Our Parish History
This account of our history is primarily John Edwards' article in St. Luke's Wantirna publication - "Celebrating 25 Years"
THE NEW SUBURB
By the late 1960s, the transformation from bushland to
suburb was approaching the last of its many stages.
As survey pegs and house frames started to spread
across the hills they brought in their wake a host of
new needs. Newlyweds and young families, as well as
needing shelter, had to be fed, clothed, taught - and
supplied with all the other necessities and amenities
of modern urban life. The little groups of shops at
Studfield and Wantirna Mall started to grow, primary
and secondary schools appeared in the centre of the
estate and the Catholic Church acquired land on
Stokes Road.
It was to take much time and an arduous struggle,
however, before that land came to fulfil the purpose
of church and school for which it was intended. From
earliest times Wantirna was part of St Joseph's parish
at Boronia; the first Catholics in the area faced a
journey of between 3 and 4 kilometres to Sunday
Mass or for their children's schooling. As the gaps
between new houses along the streets shrank and
disappeared and populations grew, the need for
worship and education, for a sense of self as a
community, intensified. True, there were state schools
in the area, and good ones, and churches at Boronia
and Bayswater, but here in Wantirna an ever-growing
number of young Catholic families were beginning
to seek cohesion and identity in their own right.
In 1978 a Sunday Mass centre was set up in the
state school at Regency Park: the young families
would arrive at the school early, well ahead of the
scheduled Mass time, clear away and stack the little
desks, set up seating and altar, arrange banners and
flowers, tune up their guitars, practice their hymns
then fill the room to bursting with their spirited and
spiritual, youthful and hopeful post-Vatican II worship.
After Mass there were cups of tea, groups in
conversation and children darting about in play as the
place was re-established as a classroom. More families
came; soon the schoolroom was not big enough and
Mass was moved to a covered shelter outside. If it was
cold in winter and hot in summer this could be
endured, what mattered was the spirit of the place -
hope, excitement and the vast future that lay ahead.
FR. VAN SUYLEN
Bishop Eric Perkins and Fr. John Van Suylen, 1978
It is impossible to give any account or re-imagining of
those times without acknowledging the central role
of Fr John Van Suylen. In fact the importance of that
role cannot be over-emphasised; from the beginning,
as assistant priest at St Joseph's Boronia, he took
particular interest in the young and growing
community. The early history of what was to become
our parish is intertwined with the fervent Christianity
of Fr John; if these were times of youthful energy and
optimism - and they were - Fr John was the very man
to reflect and embody their spirit. Risks were run and
great leaps forward were taken, huge beyond
practicality and courageous beyond folly, but all
taken in faith.
A faith not misplaced. In 1978, with Wantirna still
straddling Boronia and Bayswater parishes, a house
was purchased in Haileybury Court to serve as a
convent for Sisters Aileen Shanahan and Mary Ryan,
both destined for roles with the school and the parish.
In fact the school was opened in 1979 with 116
children and the involvement of 65 families. The
Eucharist was still being celebrated in a classroom -
actually numbers had so grown that two were needed
- but at least at this point it was in our own school!
In January 1980 Archbishop Little pronounced the
creation of the new parish of Wantirna with Fr John as
parish priest. It was a time of excitement, growth and
building. Numbers both at the school and the weekly
Eucharist continued to increase and planning for the
second stage of the school commenced only a month
after inauguration of the parish, only to be revised
upward for an even larger project. At this stage Knox
had become the fastest-growing residential area in
Australia and, to the Catholics of Wantirna, nothing
seemed too daunting to tackle.
CREATING THE PARISH CENTRE
Celebration of Eucharist, 1978
With the second stage of the school - the bigger,
up-scaled version - the next step was planning for
a priest's residence and parish centre. In November
of the same year, 1980, it was decided to build both
together. The second stage of the school was
completed in August 1981 and opened by the
Reverend Dean Wall. In the following month,
with attendances continuing to skyrocket, the Mass
centre was relocated from its two-classroom status to
the large area in the middle of the new stage two.
Within three months, by Christmas of that year, it had
become clear that this in turn was not adequate - the
need for a parish centre was becoming more urgent.
As in the later case of building the church
finance was a problem and one of the many innovative
fundraisers was the purchase by parishioners of bricks
for the new building.
When school resumed in 1982 enrolments had
risen to over 400, almost four times the number of
only three years before, and work on the parish centre
pressed on. Then, less than two months after
commencement of the school year, on 21 March,
Archbishop Little opened the chapel, community
centre and parish house. He con-celebrated Mass
with Fr John and Fr Malcolm Campbell before a huge
crowd gathered beneath the gum trees in front of the
centre in what he referred to as 'God's own Cathedral'.
He was quoted by The Advocate of 1 April as asking
the congregation: 'Wouldn't it be great if, from this
beginning of this parish we all had (Christ's sacrifice)
in our hearts and that throughout our lives we saw
this as the centre of all our community life?'
A parish centre coordinator was appointed and
within a very short time many activities were
organised. Saturday and Sunday evening Masses
were celebrated in the centre. A commentary of the
time wrote: The prayerful atmosphere and decor were
appreciated as a contrast from the Masses celebrated
at the school and were a foretaste of things anticipated
when a church would be built. This however seemed
a long way off...' In those heady times, however, 'a
long way off was different from what it might be in
another era. A former parishioner recollects ' ... in an
early conversation between Fr John and me, when I
innocently inquired as to "when are we going to build
a Church?" he replied "How about now!" Before I
knew it the Church Development Committee was in
place ...' Indeed the continuously expanding
community soon outgrew the new centre and by 1983
all weekend Masses had to return to the school, despite
overcrowding to the point of discomfort. The new
centre had already become too small.
NEW GROWTH
The excitement of the time derived, however, from
much more than the simple facts of growing numbers
and the bricks and mortar needed to keep pace. Here
was a generation of people of approximately the same
age, with the same faith and beliefs, similar ideals and
goals, facing similar problems and difficulties, sharing
identical experiences. Their babies were born within
months of each other; their children grew and played
together on the new streets. The unique phenomenon
of an entire suburb being created and a faith
community coming into existence in such a short
space of time created an event of shared experience
barely equaled by the mythical Australian country
town. And hand in glove with shared experience
went shared lives, in worship and in daily activities,
from working bees to dinner parties and shared
holidays. The spirit of those times shines through the
accounts of many of the church groups that were
formed then - their stories can be read and the spirit
that the new, young parish gave them can be felt in the
accounts on the following pages.
More yet: young families, new careers, new suburb,
new parish and the winds of change sweeping
through an age-old church: Vatican II. The parish was
endowed with a priest who was youthful, vital, and
open to the new and untried - while Masses were well
attended and venues were being Mailed and rejected,
the leadership group was engaged in earnest debate
as to whether in this new era a church was needed
at all. In the end the decision was, as we all can see,
for a church. Not, however, that this might have been
a purely parochial decision: in September 1983 the
Diocesan Extension and Maintenance Fund decided
to look at ways in which they could assist new parishes
and noted that they should do all in their power to see
that St Luke's had an adequate Mass centre as soon
as possible. The leaflet 'New Growth' was distributed
throughout the parish and prayerful preparation began.
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BUILDING A CHURCH
Church construction begins
From 19 September until 8 December prayerful
consideration, tentative planning and many meetings
resulted in a decision to move ahead, in fact, it was
decided to build. Again, the process that followed was
typified by the breathless faith-filled headlong rush that
had been the signature of parish development to that
point. Finance was an immense problem: with a parish
of predominantly young families, every available dollar
had to stretch an extremely long way (how much did
you have to spare when you were a one-income family
with maybe three or four school-age kids and a fairly
new mortgage?). Architectural and constructional
simplicity were essential and church furnishings and
accessories were often acquired through modern
miracles. There are many stories from that time:
Fr John, whose vitality and spirituality were not
matched by financial acumen, ordered upholstered
pews from a local manufacturer on 14 days' credit.
The pews were made and delivered, and fine pews
they are - to this day they remain an asset to the
church - but there was no money to pay for them.
Dave Blizzard, a leading figure at the time, went into
action on the first Sunday of their arrival offering
parishioners the opportunity to buy the pews they
were seated on, bank card accepted. The money
required for the pews was raised. It is not relevant
that at the time of this dazzling sales drive Dave was
a senior officer in the Victoria Police.
There was no altar or money to acquire one.
Unbidden, undiscussed, unannounced and almost
unnoticed, Gerry Konynenburg, a parishioner and
local builder, went to work. Behold, as if by magic,
an altar and lectionary appeared!
The church begins to take shape, 1984
Building had commenced in July 1984 (see
below), and by Christmas, stark masonry and bare
roof trusses were visible signs of a work in progress:
an incomplete shell, a church on the way but not the
place to celebrate Christmas. That, however, is exactly
what happened, with brave optimism and the church
in its raw glory. To quote Dave Blizzard, 'Wiring,
aluminium foil framing etc. was everywhere to be seen.
I recall some form of temporary lighting. It wasn't
exactly like the stable at Bethlehem, but it was close.
But nevertheless celebrate we did, in large numbers'.
Did they cart seating all the way up from the school
and back again? Did Fr John use a hand-held
megaphone? 'A new expectancy was felt by us all
as we prepared in our uncompleted church to share
in the birth of Christ. The structure, as yet unfinished,
seemed a fitting place to remember His birthday.
Then back to the school to await the completion of
our much anticipated church.'
Only to jump the gun once again. 'Palm Sunday
1985 witnessed our celebration "in the spirit of the
Exodus" from the school down to our new church.
In procession, we carried all those things we would
need for our Eucharistic celebrations - our church
stood, bare internally but externally complete. The
whole church resounded with the hymn God is
Building a House. The dream of celebrating our
Sunday Eucharists in our own church was quickly
becoming a reality'. And they pressed on '... on Holy
Thursday night - the church was hardly lit,
parishioners on entering were rather bewildered as
they stood or sat in little groups on the floor - this was
really and truly pioneering stuff, all brought about by
Fr John's wisdom in giving the gifted members of the
community their head. I truly believed that our parish
was living the vision of Vatican II'.
CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH
Archbishop Frank Little delivers his homily at the Consecration Mass, 1985
Then the great day arrived. On 15 September 1985
St Luke's church, Wantirna, was consecrated by
Archbishop Frank Little; in a little over five years from
the creation of the parish, a minor miracle had been
worked. To quote Dave Blizzard again,'... I think it is
fair to say that we have never again experienced that
sense of belonging and that sense of parish family,
such as we experienced during our time at St Luke's'.
A community had been formed to become an
outstanding model of Christian fellowship from the
none-too-abundant resources of young families
battling to establish themselves in life. From these
very finite resources, a church had been built. The
achievement was, of course, the culmination of years
of working bees, fetes, raffles, balls and every other
form of fundraising activity ever known to the Catholic
Church. In addition to the fundraising activities, the
individual efforts of so many parishioners brought
the project to fulfillment; people like Lawrie O'Shea,
Danny Richards, and Des Dineen, whose handiwork
remains to be seen in the completed building.
There was an element of the unconventional in the
choice of architects: rather than select from the panel
proffered by the Diocesan Extension and Maintenance
Fund the parish engaged an industrial architect,
James Fong, whose bold and strong emphases set
the building's character. And even at the eleventh
hour there was drama as the Diocesan Fund's
contribution was found to fall short of the expected
amount. An energetic committee formed Project 500,
its target to raise $50,000 without which there was
going to be no church. The money was raised in
twelve months, the church was built, the crowning
glory of the young parish had been achieved.
THE AFTERMATH
Within a short time of achieving its
new church, the community was facing unexpected
difficulties. In the wake of a resounding achievement
came stresses and tensions, not the least of those
relating to money. A huge new debt coinciding with
escalating interest rates and other problems brought,
not resolution in the spirit of earlier times, but
difficulties for which the experience of the pioneering
years had given neither precedent nor guidance. So,
at the point of its greatest joy, the parish was pitched
into an era of great sadness. Resolution between
differing viewpoints proved impossible and just when
the parish could have consolidated its achievement
and commenced again on its journey toward better
knowing and serving God it came instead to a parting
of the ways and by 1987 Fr John had left the parish.
Abruptly there came a change of character
and pace - in the wake of breathless excitement
and headlong rush and, as the parish caught its breath
- a new mood of uncertainty. Into this period came
Fr Maurie Cooney as parish administrator. Led,
inspired and tirelessly supported by Fr Maurie the
community set out on a new path of healing and
consolidation. One cannot overstate the significance
of Fr Maurie's presence at this time. Appointed at a
critical period in the history of the parish, he worked
skilfully and with insight to nurture available strengths
- steadily parish finances improved, numbers at
Sunday Mass began to rise again and past troubles
sank into perspective. If the early growth of the parish
was an era of youthful exuberance then the new times
could be characterised by a move toward maturity,
a new, more reflective Christianity, supported and
strengthened by Fr Maurie's scholarly homilies and
unceasing work with the community. His busy
schedule included heavy demands on his time from
the archdiocese yet these never intruded on his
ability to meet the equally heavy demands made
by the parish.
STRENGTHS OF OUR PARISH
The stories of our parish groups are told in other
sections of this publication. It is a mark of the nature
of our parish and parishioners that, from the earliest
times, the sense of community lying at the heart of
Christ's message should permeate downward, into
our daily lives, as well as upward, in worship. Our
diverse groups reflect our interests, demonstrate our
Christianity, and help to bring it into our daily lives;
our groups grow from the strength of the parish and
add to the strength of the parish. It could be said that
the parish groups of St Luke's played an important
role in Fr Maurie's work of consolidation. Then in June
of 1993 he handed the reins as parish administrator
to Fr Michael Miles.
For all parishes in modern day Australia a new
attitude throughout the nation towards the church
and towards Christianity has brought new challenges.
Falling attendances in the late twentieth century,
continuing into the twenty-first century, are a reality
of mainstream churches. Sunday is no longer a day
of worship but a day of recreation, sport, shopping,
restaurants, theatres - and maybe worship, as well.
Fr Michael Miles, as administrator, fought, as did the
priests in all the parishes around us, against this new
trend. He represented for us a stalwart commitment
to our faith and true partnership in the living Jesus.
A NEW ERA
Fr. Tim and Gayle Ashdowne during the parish office extension, 2004
In 1995 the period of administration came to an end:
St Luke's again had a parish priest.
Fr. Tim Tolan was
welcomed to St Luke's on 22 June 1995. He brought to us a Christianity that
meshed ideally with the times - having dared, risked
and won through to achieve, almost against the odds,
the building of a school, parish centre and church;
having weathered troubled times and been
strengthened by those times, we were ideally placed
to respond to a priest whose homilies address mature
thinking Christians, whose trust in us challenged, and
continues to challenge us to live increasingly stronger
Christian lives.
At the same time, or in fact in February 1994, some
14 months before Fr Tim, a new and dynamic force
came to join St Luke's: Maria Newbigin was appointed
as the first pastoral associate. Few
will forget the warmth and enthusiasm she brought to
this new role. For instance, the part she played with
Fr. Tim in establishing the Leadership Ministry team.
Many have a special place in their hearts for her. She
remained with St Luke's until late 2005 and will always
be remembered for the lasting impression she left on
the parish.
Each passage in history comes with its own
challenges. The era of Fr Tim's stewardship faced the
same problems of falling attendances and with them
falling income for the church. Health for Fr Tim had
been at times a
serious issue. Sadly, Fr. Tim passed away in April 2008.
In August 2008, Fr. Vel Maglica was warmly welcomed to St. Luke's as our
parish priest.
At no time in the life of our church, and
at few times in that of our parish have there not been
challenges. St Luke's faces its current challenges as
it did those of 1980, 1983 and 1986 - with the spirit in
which it began and with which it has been tempered
over the years. That spirit will continue on.
In October 2013 Fr. Vel Maglica leaves St. Luke's Parish after being assigned a new role.
Fr. Michel Corriveau is welcomed to St. Luke's as our parish priest.
In March 2015 Fr. Michel Corriveau leaves St. Luke's Parish after being assigned to another parish.
Fr. Joseph Amal sdb. is welcomed to St. Luke's as our parish priest.
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