St John's Lutheran Church, Bundaberg, Lutheran church building in Bundaberg, Australia.
St John's Lutheran Church is a rectangular church at 30 George Street, Bundaberg South, built in 1960 to Karl Langer's design by J Hutchinson and Sons. Its walls are orange face brick, and a tall spire rises above the entrance. Langer, a Vienna-trained architect who arrived in Australia in 1939, gave the building a modern form while keeping the tower and spire expected of a church.
German speakers established the Lutheran community in Bundaberg during the 1870s, with formal services beginning in 1873. The current building was constructed in 1960 to serve the congregation's growing needs.
The congregation dates from 1873, when Pastor Carl Hellmuth of Maryborough preached and administered communion in Bundaberg. The present church, opened in 1960, is used by the congregation and the adjacent Lutheran school. Its tower carries Christograms made from projecting bricks.
St John's Lutheran Church stands at 30 George Street in Bundaberg South, on the corner of George and Boundary Streets, the higher ground bought in 1890 after floods hit the earlier Tanitha Street site. The congregation and the adjacent Lutheran school use it regularly, so visitors should time a look inside around services rather than expect an open door at any hour.
Pastor M Reuther received an anonymous letter in June 1940 from "a Progressive Lutheran" enclosing £1 toward a new brick church; the sender was later revealed to be his wife. In 1947 Emilie Lovgren left £6,000 for a tower or steeple, and nine years of pledges brought the fund to £32,000.
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