When Pam Moriarty walked into church on Sunday 14 November, she thought she was walking into a reunion service that she had helped organise.
The truth was, behind the scenes a celebration of over 60 years of service to the Canungra Uniting Church had been put together for Pam.
“I wasn’t expecting that for me,” said Pam.
Now in her early eighties, Pam recently decided it was time to step down from her role with the Church Council.
Her involvement with the Church began with the Methodist Church in January 1959.
She returned from her honeymoon and began to teach Sunday School.
In 1977, the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches merged and Pam became a member of the first Uniting Church Council.
Over the years she has many fond memories.
“At one point when Mum was teaching Sunday School we had 72 children. Cheryl Taylor (now Cheryl Ford) was one of the children – she would have been only three or four years old.”
With only the church building, Sunday School classes were scattered around the church grounds, until they embarked on a major fundraising effort to purchase and move a wooden hall which came from Cedar Grove.
“I remember Avril Mahony and Avil McLennan (the wife of the school principal) were very involved. We ran so many cake stalls to get that hall there!”
“All my kids went to Sunday School there, then Dick ran the Youth Group in the hall.”
Pam said so many people have been involved in the development of the Canungra Uniting Church, many of whom are close friends.
Canungra Uniting Church will hold a Christmas Carols night on Saturday 18 December at the Church grounds, 33 Appel Street, Canungra.
