For the full table of contents and a PDF of the booklet, which includes photos, see the Parish History 1888–1968.
Daughter Churches
1. Good Shepherd, Brookfield
In 1892, Mr. Rivers (later Archdeacon and Dean Rivers of Hobart) persuaded the people of Brookfield to build a little church there; it is still standing on the hill overlooking the village.
Mr. Rivers was one of the three priests who ministered to the residents of Indooroopilly for a little while before Canon Jones came to the parish in 1894.
He, Mr. Rivers, evidently visited Brookfield where there seems to have been a number of Anglican families. The church is named the Church of the Good Shepherd. Owing to its distance from the mother church, it has had a somewhat chequered career, and for a while languished; some of its properties were lost or removed — the bell was found at St. Peter’s, Moggill Road a few years ago, but the prayer book has completely disappeared.
However, since 1947, there has been a revival, the building has been renovated and painted, the floor sanded and the grounds tidied and, what is more important, there is an awakened church life which everyone is endeavouring to foster, encourage and stimulate.
The church is now a worthy place of worship in a delightful rural setting.
Within the last ten years several new furnishings have been given — two of them as memorials, others as thank offerings.
In 1960, a chalice, in 1962, an altar which was dedicated in that same year, and in 1964 two standard candlesticks were given by Mrs. Edith C. Morgan.
Two altar candlesticks were donated by Mrs. Cooper in memory of her parents who lived in Taroom and in 1966 the lovely silky oak altar rails were given by her in memory of her husband Major Roy Cooper and her son Ken.
In addition, a beautiful altar cloth was presented anonymously, a hymn board by another lady and quite recently, curtains, and an altar canopy by the Young Members Department of the Mothers’ Union.
Early in 1960 subwardens were appointed and since then the church has been represented on the parochial council of St. Andrew’s.
Services are now held every Sunday, either by one of the priests or one of the two lay readers.
Sunday School is also held regularly and all points to an awakened church life.
2. St David’s, Chelmer
In 1923 monthly celebrations of Holy Communion were commenced in the local School of Arts in Chelmer. Hitherto, the Chelmer people had to cross the river by rail or punt, or walk over the bridge to attend St. Andrew’s — their parish church.
In 1930 Mr. Ashburner retired and went to live on Tamborine mountain; and when Mr. St. George came to St. Andrew’s in June, 1930 from Pomona an increase of services was made to twice a month plus Christmas and Easter Services. This was the beginning of many changes that were to be made in the subsequent years.
Chelmer was beginning to develop growing pains and in 1936 the first move was made to provide a church building there. A splendid site was purchased and enthusiastic committees of men and women raised sufficient money to enable the foundation stone to be laid in November, 1939. The following May (1940), the lovely Church of St. David — the second, daughter Church of St. Andrew’s, was dedicated by Archbishop Wand.
The estimated cost of this church was £1,400 but at the time of dedication the value of the building and its furnishings was about £2,000. Had it not been for the help needed to establish St. David’s as part of the parish, the mother church of St. Andrew might have been erected then-
It was not long after the dedication that a petition was lodged with the diocesan authorities for Chelmer to be made a parochial district. The necessary papers were signed and sent to the Church House in Ann Street, and in March, 1946, the Archbishop appointed the Reverend A. S. Dence Vicar as from the 1st of April.
The committee of St. David’s had purchased land for a vicarage and made improvements to the grounds of the church.
Since then Chelmer has been raised to parish level and is now well established with a daughter church and has no longer any allegiance to the mother church of St. Andrew.
3. St Peter’s, Indooroopilly
The story of the third daughter church is one of justified faith — St. Peter’s, Moggill Road.
In 1935, the late Mr. T. C. Brooks, a member of the parochial council of St. Andrew’s, asked for permission to establish a mission centre in the Loyal Orange Lodge (formerly the Methodist Church of the district) off the Moggill Road near the Indooroopilly State School.
The mission was called the “Venture of Faith” and was under the care of Mr. Brooks.
For a while the building was hired, but in 1936, the parochial council decided to buy it and the adjoining twenty-four (24) perches of land at the corner of Moggill Road and Rylatt Street.
The entrance to the old building was turned into the chancel and sanctuary and a new entrance made on the western side near the other end. On the 11th of July, 1937, Archbishop Wand dedicated the sanctuary of what, since then, has been called St. Peter’s Church. Services were then held regularly, Holy Communion was celebrated once a month by the rector, and Mr. Brooks assisted by Mr. Percy Brier, and later by other lay readers carried on a weekly Evensong.
At first it was a mission church, but soon began to grow in numbers and enthusiasm; the debt on the building was liquidated in 1940, but the amount of £150 was still owing on the adjoining land.
The subwardens and the church committee worked hard and eventually paid that debt.
In 1942, Mr. Brooks resigned and went to live in another suburb where he died in 1944.
Services were then continued with the help of lay readers and students from St. Francis’ College; and during the war years Reverend V. H. Whitehouse administered Holy Communion. Years went by and in 1957, shortly after Canon Shand came from Toowoomba to live in Sherwood, His Grace Archbishop Halse invited him to help in the parish.
He agreed and took charge of St. Peter’s and in spite of being a retired priest through ill-health, did a wonderful work there. In 1959, the committee, instigated by the Canon, considered the time was ripe to make a move towards getting funds for a hall to be used temporarily as a church, so a canvass of parishioners was made by an enthusiastic team and sufficient money obtained to move the old church building nearer to Moggill Road and to build a really beautiful hall-cum-church which was dedicated by the Archbishop in December, 1959. This building was designed by Mr. Stephen Trotter and built by Mr. G. Boddily of Coopers Plains at a cost of £5,400.
All this was done independently of the mother church, for St. Peter’s has been allowed to work more or less in that way; but by the beginning of 1960 the Rector had the whole parish in his grasp and began working towards the integration of all centres. As they were committed to a fund-raising scheme of their own St. Peter’s could not enter into the Wells Planned-Giving Programme inaugurated by St. Andrew’s in 1960. However, very soon a partial canvass was discussed and, although a decision to rely on pastoral visitation was reached in March, 1961, the partial canvass as outlined by Wells organisation was decided on and proceeded with. St. Peters was given good representation on the parochial council and subwardens were appointed. Much repair work was done and by April, 1961, the new hall-cum-church was paid for; but there was still an overdraft of £1,375, which was a big reduction on the £8,000 overdraft of three years previously.
In May, 1961, all centres were welded together and all funds merged into the one Indooroopilly Church of England General Fund or the St. Andrew’s Church of England Memorial Fund.
The reduction of the debt, and other matters, were due mainly to Mr. Douglas Huggins, who was warmly thanked for all he did.
By September, 1962, the hall was out of debt and all commitments met. In July, 1963, Canon Shand was obliged to give up his work but Canon Cornish, recently retired from St. Paul’s, Ipswich, agreed to help. Canon Shand died in December, 1963 and early in 1964 consideration was given to the opening of a fund to purchase a suitable memorial to him. In August of that year the parochial council decided on a lectern to be designed by Mr. Stephen Trotter at a cost of about £90, and a bursary also to be provided for a student of St. Francis.
The balance of the fund was allocated to a pulpit that came unexpectedly with the lectern. At the same time donations were invited for a suitable memorial to Mr. St. George and they came in quickly for both funds.
At the parochial festival in July, 1965, the Rector dedicated both the beautiful lectern and the pulpit together with six new pews which had been given by St. Peter’s Women’s Guild as a memorial to the pioneers of St. Peter’s.
The memorial to Mr. St. George — a beautiful font — was placed in the baptistry of St. Andrew’s and dedicated by the Archbishop with other memorials when he dedicated the new brick church of St. Andrew on the 4th of September, 1965.
Before the dedication Mrs. Napier resigned the position of organist of St. Andrew’s but remained as organist of St. Peter’s.
Some of the pews of the old Church of St. Andrew were used until new ones could be purchased. The Guild was willing to bear the cost of reconditioning these pews but it was not done until 1967 when new ones were expected. It is interesting to note that the grounds of the church were kept in order of the Y.A.F. who, because of lack of funds also painted the hall in 1967. This hall was the old wooden church that had been removed to its present position.
The notice boards have been redesigned recently and erected, the frontals and pews once used in the old St. Andrew’s church are now polished and in position and the church with its new furnishings and a sanctuary lamp, dedicated by the Rector on the 28th of July, 1968, in memory of Mrs. Elliott Alice Moore is a worthy house of God with a seating capacity of 180.
4. The Church of the Holy Spirit, Kenmore
This is the fourth daughter Church of St. Andrew’s and in some respects almost looks like a daughter Church of St. Peter’s, because much of the work of establishing it was done by members of St. Peter’s.
The phenomenal growth of Kenmore as a suburb and the consequent expansion of the population made necessary the addition of a new place of worship.
Land was bought in 1959 just below the Moggill Road with the approval of the diocesan council, and the small unused Church of the Holy Spirit in West Toowong was also purchased and re-erected on this land.
The first communion service was held there on Christmas Day, 1959, and the first Evensong on Sunday, March 13, 1960. Regular weekly celebrations of Holy Communion have been held ever since. After a working bee had prepared the grounds and building, the late Bishop Dixon dedicated the church on the 5th of June, 1960 (Whitsunday).
The following year (1961) owing to the rapid growth of the congregation, extra land was bought and consideration given to enlarging the church by adding a sanctuary and a bigger porch, as well as raising money for the possible acquisition of another and better site.
These alterations did not begin until August, 1962, and in 1963 the progress of the church warranted the advice to form a committee to consider the needs of the future.
The registrar of the diocese agreed that it would be wise to retain the present site, especially as Mrs. Penhaligon promised us in 1963 the first offer of her property on Moggill Road, in the event of her selling it.
Negotiations were set on foot to acquire the land behind her house, the underneath of which she offered us for the use of the Sunday School.
The subwardens were deputed to arrange a master plan for future church property, including the expected purchase of Mrs. Penhaligon’s house.
These plans were referred to the diocesan registrar and approved. It was felt that £7,000 would be needed and set aside for these considerations and it was decided to invite the professional architects of the district to enter into a limited competition for the site development and the first of five stages of building.
These stages were as follows: —
First stage (immediate): Part of the parish hall to serve temporarily as a church with seating capacity of 125 to 150.
Second stage: The rectory.
Third stage: The parish church and the removal of the present church building.
Fourth stage: Completion of the parish hall and facilities for the Y.A.F. underneath.
Fifth stage: (General roadways, parking, and sporting areas in the grounds).
Each of the contestants received a list of the required proposals and the closing date was first decided to be in December, 1963, but was later postponed until February, 1964.
A panel of judges was appointed and they chose Mr. John Dalton and commissioned him to prepare plans for the first stage of the scheme. Thanks were recorded to the panel which included the rector, Messrs. A. J. Dickenson, Capel Greenway, G. A. Johnson, F. B. Lucas, Norman Walker, the diocesan registrar Mr. Roland St. John for all they had done. Early in 1964 land was secured at the entrance to the church grounds.
A reserve fund of £11,000 was established and Mr. Dalton prepared a sketch of a complete hall to cost £10,000 to be erected in 12 weeks as a church with a temporary sanctuary similar to St. Peter’s and with a vestry off the sanctuary.
The sub-committee thought it too expensive and the subwardens decided that £7,000 must not be exceeded and they were given authority to expedite matters. There was some talk of having a footbridge over the creek which forms the southern boundary of the land to enable some parishioners easier access to the church but this has not been done yet.
Mrs. Penhaligon and her son agreed to sell her property in August, 1964 for £4,000, and a deposit of £1,000 was paid to her with the intention of paying the balance when she vacated the house early in 1965. She vacated her house in December, 1964, and as certain alterations were necessary Mr. St. John was invited to discuss them with the property and finance board.
These alterations were effected and the Reverend Robert Snell and his family took up residence, therein in April, 1965.
At this time the thought of the ultimate separation of Kenmore and the eastern portion of the parish involving St. Andrew’s and St. Peter’s arose. The difficulties surrounding such a move were explained by Archdeacon Arkell; they included a request from Kenmore to the diocesan authorities which was then obviously unlikely.
I am indebted to Mr. Dudley Wilde for most of what follows:
The Property and Finance Board laid down a rather rigid set of conditions for the design of the new hall and did not approve of the design submitted by Mr. Dalton.
After several further submissions and other difficulties that arose Mr. Dalton asked, in October, 1965, to be relieved of his commission, and that another architect be engaged.
Mr. Dudley Wilde of the Architectural firm of Goodsir and Carlyle, Baker and Wilde was invited to investigate the board requirements and if satisfaction were obtained he would be commissioned to proceed with the contract documents for the construction of the first stage of the development.
This duly occurred and tenders were called in February, 1966, and the tender of K. F. Allen Pty. Ltd. at $23,718 was duly accepted. This amount included $534 for a septic system to the curate’s residence.
Work began on the church-cum-hall in April, 1966, and on the 29th of May Archdeacon Arkell unveiled a plaque to commemorate that fact.
A Women’s Guild was established and preparations were made for the opening of the church in September.
It was hoped the Y.A.F. would help to keep the grounds in order as they had done for St. Andrew’s and St. Peter’s, and that material and equipment for furnishing would be given or obtained from old St. Andrew’s.
Money was received for the font and for the altar. The credence table was given by Mr. G. A. Johnson and his mother in memory of his father. The prayer desk was promised, and pews were purchased from the old seaman’s mission; thus the seating difficulty was overcome. Many other items were straight out gifts from various parishioners.
The furniture (thus provided) was designed by the architect to maintain a continuity of design throughout the building-including the interior. The design of the building is as follows:— Levels of the ground were used to produce a two-storey development — one full floor at first floor level and a park floor at ground level. The first floor contains the church hall to seat 150 persons, with a verandah overflow area on the south, a vestry and a small kitchen. A concrete staircase links the first floor with the ground floor which contains toilets and space for a future Y.A.F. area.
The building is of timber framing and external sheeting to first floor and concrete block to ground floor. The hall is sheeted internally with hardboard lining and slash pine ceiling. Roof beams are boxed in and sheeted with natural cork from Portugal to assist in acoustics as well as for appearance.
The floor of the hall is sheeted with polished hardwood. The roof is a dome-shaped structure giving a coffer-like appearance internally and is sheeted with a galvanised metal deck.
The final cost of the church was $25,085 and the furnishings $811.
This exceeded the original contract amount; and was due to excavation and drainage to make ready for stage two — the provision of facilities. There are at present two tennis courts laid down as well as a cricket pitch and the church grounds are kept in good order.
So after a period of stress and strain the new Church of the Holy Spirit was dedicated as a church-cum-hall on Sunday, August 26, 1966, at 9 a.m. by His Grace Archbishop Strong of Brisbane and Primate of Australia.
On Sunday, July 21, 1968, a special meeting of parishioners from the whole parish was held at Kenmore with Archdeacon Swan (rector elect of St. Andrew’s) in the chair, to discuss and draw up a petition to the Archbishop-in-Council to proclaim Kenmore, Brookfield and Moggill a separate parochial district. The Rector and other members of St. Andrew’s were present and the registrar, Mr. Roland St. John, addressed the meeting. After some discussion the petition was drawn up, signed and sent to the diocesan council and on Sunday, August 4 (his last Sunday with us) the Reverend M. A. Paxton-Hall announced that the petition was granted and that the name of the priest-in-charge or the vicar, would be announced at the same time when Archdeacon Swan is inducted as Rector of St. Andrew’s. This hope was realised on the 5th September when it was announced that the Archbishop appointed the Reverend Derek Pryde as Vicar.
5. St. Michael and All Angels’, Moggill
The district of Moggill is one of the oldest and most remote parts of our parish; there are several loyal Anglican families scattered about the area who were eagerly awaiting the erection of a building wherein they can worship together.
It is only ten or twelve years ago that any regular services were held there, and they have been in private homes. Evensong was first held once a month on a Thursday in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Les Cunnington, then in 1961 Holy Communion was celebrated in Mr. & Mrs. J. Crozier’s home, where the first Christmas Day Service was held that year. Owing to Mr. Cunnington’s ill health in 1962 Evensong was transferred to Mr. & Mrs. Len Dart’s home.
Mrs. N. V. Cottrell began a Sunday School in her home this year and in April, 1963, she brought 14 children to St. Andrew’s; today she has 70 children attending.
The interest shown by Moggill residents especially in Operation Door Knock in 1962 induced the Wells organisation to include Moggill in the second planned-giving programme of 1963. By this time our church people there began to express a wish for a church building of their own, although very grateful to Mrs. Crozier, Mrs. Cottrell and Mr. Dart for what they were doing.
From July, 1963, the Rector arranged regular monthly services for Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month as well as a similar monthly Evensong on Thursdays. In 1965, Mr. Cunnington died; also Mr. Dart was obliged to discontinue the Evensong at his home. This was then held in Mrs. Crozier’s home. Canon Cornish used to come from Ipswich over the ferry for Holy Communion, but he was obliged to give up because of his health, so other arrangements were made.
Land has been owned by the Diocese for many years, but it was not suitable for Church purposes, so after receiving permission from the Diocesan Council it was sold in 1965 for £300 and an acre of land adjoining the State School was acquired in 1966 for £800. This land was cleared and levelled and at Michaelmas 1966, a special service was held in a marquee to show appreciation of the Archbishop’s consent to name the Church, when it is built, St. Michaels and All Angels.
This was a highlight in the life of the Moggill Community but the following year, 1967, a similar service was held and it brought together the largest gathering of parishioners of the district.
Gifts for the Church have been received already—ten tables and twelve forms came from Dr. Hawker of Kenmore and Mrs. Cottrell donated her reed organ—at present used by her kindergarten—for future use.
A Confirmation class was held in her home this year (1967).
So keen are our people there, they were willing to pay the cost of the removal of the old Church of the Holy Spirit, Kenmore, if it were to be sold, or to obtain a pre-fabricated building either painted or not.
But as man proposes and God disposes, the opportunity arose to buy the old State School which was rendered vacant by the recent erection of a new school. The school was purchased early in 1968 and preparations were made to move the building to the adjacent land, remodel it, and prepare it for use.
This was done also and on the 14th of July, at 11 a.m. the Right Reverend Bishop Hudson, dedicated it as the Church-cum-Hall of St. Michael and All Angels. This was a red-letter day in the history of the Parish, and the Moggill people art to be congratulated on all they have done to make this possible.
The Parish choir sang the Service and many people from different parts of the Parish were present. It is particularly pleasing to record that the Church is free of debt and that services can now be held there every Sunday.
For the full table of contents and a PDF of the booklet, which includes photos, see the Parish History 1888–1968. Alternatively, go to Chapter 7.