Eugowra Seventh-day Adventist Church

In the late 1890s, Philip Reekie rode his battered penny-farthing across the Blue Mountains to the farming region of Eugowra, where he met a farmer ploughing his field. Armed with Adventist literature, Reekie shared Ellen G. White’s The Great Controversy with local farmer Thomas Kent, who, through it, learnt of the Sabbath message, and began to worship beside a great rock on his property.

Kent soon shared the message with his family and neighbours. After being baptised in Ashfield on July 30, 1889, he returned and with the help of six families: the Chatmans, Gersbachs, Greys, Kents, Packhams, and Thompsons, founded the first Adventist church west of the Blue Mountains, which was dedicated by Pr Irwin on June 19th, 1904, and worshipped actively until 1927. 

From 1904 – 1915, small schools saw teachers such as Joseph Mills, the first male teacher in Australian Adventist schools, and Rita Ford share the message with local children. Many of these travelled to study at the Australasian Missionary School (now Avondale University), and held significant ministerial and departmental roles in the South Pacific Division.

It is estimated that over 20,000 Adventists can trace their faith roots back to the founding families and descendents of the Eugowra church. Today, the I Will Go bike trail traces the route of Philip Reekie and encourages all people to recognise the great impact that a single book can have.