Voices are uniting to sing the praises of St Mark's Anglican Church at South Hurstville as it celebrates its 100th anniversary in August.
Music is playing a central role in St Mark's Centenary celebrations, hopefully reconnecting old friends of the church and connecting with new.
The official Centenary event will be held on Sunday, August 4 with a Choral Eucharist led by the Angilcan Archbishop of Sydney, The Reverend Dr Glenn Davies.
A Centenary Evensong will be held on Friday, August 2 at 7.15pm.
Other musical celebrations for St Mark's Centenary have included a HymnFest last February, a performance of Handel's Messiah, and a Centenary Concert of Music Through the Decades.
"St Mark's is distinguished by its style of worship and musical tradition," Georges River Council mayor Kevin Greene said last week in an official Mayoral Minute congratulating the current Rector, the Reverend Peter Greenwood and the St Mark's Church parish on their Centenary milestone.
From humble beginnings, St Mark's has grown to be a centre of community life, holding special choral services, ANZAC and Remembrance Day commemoration services, concerts, and a growing childrens' ministry.
The church has even held Meet the Candidates forums during election campaigns.
St Mark's is well-known for its unique Anzac ecumenical service which embraces not only the parish but the RSL and other communities, particularly the New Zealand RSL and the Australian Turkish community to represent all those who fought at Gallipoli.
In fact, St Mark's was born the year after Gallipoli when the Anglican community of South Hurstville met at 7 Joffre Street, South Hurstville, the home of Mr and Mrs H Smith.
Meetings were held here between 1916 and 1919, under the leadership of the Reverend Dixon Hudson.
The first St Mark's Church of England was located at 4 The Mall, South Hurstville and was dedicated on August 2, 1919 by the Most Reverend John Wright, Archbishop of Sydney.
As Rector of Hurstville, Reverend Dixon Hudson, assisted by a team of lay readers, took services until a permanent curate was appointed. The Reverend William Alexander Abraham Brice JP served as the first vicar of St Mark's 1934 from 1953.
As the population of South Hurstville and surrounds grew, it became clear that the small original church at 4 The Mall would not be sufficient for the future demands of the St Mark's community.
Land at the corner of The Mall and Grosvenor Road was purchased in 1944 and earmarked for a new church.
South Hurstville gained full parish status in 1954 under the leadership of The Reverend Noel Delbridge, who was appointed as Rector.
In 1956 a campaign was launched at St Mark's to raise funds for building a larger church.
On 7 February 1960, this campaign came to fruition with the dedication of the new church building.
The first St Mark's Church was sold to Kogarah Municipal Council and the building today houses South Hurstville Pre-school, operated by Georges River Council.
St Mark's Hall, at 10 The Mall was built and dedicated in 1969. As well as housing St Mark's Pre-School Kindergarten in the lower floor, the upper level is used extensively by community and church groups through the week.
The current Rector, The Reverend Peter Greenwood commenced at St Mark's in 2014, and sees the 100th anniversary as a way of people renewing their relationship with the church.
"We are trying to reconnect with those people who may have lost connection to the church," Mr Greenwood said.
"We like to have a community connection through music.
"We have established a partnership with the St George Chamber Orchestra who will be performing concerts at S Mark's four times a year," he said.
"The orchestra will be performing a concert to celebrate St Mark's centenary on August 18."
One of the former parishioners of St Mark's, Mr Pat Barker, who is aged in his 90s, is returning to sing in the choir as part of the Centenary celebrations.
"Our Parish is basically in two parts. Firstly, we have the empty-nesters, the retiree age group who are a very strong community group," Mr Greenwood said.
"Secondly, we have young families and young adults.
"We are trying to rebuild connections with families through music classes," he said.
"We have music classes for 0 to five-year-olds at our St Mark's Preschool which turns 50 years old next year."
The main objective is to bring people together united in music and faith.
"With people nowadays there is a misconception that the church is disconnected from the community and is not relevant," Mr Greenwood said.
"But I want to say that St Mark's is the opposite. Our goal is to be a light in the world around us."