History of Doncaster Church of Christ

The Beginning

The Doncaster Church of Christ (DCC) began in 1863 with a handful of people meeting together in a pioneer’s home. A year later they moved into a small weatherboard chapel on the present site. In 1889 a brick chapel was opened, which is still there, now functioning as our western foyer! For almost a century, the church faithfully served an agricultural community with orchards spreading out for miles in every direction. But when the urban sprawl hit Doncaster in the mid 1900’s, the church answered the challenge and grew to be one of Victoria’s largest and most dynamic Church of Christ congregations of the era. In the 1990’s, an extensive building program (one of many in the life of the church) provided again for the needs of the growing church.

The Future

DCC has an exciting future! In the coming years the whole appearance of the church’s immediate surroundings will change drastically. With The City of Manningham’s decision to develop the “Doncaster Hill” precinct into a bustling urban centre of apartments, retail and leisure facilities, DCC, finds itself facing new challenges of meeting needs different to any previously experienced. This requires us to follow God's lead, reinvent ourselves, and find innovative ways to continue our mission in Doncaster.

The Churches of Christ Story

DCC is affiliated with the Conference of Churches of Christ in Victoria and Tasmania. This conference forms a part of a national body, which in turn belongs to a world-wide movement of over 12 million people from 165 countries. Our roots go back to the beginning of the 1800’s in both UK and USA when a new movement grew out of a desire to ‘restore’ church life and practice to a true ‘New Testament’ model of Christianity. From those early days one of the mottos of our movement has been: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty and in all things love”. That kind of sums up Churches of Christ! Different groups within our movement operate under names such as “Christian Churches”, “Disciples of Christ” and “Acapella Churches of Christ”, but each are a part of the one overall movement.

Churches of Christ are characterized in general terms by certain key qualities: A desire for unity, simplicity of faith expression, acceptance of diversity, involvement of all people in ministry and congregational autonomy. In terms of sacramental practices, there are few, but we do have an emphasis on the weekly practice of communion and the baptism of believers by full immersion.