In the late nineteenth century a church building was erected at Tobin Yallock, where today the South Gippsland Highway meets McDonalds Track at Lang Lang. The hardwood timber came from a mill near Grantville, while the softwood and iron was brought by boat to Stockyard Point (near The Bluff, Lang Lang) from Melbourne. The building is said to have cost £77.
In 1882 the South Bourke and Mornington Journal announced:
A Grand Bazaar and Tea Meeting
Will be held in aid of the Funds of the Church of England at the above place, on
TUESDAY, MAY 2ND, 1882
The Bazaar will be open at 12 o clock noon. Tea on the tables at 6 pm. Tickets, 1s.6d each; Children, Half-Price
Until 1891, when their own church was opened, the Presbyterian congregation also used the building, which was licensed as the Anglican Church of St. John the Evangelist on 23 December 1888.
The original low-lying site was subject to flooding, and gradually the Lang Lang township (originally known as Carrington) developed on higher ground. Consequently a notice in the Cranbourne and County Herald in January 1894 called for tenders for the removal of Lang Lang Church of England from its present site opposite Flintofts Hotel to the township.The church and several settlers homes were moved one mile east.
To find out more stories of this community, read Beams of Light: 125 years of the Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist by Eric and Bette Kent.
100 pages, 50 photographs, ISBN 0-9592834-1-2
Sun streams across the altar in the new St John's building, completed in 1959
St John's Choir
To buy the book Beams of Light: 125 years of the Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist
Telephone +61 3 59975458 or email
St John's photographed in 1894
St Johns has been built so people can come and have a focal point for their worship and a quiet time of prayer. It is a place where people can be encouraged by fellow Christians through fellowship, worship, hearing the scriptures explained and in the sharing of Holy Communion.
© St Johns Anglican Church, Lang Lang