St Jude's Anglican Church
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St Jude's Anglican Church has been in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton since 1866, when it was established as a congregation of St John's La Trobe Street (which no longer exists) in the city. In the late 1960s, it was earmarked for closure by the Diocese of Melbourne, as the congregation had dwindled with the social decline in Carlton. A new vicar was appointed, whose job it was to close the church, to remove the building and to build another high-rise apartment block.
This vicar, the Revd David Binns, prayed that God would fill the building with people. The church was never closed, and through the energetic ministry of Binns, his successors David Boan and Peter Adam, St Jude's began to flourish, and continues to flourish as of 2007.
Today St Jude's is a diverse community of people, gathered from all over Melbourne - 100 different postcodes at last count. Over 500 of them meet in 7 different congregations each Sunday, which each try to cater for a different group: families, couples and singles; youth; young workers; students; and residents of the nearby public housing estates.
St Jude's Mission is "To proclaim and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that people might believe, belong, grow and serve". The style of the church is informal. Its theological "flavour" is evangelical with a strong commitment to teaching from the Bible.
