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Who can remember sitting for the annual Sunday School Scripture
exams? If so, you were probably a scholar in the 1950’s.
Can you remember hoping to gain a medal?
Three gold medals have recently been donated to the Historical
Society. They are dated 1901, 1932 and 1933, and each has a story
to tell. Probably a fuller story could be told were one to trace
the subsequent lives of the recipients. A fellow collector has
a gold medal for the Intermediate exam for 1953. The young lady
who won it is the mother of two daughters, both wives to well-known
ministers. I only discovered the connection because 49 years later
she is actively involved in my own church.
In an earlier article in the Society magazine I told the story
of the Brisbane Sunday School Union which was formed in 1869 embracing
all the Protestant Sunday Schools in Brisbane. In 1892 it changed
its name to the Queensland Sunday School Union. From 1885 when
exams were introduced through to 1900 medals were awarded for
exams in Old Testament and New Testament. In 1900 changes were
made to encourage more children to participate. Exams were now
in three divisions, senior, intermediate and junior with sub-divisions
being introduced later as more scholars entered. The first awards
were in 1901 and all went to Baptist children.
The medal in the society’s possession is the senior gold
medal. It is of considerable interest as it is the first of the
new medals and the only one so far seen in modern times. It is
16 carat gold with a silver mounted Bible with the words LIFE
IN CHRIST. It was crafted by a local jeweller, John T Snow, trading
at 117 Queen Street, Brisbane. Though medals were awarded through
till 1917 their non-appearance remains a mystery.
With the demise of the QSSU the Queensland Baptist SS Department
decided to conduct their own examinations and award their own
medals. The first exams were held in 1922 with medal awards as
follows:
The Department issued these medals until 1933 when Federal
exams replaced the Queensland exams. Medals slightly smaller were
awarded to the top Queensland scholars until 1953 when certificates
replaced them.
The medals for 1932 and 1933 were both awarded in the Intermediate
Division, that in 1932 to Alexander Ross Praeger with 99%, who
also won it in the same division in 1931. The 1933 medal was won
by Eric Praeger, presumably a brother, with 98%. Both were from
Albion Sunday School. They are of 9 carat gold, slightly different,
possibly indicating that they were made each year. They are the
last years of the second series.
The third series from 1934 to 1953 should be more common, though
perhaps recipients still hold them. Any medals no longer wanted
will be gratefully received by the Baptist Historical Society,
where they can be displayed from time to time. I also have a partial
list of all awardees from 1901 and would like to complete it.
Information, especially for the 1940’s would be welcome.
On 23 Dec 2001, Coorparoo Baptist Church ceased to exist as
a fellowship due to declining numbers, but the building was made
available to the Korean Baptist fellowship which formerly met
at the City Tabernacle. It was an deliberate choice of the Coorparoo
Church to make the decision to disband while it was still functional.
It saw the re-cycling of the building as a good way of ensuring
the witness would continue, even if the old church fellowship
was not able to revive itself.
Work was first started in the area in June 1901 when Evangelist
W.H. Harris completed a period of service with the Dunellan Estate
(Greenslopes) church and seeking another field of ministry, discovered
the Coorparoo area. He said it was "fully a mile in any direction
from any church" and therefore a good place to start a Baptist
mission.
The first services took place on the verandah Groom's store in the area, and there was a good response. So land was purchased in Temple Street, and the first building erected immediately. It was a 30 x 28 foot weatherboard structure, capable of seating 150 people, costing 220 when it was opened debt-free on 17 July that year.
The fellowship was constituted as a church 18 Dec 1924. Over the years it was led by a number of well known ministers including Ernest Edwards, J.W. Fletcher, F.J.C. Stone and F.D. Williams (who had two pastorates there). For the first several decades, its reported membership was quite small, but it began to grow in the late 1950s and during the 1960s it hovered around 50. The greatest number was 64 in 1985. The old building was extended in 1927 to provide Sunday School accommodation. A completely new brick building was erected in 1969 to cope with the growth.
In recent years, church numbers and work declined, making it difficult to maintain the witness and the property. So the present membership made the decision late in 2001 to disband and release the building through the Baptist Union for the Korean fellowship. A colourful "handing the baton" service, led by the interim pastor, Rev G. Morcom, was held to mark the event, almost exactly 77 years after the church had been formed, and 91 years after the work commenced in the area. Rev Yong Chon received the baton for the Korean church, and Rev Ken Conwell, as Director of Administrative Services for the Baptist Union preached the sermon.
The records of the church have been lodged with the Baptist
Church Archives, Queensland.