User:Carey3146/sandbox/St Hilary's Anglican Church, Melbourne

St Hilary's Anglican Church is the collection of St Hilary's Anglican Church (Kew), St Silas Anglican Church (North Balwyn) and St Augustine's Anglican Church (Mont Albert North), also known previously as the SHAC (St Hilary's Anglican Church) Community. It is one of Australia's largest Anglican parishes.

The parish is located in Melbourne's inner east and also manages a campsite near Bairnsdale, Victoria on the Banksia Peninsula which is called ‘Coromorant by the Lakes’.

The Three Parishes as part of the St Hilary's Network:
 * St Hilary's Anglican Church, 12 John Street, Kew
 * St Augustine's Anglican Church, 36 Bundoran Parade, Mont Albert North
 * St Silas Anglican Church, 16 Osbourne Avenue, Balwyn North

Ministries
There are a total of seven congregations that meet every Sunday at the three sites.
 * St Hilary's: 9am, 11am and 6pm services.
 * St Augustine's: 9am and 11am services.
 * St Silas: 10am and 5:30pm services.

St Hilary’s Anglican Church is known for its strong youth and young adult ministry, its contemporary worship and its blend of evangelistic outreach and involvement with social justice.

As part of this ministry, the church runs Messy Church which is an interactive alternative to formalised church for children and their families. Moreover, the parish has playgroups in all of their sites and manages a Kindergarten at the Mont Albert North site. Additionally, the St Hilary's Community also runs a Friday night youth group called Revive that connects with adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age.

Furthermore, the church works with close association with Mustard and Alpha that aim to support students in develop wing their Christian faith during high school and university. The church also works with Oak Tree. There are also various mission partners throughout Australia and in developing countries throughout the world that St Hilary’s has supported over many years.

Also, the church works with close association with HOPE and other churches in the area that aims to provide aid including food and resources to people in need in the Boroondara Area. The whole church runs an annual food drive through HOPE that collects and redistributes food to Anglicare and the Salvation Army, which in turn, is given to those in need in the community.

History
The church is named in honour of Saint Hilary, who was Bishop of Poitiers in modern day France who worked at spreading Christianity to the Roman region of Gaul. He was declared a Doctor of the Church and also known for his charity to the poor and sick in the Roman Empire.

With over 135 years of history, St Hilary's origins are found in the establishment of St Hilary's Anglican Church in 1888 when the original wooden church building was completed. The current church building was opened in 1939 and consecrated in 1943 by Archbishop Joseph Booth. St Silas Anglican Church commenced around 1942 with the current church building consecrated in 1962. St Augustine's Anglican Church commenced around 1960.

Since the church was established, there have been several social groups that connect with the life of the parish. Some have included the St Hilary’s Tennis Club (established in 1922), the 6th Kew St Hilary’s Boy Scout Group (established in 1930) and the St Hilary’s Girl Guides Group, Kew (established in 1931). Only the Girl Guides still use St Hilary’s with the the Tennis Club closing in the 1990s and the Scout Group merging with other groups in Kew in 2005.

In 1929, the Nelson-Heintz Memorial Hall was opened which houses the sunday school classes and former library for youth and children to develop their faith. In 1988, a modern front extension was completed that connected the hall and the church with various modern offices for the parish staff to use. This extension also allowed for parishioners to meet in a courtyard that was made by the new build and renovation.

During the period between the 1980s and early 2000s, the church welcomed on average of 1,000 parishioners every Sunday for their three Sunday services at Kew. This was mainly due to the Reverend Peter Corney’s initiatives at making the church more contemporary and evangelical while not altering the biblical teachings of the parish. This included more modern musical worship instead of a choir and pipe organ.

In more recent times, the church building roof at Kew, in 2021, collapsed in on itself. This led to major restoration efforts to be made by the church. Later on, the church was found to have a flooded floor in the building, which increased the work related to fixing and ultimately renovating the church after nearly 90 years since the current church building was first opened. In November 2022, the church was reopened for complete use.

Vicars
There have been a total of nine vicars of St Hilary's since the church was established in 1888. The current vicar or lead minister of St Hilary's is The Reverend Adam Cetrangolo who was commissioned by the Archbishop of Melbourne, The Right Reverend Phillip Freier in 2021. Note, The Venerable Peter Corney has been the honorary vicar emeritus since retiring as vicar in 1999.