therefore, be not daunted by the future, but seek God’s will, and do it, knowing that our hope is in Him who is able to do for us abundantly above anything we can ask or think.”

WT Brook
Minister 1966-

On Thursday the 9th of May in 1867, Hope Valley Methodist Church’s foundation was laid on the land donated by Captain Stephenson. Hope Valley had certainly been in the plans of the Methodist New Connexion before 1867, services already being held in the German Chapel, but this laying of the foundation stone signified a new day. Amidst difficulties that emerged in the early days, particularly the economic strain relating to the construction Hope Valley Methodist/Uniting Church was born. We have since kept the original focus of it's founding members - to love God and to love all others to this very day.

We are very blessed to have Joy Sparrow as an active member of our community for many years, and here is her account of the Hope Valley's history during her continued time with us.

A Testimony of the Early Days
"I grew up in those days where just about everyone went to church. All the girls wore nice dresses, the boys had to comb their hair. It was back in the days where the term “putting on your Sunday best” came from.
 
I started coming along to Hope Valley Methodist Church in 1945 as a very young girl. I went to another church for Sunday School because my parents liked the program better there, but in 1952 I came back as a Sunday School teacher. It was quite a small congregation, but plenty of children attending the Sunday School.
 
This was the days of the pump organ that Alva Churchett would faithfully play every week. As well as this, Alva would ring the church bell before the service so that all those in the local area could know it was time for church.
 
We used to have anniversaries for the Sunday School, and these were always really special times. The girls would talk their mothers into buying them new dresses and everyone just loved being together and celebrating. The students really got to show off at this time, being up on the platform and all their parents coming to see them sing. At that stage it was a man who went by the name of Mr Parsons who trained the children. Sometimes the anniversary celebrations would go for two consecutive Sundays, just to fit in all that the children could show.
 
The actual church congregation had diminished greatly by the late 1950’s. We had a congregation meeting to decide whether we should close the church or try to keep going. Church was difficult at this time. Sometimes there was only 2 people there, that was including the minister.
 
Things started to change in the early 1960’s when a new man started playing the organ. For quite sometime, the organ player had been Daph Ackroyd who was always a little nervous about it. But now, with Owen Pudney, a new era in the life of Hope Valley Methodist had begun. It was 1962, and the organist, playing the same old little pedal organ, ushered in a new wave of people, particularly young couples and families.
 
There was a real sense of community, where the older people embraced the young ones coming in. There was a strong sense of fellowship between people of all ages. The young people formed a couples club, and that was how home fellowship began at this church.
 
Owen’s considerable gifts in music enabled a significant growth in the musicianship at the church. He instigated a choir that had 40 dedicated members. It was a ladies only choir, many of them with young children, and so keen that they’d still be in the choir right to the end of the pregnancy! You almost had to drive them straight from practise to the hospital to give birth.
 
In 1970 the choir was involved in a number of musical productions including, Come Together, The Witness and Olivet to Calvary. We were in demand all over the state to come and sing in churches, even out to Ceduna, Pirie and over to Werribee. The council of Tea Tree Gully even asked us to sing in Tea Tree Plaza! Still going in 1989, we were involved in Murray Wiley’s Jerusalem Passion. This took us into the Festival Theatre, and even over to Sydney to sing in the famed Sydney Opera House. They were exciting and wonderful times. We had a great reputation as a contemporary choir, and because of this, we were able to journey through 25 years of hard work because of our love of music and God. Sadly, the choir was later disbanded to usher in a new, more modern way of music.
 
While we were facing great successes with the choir, we were also wrestling with serious issues related to the growth that had happened in our little church. Our sixty person capacity church no longer fit everyone in! The choir would sit out the back(all 40 of them) and listen to sermons through an open door. We’d come out to perform and then return to our backstage seats. It was sad to leave the old church, but at the same time, thrilling to see the way God had blessed us so richly with this growing fellowship.
 
In 1973, 1263 Grand Junction Rd was bought, foundations were laid, and the building was erected. It cost $20,000 for the project, and to raise money the plan was to write to 1000 members of the Methodist Church and ask for $20 a person. It was a good idea, but I think we only ever sent 500 letters. Thanks to the skills in building, flooring, electrical and many other trades, we soon had our new building and were ready to open our doors and continue to welcome people into our midst."

Joy Sparrow

Ministers Since the Turn of the Century 

1900-01	Rev D C Harris
1902	Rev J Crump
1903-04	Rev Albert Stubbs
1905	Rev F R French
1906	Rev J W Johnston
1907	Rev F W Close
1908	Rev Moses Gabb
1909	Rev A V Mills
1910-12	Rev R Broadbent
1913-15	Rev G H Paynter
1916-17	Rev J H Pointon
1918-19	Rev J H Barrett
1920-24	Rev L G Hunt
1925-26	Rev J Cleveland Barratt
1927-29	Rev H P Lambert
1930-32	Rev A C L Sanders
1933-35	Rev A E Bottrell
1936-39	Rev W G E Wiltshire
1940	Rev G Thompson
1940	Rev J Morgan
1941-43	Rev F Timberlake
1944-45	Rev D Christensen
1946-48	Rev R S Rayner
1949-50	Rev Ian Moulton
1951-52	Rev R D Holdway
1953-54	Rev R D Haynes
1955-57	Rev N Usher
1958-59	Rev M S Martin
1960-63	Rev R J Nixon
1964-	Rev D Telfer
1966-	Rev W Brook
	Rev John Woodhouse
	Rev Horrie Duncan
	Rev Rob Saunders
	Rev Graham Twelftree
1996-2008	Rev Dr Dean Brookes
2005-	Ps Kynan Brookes