The Arrival and Establishment of Christianity in Australia 

 
Key Terms 
 
Anglican Church   Sectarianism  
The Church of England in Australia was not referred to as  A strong devotion to a particular sect or religion. This strong 
the Anglican Church until 1981.   devotion can lead people to be unreasonable and unfair in their 
dislike of other religions and/or denominations within one 
religion. 
 
Church of England   Catholic Church  
Christianity arrived in Australia in 1788 with the  1792, 1796 Petitions for a Catholic Priest were ignored by British 
establishment of the Penal Colony in NSW by the English.  colonial authorities. 
This resulted in the transplantation of the political and  1803 First Catholic Mass celebrated by Father James Dixon who 
had been transported for encouraging the Irish Rebellion of 
religious (sectarianism) divisions that were present in 
1798. 
England between the English and the Irish.  1804 Fr Dixon lost official permission to celebrate Mass as he 
  was suspected of complicity in the convict uprising at Castle 
Among the members of this First Fleet were English  Hill. All Catholic convicts were again compelled to attend 
convicts, most of whom belonged to the Church of  Anglican services. 
England and Irish convicts (who made up approximately  1820 Catholic Priests were allowed to settle and conduct 
⅓ of convicts), most of whom were Roman Catholic. The  services in the colony. Fathers John Therry and Philip Connolly 
arrived in Sydney. Connolly then went to Hobart. 
officials in the party were mostly English and the Church  1834 Authority over Australian Catholics was given to Bishop 
of England was regarded as the established religion in  Bede Polding, based in Sydney. 
New South Wales. Rev Richard Johnson, a Minister of the  1860 Twelve religious orders entered Australia. They set up 
Church of England was on the First Fleet and was  schools, hospitals and hostels. 
appointed the first Chaplain to the colony.     
  Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) 
1809 The Ebenezer Presbyterian Church was built on the banks 
Life in the colony was harsh. Many inhabitants were 
of the Hawkesbury River, under the leadership of a layman, 
unruly and harsh punishments were commonly used to  James Mein. 
keep the convicts under control. Governor Philip  1823 The Presbyterian Rev Lang arrived in Sydney and Rev 
received the instructions to "ensure appropriate  Macarthur arrived in Hobart. 
observance of religion" in the colony and he fulfilled  1824 The first Presbyterian communion service was celebrated 
these instructions by insisting that all people, regardless  in the Ebenezer Church. 
   
of their beliefs, would attend the Church of England 
Congregationalist Church 
Divine Service. This caused considerable resentment  1810 Australia’s first group of Congregationalists met and 
among the English as many were not in the habit of  conducted services in the schoolroom of William Pascoe 
attending Church and even more so with the Irish who  Crook. 
were forced to worship in the Church which was not  1830 First Congregationalist minister arrived. 
their own.   
  Methodist Church  
1812 Methodist meetings started.  
The reputation of the Christian Church as part of the  1815 The Methodist Rev Samuel Leigh arrived to conduct 
oppressive forces of government in the colony was  services.  
further enhanced by the fact that the Ministers of the  1820 A Methodist Church was established in Hobart and in 1821 
Church of England also acted as magistrates, sitting in  in Sydney. 
judgement on the crimes of the colony. In this capacity,   
they regularly gave out severe punishments. So much so  Baptist Church  
1834 The Baptist Church was established in Sydney, 1839 in 
that the second Chaplain to the colony, Rev Samuel 
Launceston, 1840 in Adelaide and 1841 in Melbourne.  
Marsden, was known as the 'flogging parson'.   
  Lutheran Church  
Other Christian Denominations  1838 Lutheran emigrants first arrived from Germany and set up 
Gradually, various denominations of Christianity  South Australia. Some 20,000 German Lutherans migrated to 
became established in the colony. The Church of  South Australia between 1838 and 1860. 
German Lutherans also came to Victoria from the 1840s 
England as the Established Church was the largest and 
onwards and established the Lutheran Church in the 
most influential. The Church of England enjoyed the  Melbourne district. 
patronage of the governing authorities and was  German migration to Queensland began in large numbers in 
extremely influential in a wide range of issues. The  the 1860s 
Catholic Church was the most troublesome, with its   
members being constantly in dispute with the English  Salvation Army  
authorities. Catholicism was not permitted to operate  1880 Local people in Adelaide formed the first Salvation Army 
Corps. 
formally until 1820. Prior to that, informally and with some 
 
occasional concessions, the Catholics maintained their  Orthodox Church 
faith with fierce loyalty. In the early years of the colony,  1896 The First Greek Orthodox priest arrived from Samos to 
other denominations also established themselves and  conduct services in Melbourne and Sydney 
began to develop. There were well established  1898 The first Orthodox Church was built in Surry Hills (NSW), by 
communities of Methodists and Presbyterians within a  Greek and Lebanese Christians, with assistance from Church 
of England clergy.   
few decades of the colony's beginnings.