Holy Trinity Church, Saibai Island, Anglican church building in Saibai Island, Australia.
Holy Trinity Church is a stone church on Saibai Island, built from 1917 to 1938. Its main section has a steep gabled roof with a smaller gabled projection at the front around a dark doorway, and a narrow vertical window above it. A square tower with a narrow vertical window rises to the right of the main roof, and a low pitched roof on pillars shades three dark openings across the front.
The London Missionary Society reached Saibai in July 1871, leaving the evangelists Josaia and Sivene on the island; a first substantial church went up in 1881. Construction of Holy Trinity began around 1917 and was completed around 1938, after the Anglican Church took over the Torres Strait Mission from the London Missionary Society in 1914. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The London Missionary Society left two Islander missionaries, Josaia and Sivene, on Saibai in July 1871, and the church keeps that link: the Coming of the Light, marking the 1 July 1871 landing at Darnley Island, is still celebrated annually by Torres Strait Islanders. The present building replaced an 1881 mission chapel.
The island is accessible only by boat or small aircraft from the Queensland mainland, so travel requires advance planning. The building remains in active use for regular services and community gatherings.
Construction began around 1917 and was only completed around 1938, so the church took roughly two decades to finish. It replaced an earlier substantial mission building for Christian worship put up on Saibai in 1881. The building was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
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