History of St Giles

History

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Originally, the Hurstville congregation was part of the Bexley Parish. On 14 August 1894, the Presbytery separated Hurstville to make it a new congregation. The Rev Robert Kay celebrated communion for the first time in December 1894 with 29 members on the roll and two elders. He was inducted as the first minister on 25 February 1895.

The first Presbyterian Church in Hurstville was built in Forest Road, between Carrington Avenue and Gloucester Road. This was a small wooden structure and remained in operation until 1923 when a new church complex was opened on the corner of Park Rd and MacMahon St, opposite the current site in MacMahon St. The current church was opened by the Governor, Sir John Northcott on 25 November, 1955. Dedication of the church and its furnishings was carried out by the Moderator of the Church in N.S.W., Right Rev. Dr. W. Cumming-Thom, while the Memorial Gates and windows were blessed by Rev. Hugh Cunningham, Senior Chaplain of the Forces.

The congregation continued to grow under faithful preaching and reached it maximum of some 450 members and forty-four elders during the Ministry of the Rev Dr J Graham Miller. At the end of 2025 there were 111 Communicant and 105 Adherent members with the Minister and six elders leading the congregation. There have been sixteen ministers and thirteen Session Clerks. The current congregation is English speaking, multi national, with over 20 countries represented, reflecting the local community.

The Hurstville congregation has had a continuing interest in mission and outreach and was instrumental in a new church being formed at Penshurst in November 1910, and for some time, a congregation met at Hurstville Grove from 1912 till about the mid 1970’s. Many people from the congregation have served on the overseas mission field or gone into full time ministry within the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Several members have served the wider church through Australian Presbyterian World Mission, Ministry and Mission and the Presbyterian Theological College.

Hurstville Presbyterian Church is an Evangelical Church by conviction; an English-speaking Church for all nations by intention and a Training Church by ambition. Members seek to Connect with each other and the community, Grow in faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and to Serve one another as we worship together.

Hurstville Ministers

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Rev Robert Kay	1895-1907
Rev Frederick Barclay	1907-1917
Rev Richard Erwyd Davies	1917-1927
Rev Charles Henry Bertram Douglas	1927-1933
Rev Edward Alexander Davies	1933-1943
Rev John Terry Harland Kerr	1943-1946
Rev Robert Gerald Cruickshank	1946-1956
Rev George Woolcock	1957-1959
Rev Neil MacLeod	1960-1974
Rev Dr John Graham Miller	1974-1980
Rev Iain Hamish Murray	1981-1984
Rev Robert Percival Frederick Benn	1985-1993
Rev Bruce McLintock Meller	1994-1999
Rev Kevin David Murray	2000-2010
Rev David Colin McDougall	2012-2022
Rev Andrew Robert Vines	2024-present

Hurstville Session Clerks

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E H Higgs	1894 – 1897
William A Crawford	1897
W H Patterson	1898
Rev R Kay (Acting)	1899 to 1907 is uncertain
H Gresham	1908 – 1911
J Harrison	1912- 1913
Daniel William Cumberland Perry	1914 – 1919
John McCall	1920 – 1935
Oliver Johnstone Deas	1935-1950
Keith Lyall Gilpin	1951-1956
Alfred John Perry	1957 – 1967
John Mill	1967 – 1994
John Carson Thoms	1994 – Present