1988
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PARRAMATTA
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PARISH OF ST MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT KENTHURST |
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FOUNDED 1988 |
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DIOCESE PARRAMATTA |
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| PARISH CHURCH OF ST MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT | ||
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| PARISH | HISTORY | CHURCH |
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 | PARISH |
| KENTHURST IS AN ATTRACTIVE SEMI-RURAL AREA OF FLOWER AND MARKET GARDENS WITH AN EXPANDING RESIDENTIAL COMPONENT ON THE FRINGE OF THE SYDNEY METROPOLITAN AREA. ORIGINALLY PART OF PARRAMATTA, THEN LATER NORTH PARRAMATTA PARISH, THE AREA BECAME PART OF CASTLE HILL WHEN IT WAS FORMED IN THE MID-1900's AT WHICH TIME THERE WERE TWO CENTRES, ONE AT KENTHURST AND ONE AT DURAL. BY THE 1980's THE AREA HAD GROWN SUFFICIENTLY TO WARRANT A PARISH OF ITS OWN AND THIS WAS ESTABLISHED IN ON PNETECOST SUNDAY 1988. HISTORY |
| FIRST CHURCH OF BLESSED MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT, KENTHURST |
| tHE AREA OF KENTHURST WAS FIRST VISITED DURING THE LATE 1800's BY PRIESTS FROM ST MONICA'S NORTH PARRAMATTA. IN 1905 THE SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART PURCHASED LAND IN THE AREA WITH THE INTENTION OF ESTABLISHING A FARM SCHOOL. ALTHOUGH THIS PLAN WAS LATER ABANDONED AND THE LAND SOLD, ONE ACRE WAS GIVEN TO THE PARISH TO CONSTRUCT A STATION CHURCH. THIS CHURCH WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1909 AND 1913 AND WAS DEDICATED TO THE FOUNDRESS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE SACRED HEART, BLESSED MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT. IT WAS A SMALL STONE CHURCH WHICH SERVED THE AREA FAITHFULLY FOR 75 YEARS TILL IT WAS REPLACED BY THE PRESENT CHURCH. CHURCH |
| SECOND CHURCH OF ST MADELEINE SOPHIE BARAT, KENTHURST |  |
| BY THE EARLY 1980's IT HAD BECOME CLEAR THAT BOTH THE CHURCH AT KENTHURST AND THE CHURCH AT DURAL WERE TOO SMALL FOR THE GROWING COMMUNITY. IN 1985 THE PARISH OF CASTLE HILL PURCHASED 20 ACRES AT KENTHURST WITH THE INTENTION OF CONSOLIDATING THE PARISH FACILITIES IN THE AREA ON A SINGLE SITE. THE NEW CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1987 AND THE FOLLOWING YEAR BECAME THE PARISH CHURCH OF KENTHURST PARISH. BUILT OF BLONDE BRICK IN A MINIMALIST STYLE AND SET AMID ATTRACTIVE BUSHLAND, THE CHURCH TODAY IS THE CENTRE OF A COMPLEX OF SCHOOLS AND PARISH FACILITIES. NEXT |
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FROM THE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH RESEMBLES A LARGE TRIANGULAR BOX WITH A FLATTENED TOP, A FORM THAT AVOIDS DOMINATING THE NATURAL SETTING OF THE CHURCH. LONG NARROW WINDOWS PIERCE THE WALLS ADMITTING NATURAL LIGHTING TO THE BUILDING. THE CHURCH IS REVERSED SO THE THE LITURGICAL EAST END FRONTS DIRECTLY ONTO THE DRIVEWAY AND MAIN ENTRANCE. AN ATTRACTIVE CROSS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE SANCTUARY WALL PROCLAIMS THE CHURCH'S MISSION. NEXT |
| THE INTERIOR MATCHES THE EXTERIOR IN SIMPLICITY. PLASTIC SEATING IS ARRANGED IN A TRIANGULAR PATTERN FOCUSSING ON THE SANCTUARY WHICH ITSELF IS SHORN OF ANY EXTRANEOUS DECORATION. A PLAIN AMBO, TABLE ALTAR AND CELEBRANT'S CHAIR MAKE UP THE ONLY FURNISHINGS OF THE SANCTUARY. THE CRUCIFIX AND TABERNACLE (BELOW) ARE PLACED OUTSIDE THE SANCTUARY LEAVING THE WALL COVERED ONLY BY A COLOURED DRAPE. THE WINDOWS ARE PURPOSELY KEPT CLEAR TO ALLOW AN APPRECIATION OF THE LOVELY BUSHLAND SETTING. |  |
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| TOP HISTORIC CHURCHES | |
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| HISTORIC CHURCHES | ||||||
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| DURAL | ||||||
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| CHURCH OF ST JOSEPH THE WORKER, DURAL |
| DURAL IS A RURAL AREA OF MARKET GARDENS ON THE NORTH-WEST FRINGE OF SYDNEY. A PART OF CASTLE HILL PARISH AFTER ITS DETACHMENT FROM BAULKHAM HILLS IT WAS COMBINED WITH KENTHURST IN THE NEW PARISH OF THAT NAME IN 1988. ALTHOUGH PRIESTS WOULD TRAVEL AT TIMES TO DURAL THERE WAS NO PERMANENT MASS CENTRE UNTIL 1960 WHEN CASTLE HILL PARISH PURCHASED AN OLD FIBRO HOUSE AND CONVERTED INTO A STATION CHURCH DEDICATED TO ST JOSEPH THE WORKER. BY THE 1980's IT HAD BECOME TOO SMALL AND IT WAS DECIDED TO CLOSE THE CHURCH AND MERGE WITH KENTHURST. ITS PRESENT FATE IS UNKOWN. TOP |
