Community
7 February, 2025
Upcoming church sale sparks concerns
ONE Derrinallum resident has expressed concerns for the future of the town following the closure and impending sale of the Derrinallum Uniting Church.
As Western District Newspapers reported in August last year, the 110-year-old church was put up for sale after the committee found they were no longer able to financially and physically maintain the building.
Ray Walters said the sale of the Uniting Church will leave Derrinallum without a place of worship, with the All Saint’s Church and the St Joseph’s Church having previously been sold and converted into private residences.
He said the churches were built by the community, with residents’ ancestors thought to have built the church with donated bricks.
“The higher concentration of richer people in the community made the church richer because they were able to contribute more into the funding,” Mr Walters said.
“That’s why Derrinallum has such a high history in religion – why there’s four churches, because, being a soldiers’ settlement, people came back from war.
“All the churches were built from the community, not from the church.
“Why does the church think that they own it – they only own it in name, so in theory the church should be offered to the community first.
“If they haven’t got sufficient funds to maintain it, then why haven’t they asked the community?”
Residents in Derrinallum will now need to travel to Lismore or Camperdown to attend church services.
Church houses, which were often the homes of priests, were also sold to generate money for church repairs.
Mr Walters said the house had generated an income through being rented out prior to its sale, which was claimed to be for maintenance work.
“The reason why they sold the house is they said ‘oh, we need the money to maintain the church and the hall’ so they sell it,” he said.
“No work was done on the church.”
Mr Walters said he was frustrated as he felt the real reason the churches were being sold was to “pay for the church’s misdemeanours”.
“Their argument is the numbers are low – they say ‘oh, look, our numbers are extremely low’,” he said.
“Why should people trust the Church anyway?
“This is where, I argue, they need to be questioned.
“If they’re doing it because they need the money, then they should say that.
“They should say ‘we need to sell the church because we need x amount of dollars to pay for the court cases’ or whatever.”
Mr Walters’ concerns follow a recent trend of churches being sold in rural areas, including Warrion, Dreeite and Broadwater.
He compared the situation in regional Victoria to urban areas, where churches are repurposed as community assets for community groups.
“They should have to explain to the community why they are selling it – the real reasons for selling it – and if the real reason for selling it is there’s not enough maintenance, why haven’t they come to the community and say ‘look, we want to save the church, can you help’,” Mr Walters said.
“All the churches should have to explain why towns like Derrinallum are losing all their churches, because if it’s not us, it’s Lismore, Darlington or Skipton.
It’s got to stop.
“We no longer trust the church, so therefore we don’t participate in the churches, so the majority of people just wipe their hands and say nothing.
“My concern is for the people who have contributed money each year in the so-called maintenance programs.”
Mr Walter said, with the church gone, there would no longer be a local option for final services and weddings for residents.
“It’s like the shops – if the shops don’t stay open, the town dies,” he said.
“To me, that’s a tragedy.
“We are now suffering. We are now the victims as well – we’re all paying for their misdeeds.
“If you look around, all small towns now, the church has been sold, and the state school has been sold. The town just dwindles and dies with it.
“Derrinallum will do the same thing unless people want to invest money.”
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