St Silas’s Anglican Church is a Christian Faith Community
of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
within the Anglican Church of Australia.

Vicar: The Rev'd Paul Perini

12 John Street
Kew
VIC 3101

Tel: 03 9817 4513
Fax: 03 9817 1078
Parish email address - info@shack.org.au

Our Parish Vision is
To worship God and share Christ’s Love
by Caring for our Community.

To help us fulfil our Vision we hold public services of Worship on Sundays at 8am & 10am and on Wednesdays at 10.30am.
From time to time small groups of interested people are formed in which matters of faith and Christian living are discussed.

There are also services at other times for specific days of celebration or in connection with the groups within the parish, please check the weekly pewsheet for these details.

A weekly collection of foodstuffs and other goods is taken up. These goods are distributed through the St Mark’s Community Centre in Fitzroy. We also have occasional collections of goods and money to assist The Lazarus Centre in Flinders Street, Melbourne.

Parishioners, other interested people and fundraising activities are our only sources of income. We receive no funding from any church or government source. Our Annual Budget is currently over $110,000.

Following a unanimous decision of the Diocese of Melbourne in July 1940 to establish a church in North Balwyn, the current Osburn Avenue site was purchased in May 1941 for £1275.
The life of the Parish really began in 1942 when Mr. Frank Shan, then Headmaster of Trinity Grammar School secured the use of 62 Doncaster Road, North Balwyn for a Trinity Grammar School Kindergarten and these premises became the temporary Sunday location of the North Balwyn Church of England.
The first official service was held at Christmas 1942, and then weekly from the first Sunday in February 1943, with the Sunday School meeting in the afternoon.  The small shop soon proved inadequate and in 1944 the Worship Services and Senior Sunday School were conducted in two new locations, first at 72 Doncaster Road and then at 74 Doncaster Road, with the Church Kindergarten children still meeting in the Trinity Grammar Shop.
Construction of a church hall in Osburn Avenue was completed and then dedicated by Archbishop Booth on 12th May 1945. The cost of this first building was £1704 and the debt was fully repaid by February 1946 when the parish was named St Silas, North Balwyn. This hall functioned as the church until 1963 when the present building was dedicated. This building is now known as Guild Hall.
A Vicarage, adjacent to the church, was the next building to be completed, and was dedicated by Archbishop Booth on the 3rd April 1954. At this time arrangements were made to separate the Parish from the oversight of St Barnabas Balwyn and to become an independent parish in the Diocese. On October 21st 1956, the new Parish Hall was dedicated by the Vicar, the Reverend Patrick Stephenson.
The St. Silas Church Bell: Following the demolition of St. John's Church in Latrobe Street, the church bell was presented to the widow and daughter of the late Canon Watt, who had served at the Mission of St. James & St. John for 24 years.  The daughter Mrs. W. Brown, was a parishioner of St. Silas, and kindly presented the bell to the Church. It was dedicated to the memory of Canon Watt on December 1st 1957 by Archbishop Booth.
Further parish growth in the next few years was such that the Archbishop-in-Council approved an application for the building of the current main church building, including fittings and furnishings for the sum of £40,000.  The completed church was dedicated by Bishop Sambell (later Archbishop of Perth) on the 6th April 1963.
This building was consecrated on 15th September 1985.

From Pentecost Sunday (May 15th 2005) St Silas North Balwyn ceased to be a parish in its own right. It merged with the next door parish to become the parish of Kew North Balwyn. The centres will be St Hilary's, Kew and St Silas, Balwyn North.

Architects:  Blythe Johnson, a junior partner in the firm Louis Williams & Partners of Brighton

Style: Contemporary Australian Church Architecture using influences of traditional church architecture.

The building was planned as a harmonious whole and to date the only alteration has been the addition of the St Martin window in the Chapel (this came from the Church of St Martin, Deepdene which ceased to exist in 1994 and the congregation joined St Silas's at that time).

Builders were H. H. Davey & Son Pty. Ltd. Of Brighton.

Features Tongue & groove roof
Tasmanian Blackwood parquetry floor in chancel & sanctuary these give the building a wonderful acoustic
Windows The stained glass windows are of German Antique Glass (a style of glass manufacture, not referring to the age of the glass).
The windows are darkest in the entrance ands lightest in the Sanctuary they are also toned from darker at their base to lighter at their top.
The windows are deliberately non-pictorial, a choice made by the building committee.
H. W. Jones Pty. Ltd of Brunswick installed the glass.
Reredos Floor to ceiling behind the Altar is a wall tiled with rough-cut Calabrian Marble, this was a special shipment of marble specifically for this building. Supplied by N. Tocchetto & Co. of Heidelberg.
Metal ware the candlesticks and vases are made of silver, chosen so as to complement the marble reredos, and were designed for the church by House of Design, Brunswick.
The Font was also made by House of Design.
Pews made of Queensland Maple, a simple yet elegant design.
Carpet Woven by Felton Textiles especially for the church, colouring designed to complement the window colours.
Altar Given by the Allison Family.