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Nestled between a dumpling restaurant and a laneway in Melbourne’s bustling Chinatown precinct, an unassuming brick building represents more than 150 years of history.
Known as Gospel Hall Melbourne, the building was originally established by Methodists as the Chinese Mission Church in 1872, but remains a central pillar within Chinese-Australian communities across the city today.
Most Melburnians would have walked past this spot on Little Bourke Street hundreds of times. But very few are likely to know they’re passing by the oldest Chinese church in Australia, and one of the oldest continually operating in the world.
Inside the main room, pews and banisters are original fittings from the 19th century.
Heritage Victoria lists its external facade as an early example of brick polychromy in the state. Many of its finishes are of a traditional Methodist style.
The building is listed on the Victorian Heritage register, as well as the National Trust.
Tony Lai has worked as a minister at the church for 19 years. He said the space gave people from the wider Chinese-Australian community a place to connect with others, make new friends, and build a sense of belonging.
“It’s a home away from home,” Lai said. “They may not speak the same language, they may have different dialects … but they feel that this is a safe place.
“This is not just a Sunday service church, it is also a kind of committee oasis.”
The building regularly welcomes more than 200 people across its three weekly Sunday services, which are led in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. It is linked with the wider Uniting Church, and sometimes holds services at the Wesley Church on Lonsdale Street.
Many regular parishioners are first- or second-generation migrants, seeking a place to worship that is connected to their home country. Lai said Gospel Hall also welcomed temporary visitors such as international students, new immigrants and tourists.
“There are a lot of different stories happening here. People, when they walk in, they carry different backgrounds … we open this church for anybody to come in,” Lai said.
Carmen Yu has attended Gospel Hall for over three decades after joining Sunday school as a young child. Like many members of the congregation, her parents are first-generation immigrants who sought a place of worship in their own language.
Yu now works as a pharmacist and lives in the eastern suburbs. But she continues to travel into the CBD to attend weekly services and volunteer with the church, which is made easier by its accessible location.
“Given how long I’ve been at the church, I guess it is a really big part of my life. Not just Sunday worship, but also in terms of the friends that I have here, the community that we have here,” she said.
Yu said she was excited to open the church’s doors during the city’s upcoming Open House Melbourne weekend to regular passers-by who hadn’t stopped to consider what was inside.
“In Chinatown, you have a lot of flashing lights. It’s really overstimulating,” she said. “The church, I think it’s beautiful, but it’s more demure.
“It’s nice to have a place here where we can come together to worship together.”
Gospel Hall Melbourne will open to the public as part of the Open House Melbourne Weekend from July 24 to 26, 2026. Tickets can be bought online.
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Gemma Grant is a city reporter at The Age. Contact her securely on Signal at gemmagrant.88Connect via email.From our partners
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