“It has been flooded, rebuilt, rocked by an earthquake, closed, auctioned and even dynamited.

Now the extraordinary story of The Church of St Michael the Archangel, Wollombi has been brought to life in a new book titled The Church That Would Not Die, written by Alison Plummer and Gael Winnick.

Ms Winnick – who put about a decade of research into the book – will present an author talk at Cessnock Library on Monday, September 30.

Founded in 1840, St Michael’s Wollombi is believed to be one of the oldest churches on mainland Australia.”