As the Mundijong Heritage Church celebrates its 120th anniversary, Serpentine Jarrahdale resident Ruth Igglesden says the value of friendship is what’s kept the church going throughout the years.
“I think friendliness goes a long way when we have a little church service,” she said.
“When we have a service, we light a candle and put it in a teacup to show hospitality and that everyone’s welcome.”
Mrs Igglesden said the celebration at the weekend was very laid back with about 50 people in attendance.
“People didn’t have to buy things, they could just wander around and have a look at the garden, look at the mosaic and swap plants or recipes,” she said.
For Mrs Igglesden, the highlight of the day was sharing memories and having a laugh with everyone.
“We poured over the photo albums and thought ‘do you remember this?’, ‘do you remember when the back garden was full of lovegrass?’,” she said.
“Looking back and seeing people, we couldn’t remember some names but between us all, we got it straight.”
While many of the people who attended had some sort of connection to the church, Mrs Igglesden joked some people just went for a free sausage.
Mrs Igglesden said the church had evolved throughout the 40 years she’d been part of the community.
“Different groups have come and gone,” she said.
“We had the united church and even now people are being brought from NDIS and other groups are coming (as well).
“Some people come and have their lunch in the garden.
“So, it evolves and different things happen over time but there’s a common thread of a bit of vision and hard work.”
Photographs – Richard Polden.
