THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
1833
A block of land in Hirst Street, Arncliffe, was given to a convict named Reuben Hannam. He was a pioneer and was instrumental in developing sandstone bricks used for early colonial buildings across Sydney. At his death, Reuben’s son David inherited the land and he later gave it to the Church of England.
Some time before 1861, a church known as St David’s was erected on the land, and services commenced. A weatherboard hall was later built on the site, but eventually a larger and more central location was required.
22 January 1910
Archbishop Wright laid a foundation stone at the present site on Forest Road for a new church building. Six months into construction, a huge gale destroyed the partially constructed building. It was four years before building could being anew.
25 August 1914
A second foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop.
25 January 1915
On a very hot night, the first service at the new St David’s Church was held in the presence of a large congregation.
1919
Arncliffe became its own district and the first incumbent, Rev. Reginald Herbert Pitt-Owen was appointed as firstly Curate-in-Charge, then rector the following year when the Diocese recognised Arncliffe as its own parish (previously it formed part of Bexley parish).
7 July 1934
Renovations to the building, including addition of a chancel, tower, side chapel and western bay were completed, and Archbishop Mowll dedicated these at a service overflowing with parishoners.
Rev. Norm Robinson took over as incumbent and was Rector of the parish from 1965-1994. With the changing demography of Arncliffe from the 1970s onwards, the church began to decline in number until it became unable to provide the resources for a full-time minister.
2003
By now a parish without an incumbent, the parish underwent a merger with a ministry out of St Matthias Centennial Park and the University of New South Wales known as Greek Bible Fellowship (GBF). This was a firstly Greek, then later multi-ethnic student group which was a burgeoning congregation in need of larger facilities and a suitable permanent location. With GBF, Arncliffe obtained the financial support of a congregation able to support a full-time minister, the Rev. Moussa Ghazal. At the same time, the GBF gained a permanent location in a multicultural setting that was a prime harvest field. Following this move, GBF changed its name to Cross-culture Bible Church (CBC), reflecting the new direction of the church.
20 June 2017
Rev. Zac Veron is commissioned as the most recent Rector of Arncliffe by Assistant Bishop Peter Lin, in a crowded St David’s church building.
2018
With continual change in the area around Arncliffe, and to Sydney and Australia as a whole, the parish was renamed to Bayside. This mirrored what was happening with local council amalgamations between Rockdale and Botany Bay under the name Bayside Council, and the church now became known as Bayside Anglican Church, to better reflect the people whom the church want to now connect with – Sydneysiders from all nations in the Bayside Local Government Area and beyond.