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Long before the days of motorcars and the mountain roads were only dray and buggy tracks. In these conditions enthusiasm must have been of a high order for St. Matthew’s Church, Olinda, was planned. As the preachers had to accommodate hardships, so had the none-too-rich congregation in building and maintaining the church. Most of the residents were berry growers or timber cutters. A few like the Doreys and Boulters had established or ran guesthouses or roadside cafes for city visitors. Most residents lived by their wits not their wealth, and they could af­ford only essentials. The sacrifice of building a church was great. The effort drew them together.

St. Matthew’s was dedicated on 9th July 1903 by Archdeacon W. G. Hindley in the presence of the Rev. W. R. Newton, the Vicar in charge of the Parochial District of Ferntree Gully. Even though a snowstorm was raging, the church was packed. Many residents, most of whom had par­ticipated in building the church their driving spirits Edmund Boulter, Mrs. Rhoda Dorey, the Howard, Parsons, Dorey and Grant families among them were present. So was Bishop John D. Langley, Bishop of Bendigo, a frequent visitor and sometime resident.

Providing services at St. Matthew’s in the early years was not easy. Bad roads and weather made Hurlingham lay reader in (1913-1914) write:

“Our modes of transport were train, horse, or foot. One weekend I went to Gembrook by train on Saturday. After taking morning service there, I would walk to Macclesfield or Cockatoo Creek for the afternoon service and on to Emerald for the evening service. Another walking tour was to Bayswater for the morning service, lunch at Melrose House and a walk up the mountain side through Simpson’s to Mount Dandenong for the afternoon service, then on to Olinda or Sassafras for the evening service. The roads in those days were indescribable. I often carried a second pair of boots in my bag in order to be at least respectable when taking Divine Service.”

A pair of horses at Clergy House were always available, but with a dozen or more preaching places to be ser­ved most of the readers had to travel on foot. The following was written by the Rev. R. S. Sherwood, who later became Precentor of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne. It throws some light on travelling conditions in those early days.

“When I arrived from England - in 1904 to join the staff at Ferntree Gully as a Reader, there were two horses provided for the use of the clergy. Divinity students from Trinity College who visited the district periodically always provided their own ponies, but these ponies always possessed the same name, which was ‘Shanks’. The Church in the early days owed much to its horses, and although the Psalmist says, ‘A horse is counted but a vain thing to save a man’, there are many people in Australia who owe their salvation to the parson’s horse.”

The congregation grew rapidly, and the church became a true social center. In July 1904, 17 confirmed candidates participated in their first communion service. Most of the parishioners participated in the decoration of the church for the first wedding, on 9th September 1904, of South Australian Thos. Sage with Edith Augusta Bradshaw of “Basing House”.

When built, St. Matthew’s was sparsely and modestly furnished. There was little spare money for extras, a formidable amount was owed in building costs. Gradually, however, furnishings and appearance improved. An organ had been borrowed from E. Boulter. Soon the Ladies’ Guild a dedicated group of pioneer women  set itself the task to raise the money needed, and by 1907 a new organ had been installed and paid off. In July 1906 the church itself was free of debt. Already in 1904 did the church own a surplice not at all common as the “Magnet”, the early parish paper, points out. Other donations were received also: Miss Kauper donated an altar cloth, Miss Datson of Melbourne, an offertory plate (1906), Mrs. Dorey a pair of altar vases (1921). A communion set was bought in memory of Rev. Newton (1920), the Sunday School donated a font (1924), and in the same year a bell tower was erected. Electric light was installed as a com­munity project in 1927.

Both the Ladies’ Guild and Sunday School organized regular functions such as “coffee suppers”, “invitation evenings” and “violet and primrose fairs”. All provided Christian fellowship, featured interesting guest speakers, and raised funds. The famous Easter Fetes, and after the First War the an­nual Flower Shows, culminated in the late ‘20s in the establishment of the highly successful Horticultural Society. They all were borne of the will to provide a sound financial basis for the church. The success of the floral shows naturally coincided with the growing emphasis on flower growing and the establishment of fine nurseries and private gardens, many of which were the setting of St. Matthew’s Shows. The result was an increased stream of visitors, especially from the late ‘20s onwards.

But the story of St. Matthew’s is not only of successes. There were problems also, on several occasions the urgent painting of the church had to be delayed for lack of funds and willing hands. Often the vicar or guest preachers would find, after a long trek over muddy mountain tracks, that a half-empty church awaited them.

In July 1906 the “Magnet” observes the “dismal appearance” of the church grounds, and strong words had to be said before a working bee remedied this state.

The 1930s were a period of difficulties for the congregation. The first generation of pioneers, the “founding Fathers” were gone. Edmund Boulter had already died in 1927; Edwin Dorey followed in 1930. Thomas Kennon of “Kenloch”, a long-time supporter of the church and especially the Sun­day School, died in 1934. Bishop Langley, at age 94, had passed on already in 1930. W. J. “Wally” Breen moved away in 1937. By the late ‘30s the momentum of St. Matthew’s seemed spent. The construction of a glamorous second church in the parish St. Michael's focused at­tention away from St. Matthew’s, the mother church.

A boost to spirits came with the purchase and erection of the former Mernda church and dedication as St. Matthew’s Hall, in 1935. it provided, at last, a home for the younger section of the congregation and doubled up as a Ladies’ Guild and congregational hail. The ‘40s were dominated by the clouds of war, which further weakened the congregation.

The ‘50s saw the role of St. Matthew’s decline to an all-time low quite in contrast to its sister church, St. Michael’s. Attendance at services was poor; few Christenings and no weddings cheered up the little old, now also somewhat dowdy church. It was in great need of repairs.

Things looked sufficiently grim for the vestry to buy a block of land close to the main road to attract more support. The high cost (5,000 pounds) prevented this scheme from maturing, however, and the land was sold again in due course.

Eventually the church was repaired, given a new coat of paint, and the congregation regained some of its former optimism. A new font was donated by Mrs. Iris Woolnich nee Doiey and her sister, Miss Alice Dorey, and a new sanctuary was built which the Rev. Richard Pidgeon hoped would one day become the core of a new stone church.

In the ‘60s a new stained-glass window was donated in memory of Ed­win and Martha Dorey, by their two daughters, and a new reader’s lectern, formerly at Trinity College Chapel, was donated by Rev. F. L. Oliver.