On 28 March, Co-Patron of the Sapere Aude Bequest Society (SABS) Susie Rodgers-Wilson and Peter Rodgers-Wilson (OW1965), along with our St Kilda Road Campus Chaplain Kaylea Fearn, joined SABS members and guests for a Wesley Churches Walking Tour in Melbourne’s CBD.
We began at the Wesley Uniting Church where the walls are covered with memorial plaques honouring key figures in early Methodism, the foundation of Wesley College. Those honoured include:
Rev Daniel Draper, who died tragically in January 1866 aboard the SS London, which sank in a storm returning from England where he had selected the first Headmaster of Wesley College, James Corrigan. The books for the first school library also went down with the ship. Draper is commemorated in many ways, with a named House and with the annual award of the Draper Scholar;
The first President of the Wesley College Council, Rev James S Waugh, is remembered with the naming of the Waugh Room;
Walter Powell is honoured, most notably, with the award of Powell Scholar for best Year 12 student; and
Prominent Methodist minister, the Rev William L Binks, was the father of Fredrick ‘Freddie’ Binks, who has the honour of being the first student enrolled at Wesley College in 1866.
The grounds of the Wesley Uniting Church also contain several buildings, including the art deco Nicholas Hall, which was a gift from the Nicholas family. Alfred and George Nicholas funded the rebuilding and redevelopment of Wesley College in the 1930s.
Each year, the College uses the church for the Year 7 Combined Chapel Service, which brings together students from all three campuses to remind them they are part of one community. At the end of Year 12, students return for another combined service to commemorate their time at Wesley coming to a close.
Our next stop was the Chinese Mission Church, which was built in 1872 by the Wesleyan Methodists and is known today as the Chinese Parish Office of the Uniting Church. In the colonial period, several boys from this congregation
were offered scholarships to attend Wesley College.
The Kelvin Club, with a history dating back to 1865, was our location for a wonderful lunch.
We then visited Scot’s Church to view the crest and flag of Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies (OW1912), which was presented to the church by Dame Pattie Menzies in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II in 1983.
Our final stop was St Michael's Uniting Church, which over the decades has been a much-used venue for Wesley College, including the 2019 Commissioning of our Principal, Nick Evans (OW1985).
The tour provided a fascinating insight into the many connections between the churches and Wesley College in the lead up to Easter, an important time in the Christian calendar.
