The Congregational (or 'Independent') Church in Adelaide had its beginnings in 1837 in a marquee erected by T. Q. Stow, then progressed to a pug and pine chapel on North Terrace, succeeded in November 1840 by a more substantial building on Freeman Street (later part of Gawler Place).

The rush to the Victorian goldfields, of which Haynes was a participant, led to the closure of the Ebenezer Chapel for fifteen months.

A year later Dewhirst left to join the Baptist Church, and the British and Foreign Bible Society appointed Rev.

A public meeting was held at White's Assembly Rooms, with William Peacock presiding over a gathering of 1,000 people.

A block near the centre of the east side of Hindmarsh Square was purchased for £700 and in the first year the congregation raised £1,030 towards a new building, which was matched by Peacock.

Abbott's design, described as "modified Byzantine", provided for a pair of steeples, which the committee decided to do without, as an economy measure.

[4] The cornerstone was laid by Peacock on 21 August 1861 and new building, built to seat 450 and with its schoolroom and vestries completed a year later, cost £5,075.

Extensive stabling was erected to the south of the building, which was to have been called the Ebenezer Congregational Church,[1] but that was rarely observed, invariably being referred to by its location.