A Future Built on Care, Mission, and Wise Stewardship

What kind of parish are we becoming – and what kind of parish are we being called to be? Over the past few months, I’ve found myself returning often to that question. It’s a question that has led us into a series of significant conversations and decisions – ones I now want to share with you openly and clearly. It begins, quite practically, at our front desk.

As many of you know, our parish office shares its reception area with Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School. While this arrangement has served us well since 2011, it no longer meets current national safeguarding standards. The safety of our children is not simply one priority among many – it is the priority. And so, after careful review, it’s clear that this shared arrangement no longer provides the level of protection and clarity that is required today.

In response, we have begun conversations with the school and Brisbane Catholic Education about the possibility of them purchasing our current office space. This is not only a safeguarding response; it also meets a real and growing need on both sides. The school requires additional administrative space, and our parish team continues to grow as we seek to better accompany people into an encounter with Jesus Christ. But this raises the obvious question: Where will the parish office go?

After much consultation and planning, we are now working with architects and quantity surveyors to redevelop the current presbytery into a new parish office. This redevelopment will include a purpose-built reception area to the left of the Egan Room, designed with safeguarding, hospitality, and functionality in mind. It will also include the installation of a lift, ensuring equal access to all levels of the building. This is not simply a building project. It is about aligning our physical spaces with our mission – creating an environment that is safe, welcoming, and capable of supporting the work I believe God is calling us to.

Of course, this leads to another important question: Where will the priests live? Some years ago, the parish purchased a house in Battery Hill, which served as a residence for the parish priest, and is currently being rented. After careful consideration, we have come to recognise that this property is not suitable as a long-term presbytery – particularly when we consider the needs of priests as they grow older, as well as accessibility and proximity to parish life.

I also want to speak personally for a moment. Living on-site, between the church and the office, has its blessings but it also carries challenges. In my own experience, the lack of separation between ministry and rest is slowly taking its toll. Sustainable priestly life in the 21st century requires healthy boundaries, space to rest, and the capacity to return to ministry renewed. With this in mind, I have entered into a contract – settling at the end of April – for the purchase of a nearby unit for the parish priest to live in. This is not only a pastoral decision but also a prudent financial one. Property, as we know, tends to appreciate in value over time, often more significantly than funds held in the Archdiocesan Development Fund. When the time comes to redevelop the presbytery into the new parish office, we will also look to purchase a second nearby unit for the associate pastor. While priests may live differently today than in previous generations, the goal remains the same: a sustainable, healthy, and life-giving way of living and serving.

I want to assure you that none of these decisions have been made lightly or in isolation. I have consulted broadly – particularly with our Parish Finance Council – and sought the wisdom of those with significant experience in these matters such as Fr Peter Brannelly. What I see emerging through all of this is not simply change, but clarity. A clear commitment to safeguarding. A clear alignment of our spaces with our mission. A clear vision for sustainable priestly life. And a clearer sense that we are being called to steward well what has been entrusted to us – for the sake of the Gospel.

There is more to come as plans develop, and I will continue to keep you informed every step of the way. For now, I ask for your prayers: for wisdom, for unity, and for the grace to remain faithful to the mission we share. Because in the end, this is what it is all about: creating a parish where every person can safely encounter the love of Jesus Christ and be sent to share it with others.

Peace and blessings,
Fr Josh