St Paul's Church Association formed

The five directors reflect the long history of the building and the energetic and youthful spirit of its future.

READ ALSO: Lee Hostel enjoys a taste of summer thanks to Little Tings

George King, Gail Blowes, McKenzie Graham, Dawn Williams and Ron Murray each have their own backgrounds with the church, but are all equally determined to see the building saved.

Mr King said that the Bathurst Anglican diocese still has the final say on whether or not the community has the chance to purchase it before it goes to market.

READ ALSO: New construction cottage to be built at Blayney High School

"The Diocese is meeting this week to discuss formalising the 90 day option which Bishop Mark said he would give to the community to raise the $400,000," he said.

"It will be interesting to see if he comes through on his word."

Mr King said that the association would soon be taking on paid members for the community to be able to vote on how their association is run.

"Once we have a bank account set up we can begin to take on donations which will be fully refundable should the purchase not be successful," he said.

READ ALSO: Bryce Ryan named in CWA most deserving list

"The directors will pay any operational costs out of their own pockets so all funds can be returned if the process is unsuccessful."

DIRECTOR PROFILES

George King is a 5th generation member of the Carcoar district with his family property "Coombing Park" paying for the construction of St Paul's in 1849.

George's ancestor is interned inside the building with multiple other members memorialised on plaques.

He is working to keep St Paul's as a community chapel as it is a foundation building of the town representing the past, present and future of our special town.

POSITIONS HELD:

Gail Blowes' family has a long history with St Paul's Carcoar.

Her father was born in Carcoar in 1928 and was christened at the Church, as was her brother and sisters.

Many members of Gail's family have been married at St Paul's including her sister.

They have also held many funerals there over the years to farewell loved ones.

Gail's father passed away in 2017 and the family were able to farewell him with a very moving service provided by Ron Murray.

Both parents, Gail and her sister Sharon cleaned the church for over 30 years on a volunteer basis for the Carcoar community.

Gail was born in Carcoar and has lived here all her life.

She has now retired after 42 years with the National Bank in Mandurama and Blayney finishing as Branch Manager.

Gail says "It saddens me to see the total disregard for our heritage and history. Once it's gone we can never get it back".

POSITIONS HELD:

McKenzie Graham is a Carcoar Local and has lived in Carcoar her entire life, her great-great Grandmother was even married at St Paul's on the 9^th of January 1901, she is extremely passionate about retaining Carcoar's historic value while moving forward into the future.

McKenzie would love to see Saint Paul's purchased by the community and then operated as a community facility for all sorts of events such as: Christenings, Weddings, Funerals and other celebrations.

She believes that St Paul's is one of Carcoar's charms which is best appreciated in the company of others and therefore should remain an asset to the community.

POSITIONS HELD:

Dawn Williams is a tree changer from the southern suburbs of Sydney, with husband Peter and two of their four children, 30 years ago.

She worked with Community nurses for 15 years before retiring.

Dawn has also been involved in many groups in the village including, Village Association, Show Society and Historical Society.

Ron Murray was a Carcoar local up until last year when he moved down the road to Bathurst, despite the small move Ron has maintained his commitment to St Paul's Carcoar which dates back to 1975 when he first attended St Paul's.

Only three years later Ron was appointed warden in 1978, then in 1995 he became the Licenced Lay Minister a position he still maintains today.