THE PARISH HISTORY
The following is an abridged version of an article published in
A Memento of the 25th Anniversary of the Parish of St Gerard Majella : St Gerard Majella's Catholic Church Chermside West 1977 - 2002

FAITH IN THE FUTURE
Father Barney Wilson, the first parish priest for St Gerard Majella's, remarked at the opening of the new parish centre at West Chermside in June, 1977, how much the Catholic community in the area reflected the ideals of faith, hope and charity. The parishioners had demonstrated a love in the service of their fellows through generously assisting the distressed and needy in the local community and abroad. In the building of the new church, parishioners showed their trust in the presence of God in their lives.
The opening of the parish centre in Maundrell Terrace enabled the Church to move from its original site in Pullford Street, West Chermside. The move completed 15 years of extraordinary progress by a young and enthusiastic community that learned to embrace the principles of Vatican II to espouse the faith education of all, and was not without considerable debate, expense and difficult negotiation.
The development project was a lesson in parish life itself. While the construction of the multipurpose church building was tendered out commercially, the presbytery was built by volunteers from the parish, whose enthusiasm and energies were marshalled and led by a number of hard-working tradesmen in their midst. The spirit of community was remarkable, as up to 70 people attended working bees on a series of weekends to help with the construction.
The celebration of the Catholic faith in the West Chermside area dated much further back than the bricks and mortar of the Pullford Street church and the Maundrell Terrace project. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Sunday Mass was celebrated in a house the Brisbane Archdiocese had purchased in Gympie Road, Chermside, a few doors north of the Hamilton Road intersection - directly opposite where the huge Chermside shopping centre stands today and not far from the terminus of the tramline which then ran from the city through Lutwyche, Kedron and Chermside.
According to "The History of Chermside", written by David Teague and published in 1973, the area now known as West Chermside evolved from a rural and semi-rural background of small dairy and poultry farms, piggeries and horse paddocks. In the early part of the 20th century a number of slaughter yards operated off Webster and Rode Roads supplying meat to suburban butcher shops in Brisbane. The most lasting landmark was Packers' tannery, which, from 1898, operated on a wedge-shaped block of land between Downfall Creek and Hamilton Road, just west of the intersection with Webster Road.
In 1931 the Queensland Government centralised the meat industry and acquired a large abattoir at Cannon Hill. Packers' tannery was the last relic of West Chermside’s history in primary producing, remaining on its site on Downfall Creek until 1972 when it was relocated to new premises at Narangba.
Near the intersection of Hamilton Road and Maundrell Terrace, William Basnett operated a dairy - which during World War II had been used as a munitions store - and a number of families enjoyed a semi-rural lifestyle on acreage properties of assorted sizes, mostly along the unsealed Maundrell Terrace. Teague’s research found an early group of settlers in this area comprised four English families who arrived in Queensland in 1913 - the Bills, Mills, Watts and Wolley families. They bought 20 acres and divided it into four five-acre blocks. The Wolley’s portion, the northernmost portion that was used as a poultry farm, was acquired some 50 years later as the site for the church and parish centre for St Gerard Majella's.
By the early 1950s, the West Chermside area’s character was ready to change. The cottage farming industry was fading, as economies of scale began to drive industries like dairying and poultry farming towards larger production requiring bigger land holdings.
Towards the end of the 1950s, most households owned a car, and this enabled housing estates to be developed away from Brisbane's network of tram routes and railway lines. David Teague noted that the suburb of West Chermside began to develop from the mid-1950s when William Basnett arranged to have the zoning of his dairy farm changed to residential. Bruce Pie developed his land around Pie Street in the 60s, and after other land developers moved into the area the new suburb mushroomed west of Webster Road.

JAMES DUHIG'S VISION
In 1959, Archbishop Sir James Duhig arranged to purchase eight blocks of land on the estate that was developed on the site of Basnett's farm, selecting land fronting Pullford and Knutsford Streets and paying the equivalent of $12,000. An adjoining block in Pullford Street was added later.
It was said Archbishop Duhig was committed to pastoral intimacy. He created small parishes with easy access to church and school, and mindful that many families did not own a motor vehicle he told his priests that churches needed to be built so that the faithful did not have long distances to walk to attend Mass and the Sacraments.
Archbishop Duhig was also a visionary among church leaders, and the steps he took to establish the Church in West Chermside were made towards the end of his time as shepherd for the Church's flock in Brisbane. He led the archdiocese from 1917 to 1965, during which time an estimated 500 church and school buildings were constructed. The publication "Catholic Brisbane: A Profile of the Archdiocese of Brisbane 1859-1989" described how during Archbishop Duhig's long episcopate he had seen the Church pass from Irish to Irish-Australian, to Australian, to multicultural and from a pioneering spirit to settled expansionist in the post-war period.
An astute businessman, the Archbishop was known as James the Builder. He sought a high profile for the Church in the community by building churches and schools on elevated hilltop sites. He confided in Fr Michael O'Connell, parish priest at Wavell Heights, that his acquisition of the site for St Paschal's with sweeping views across the city was his finest selection.
The Archbishop was a frequent visitor to Wavell Heights, often calling on Fr O'Connell to join him on a drive into Brisbane's outer northern suburbs to monitor residential development and look for sites for churches and schools. They inspected many sites, but strangely never discussed specifically buying the properties in Pullford Street. Fr O'Connell was a little surprised when advised by Archbishop Duhig he had acquired the land on the housing estate to provide for the embryonic Catholic community in the new suburb they both could see emerging. However, there were no immediate plans to build a church as the most pressing needs for the Wavell Heights parish was a larger church and improved school facilities. Sunday Masses were over-crowded. Pupils at the Parish School numbered 1200, and the convent was bursting at the seams, 17 nuns living in premises built for seven.
After the new church was built in 1961 at an equivalent cost of $118,000, and the house being used as a Mass centre at Chermside was sold, Fr O'Connell realised that a significant number of parishioners had to travel from West Chermside to Wavell Heights for Mass. However, with a heavy debt for the new church at Wavell Heights and work to be done on the school he felt the parish could not afford to develop the land that had been acquired in Pullford Street.

A NEW COMMUNITY SPIRIT
West Chermside parishioners then sought permission to have a Sunday Mass celebrated in one of their homes. When this was agreed to, Paul and Pat Lillis made their house at 18 Decker Street available, using the ground-floor laundry and garage for the congregation, and laying out a makeshift altar on the washtubs. Parishioners were asked to bring their own chairs - and on a Sunday in October 1961 Fr McHugh, Assistant Priest at St Pascal’s, celebrated the first Mass in West Chermside.
About 60 parishioners attended - a number that surprised Fr O'Connell and Fr McHugh. Fr O'Connell had been eager to gauge the strength of the faith in the new suburb, and Fr McHugh carried out a door-knock campaign in the area to let Catholic families know of the weekly Mass arrangement. The majority had been attending Mass at Wavell Heights, but some were attending churches at Kedron and Stafford because of easier access.
Mass at the Lillis’ home provided a focus for Catholics in the area and numbers steadily grew during the next nine months. It was inevitable a church would have to be built in Pullford Street, but Fr O'Connell remained determined to wait until the parish finances were stronger.
In 1962, Fr O'Connell was granted 12 months’ sabbatical leave to visit Ireland, leaving the youthful Fr McHugh as administrator of the parish. It was the accepted practice at that time that no changes could be made in a parish without the permission of the parish priest, which meant plans for a church at West Chermside were put on hold for at least a year. Fr O'Connell gave Fr McHugh two objectives for the term of his administration: to reduce the parish debt by at least $60,000 and to undertake redevelopment of the nun's chapel in the convent.
Not long after Fr O'Connell had departed, Fr McHugh received a call from Archbishop Duhig telling him the parish needed to build a church at West Chermside. What a dilemma! The young curate could not ignore his Archbishop, but he knew Fr O'Connell was opposed to building at West Chermside while the parish finances were under strain.
Fr McHugh wrote to Ireland advising of the Archbishop's request, and was relieved when Fr O'Connell granted approval for the project. The two priests corresponded frequently through the year as the development took place.
Among the issues discussed was a name for the proposed church, and it was decided to commemorate the name of St Gerard Majella, the Redemptorist brother who lived in Italy from 1726 to 1755. Fr O'Connell's second name was Gerard and he was deeply aware of Gerard Majella's extraordinary and holy life in which he became renowned for miracles he worked among the sick and among expectant mothers, especially those at risk. It was obvious he would be an appropriate patron saint for a community with so many young mothers.
There was another reason. To treat tuberculosis sufferers, in 1954 the federal and state governments had established the Chermside Hospital (now Prince Charles Hospital) on the corner of Rode and Webster Roads, and the priests at St Paschal's became chaplains to the hospital. St Gerard was acknowledged as the patron saint for victims of tuberculosis, a contagious disease quite prevalent in the community until the late 1950s. St Gerard himself had suffered from tuberculosis, and the disease brought about his premature death when he was 29.
Parishioner Don Ireland, a draftsman, was asked to design a building to be used as a church but able to be converted to classrooms at a later date. Plans were drawn up for a low-set, brick and glass construction able to be partitioned into three classrooms with minor modifications. A building contract worth $13,200 was let, and construction completed in June 1962.
Volunteers put the finishing touches, pews were purchased second-hand from the Hendra parish and some which had been used in the former Mass centre at Chermside were brought out of storage.
On Sunday afternoon, June 17, 1962, Fr McHugh and the West Chermside community welcomed Archbishop Duhig and his coadjutor Archbishop Patrick O'Donnell to the new St Gerard Majella's church. Archbishop O'Donnell conducted the blessing of the new church, and Archbishop Duhig declared the new church opened. Fr McHugh celebrated the first Mass.
Once the church in Pullford Street was opened, the growth of the Catholic community in West Chermside was robust. Two Sunday Masses were well attended and were obviously the focus for strengthening the spirituality of the parishioners. A Redemptorist priest, leading a mission of renewal at the church, remarked - after noting the number of children and babies at devotions one mid-week evening - how well St Gerard, the patron saint of mothers, had blessed his parish.
After Fr McHugh was transferred to Booval parish in 1963, curates appointed to the Wavell Heights parish included Frs Timothy Norris, Graham Elliott, Patrick Cleary, Sean Quinn and Bernard (Barney) Wilson - who administered the Sacraments and attended to other religious duties including the chaplaincy at Prince Charles Hospital. Barney Wilson's appointment in late 1967 was a turning point in the history of the parish.

MANY HANDS AND HARD WORK
Officially, St Gerard’s was designated as a Mass centre for the Wavell Heights parish, but a spirit of independence in the young community quickly grew. The West Chermside parishioners formed a strong core among the parent group at Our Lady of the Angels’ school at Wavell Heights, and because of the number of children travelling to Wavell Heights for schooling, some advocated a school be built at West Chermside. The idea was raised several times during the parish's development years, but it was decided that such a project was impractical.
However, the groundswell of opinion that the community could support its own parish continued to grow. The West Chermside parishioners demonstrated a willingness to take care of the Pullford Street premises, and to develop parish activities in the area. A committee was formed in 1967, and in March 1968 a formal approach was made to Fr O'Connell by a delegation seeking more autonomy for the area. Fr O'Connell agreed to the suggestion that a separate maintenance fund be set up for St Gerard's and he provided $100 to establish the account - but insisted the fund be kept up to that amount by the West Chermside parishioners. In May 1968, a constitution to formalise a parishioners' association for the area was presented to a general meeting of parishioners and after several months of discussion the association took shape in September that year.
Working bees and social activities provided a catalyst for community spirit in the parish. In addition to occasional barbeques, the parish held an annual ball, bingo nights and ladies' socials, bowling nights, cricket matches, an annual parish picnic at venues such as Mount Glorious and Petrie, Melbourne Cup parties, men's socials (one of which Fr Wilson hosted at his parents' home at Everton Park) and a weekend parish fishing trip to South Stradbroke Island, with the anglers gathered around Fr Wilson to celebrate Mass at their campsite at dawn on the Sunday. The weekly newsletter was first issued in 1970.

STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE
Towards the end of 1970, overcrowding at the two Sunday Masses had become a problem and parishioners were advocating a larger church - and a renewed call for a separate parish. Parishioners were concerned that while onethird of the Wavell Heights parish was centred on St Gerard’s, most of the parish finances were being channelled into St Paschal's and Our Lady of the Angels’ School. To enlarge the capacity of the church at St Gerard's, it was estimated extensions could be made costing $12,000.
During a heated discussion at a parishioners' meeting in February 1971, a deputation was appointed to apprise Fr O'Connell of the situation and request financial assistance before all parish funds were allocated to the construction of the new Wavell Heights School. At the subsequent meeting, it was stated that because final construction costs for the school project were not known, it was uncertain whether any assistance could be given to West Chermside.
In August 1971, the parishioners' committee began work on a submission to the Archbishop requesting that West Chermside be made a separate parish. Archbishop O'Donnell, who had succeeded Archbishop Duhig after his death in 1965, said he had noted the rapid residential development in the area, which by this time was expanding westward into the new Paramount estates that were to become the suburb of McDowall.
It was reported to a parishioners' meeting in February 1972 that "it was possible the Archbishop might appoint a parish priest soon, allow a nearby house to be purchased as a presbytery and let the new priest feel his way while development continues in the area". However, Archbishop O'Donnell had stopped short of declaring a separate parish, and the meeting responded by asking the parishioners' committee to write another letter to the Archbishop to press him to make West Chermside a parish in its own right, warning him that the remarkable spirit existing in St Gerard’s was in danger of being extinguished.
The archdiocese by now was tending to move away from Archbishop Duhig’s small-parish policy, as it tried to come to terms with falling numbers of priests and religious and the mushrooming population and suburban expansion. Archbishop O'Donnell told Fr O'Connell he still considered the creation of a separate parish at West Chermside might be premature, mostly because it was difficult to anticipate whether the geographic development of the area would be confined to the northwest off Rode Road or would take a more northerly direction towards Albany Creek.
The Archbishop proposed that a resident priest be appointed for West Chermside, living in the area but responsible to the parish priest at Wavell Heights. He ruled out any suggestion that a separate school be built at West Chermside, and said parishioners at West Chermside would be required to assist Wavell Heights to pay off the $160,000 debt on the construction of eight new classrooms at the school. The priest would have no authority for construction of any new buildings.
A meeting attended by 55 parishioners voted to accept the Archbishop’s offer, but asked that the committee write again asking that the priest be given some autonomy and be responsible directly to the Archbishop.
Archbishop O'Donnell relented, and while not declaring West Chermside a parish in its own right he authorised St Gerard Majella's to act as a separate parish from May 7 1972, with Fr Wilson as resident priest and responsible directly to the Archbishop.
The parish would be required to contribute to funding of the school project at Wavell Heights, and Fr Wilson would continue to share the chaplaincy at Prince Charles Hospital with priests at Wavell Heights. The parish boundaries were set as Webster, Rode, Beckett and Horn Roads and Darwin Street.
The enthusiasm was instant. A meeting held the night the Archbishop's decision was announced included discussion on how to develop a parish centre and where to build, The archdiocese had recently acquired two and a half acres of land on Maundrell Terrace so that any new parish project would be more central to the residential expansion into the west and north of West Chermside. The new land included a small creek on the northern boundary. The creek, which runs along the southern boundary of the present church property, played a pivotal role in determining the eventual development of the parish centre.
It was decided that the parish remain at Pullford Street for the immediate term, although Fr Wilson indicated that the parish would eventually need to move to Maundrell Terrace. Any improvements at Pullford Street would have to be designed so that the property could eventually be sold and proceeds directed to developments at Maundrell Terrace. The parish had $246.82 in the bank.
A volunteer army of parishioners undertook the much needed extensions to the Pullford Street church and, at the same time, built a four-bedroom, high-set brick house adjacent to the church to be used as a presbytery and meeting centre. The lower floor was designed to accommodate meetings and functions and catechetical classes for children attending

state primary schools.
Archbishop O'Donnell blessed the parish centre and church extensions on September 24, 1972, barely five months after the parish had been given its independence. The people of St Gerard Majella's had enhanced their reputation for getting things done.
Almost immediately, consideration was given to establishing the church permanently on Maundrell Terrace or, if a larger site could be acquired, on a new property altogether. Various options were explored, including acquiring 10 acres on the corner of Hamilton and Whites Roads or taking an option on two and a half acres backing onto the Maundrell Terrace property already held.
The Maundrell Terrace property included a small, high-set cottage which was converted into a meeting place for the parish youth. A Youth Group, "Come Alive" was organised and met weekly. A floodlit tennis court was built on the property for parish use. Again much of the work was undertaken by voluntary labour.
A committed catechetical group took responsibility for helping students attending the Craigslea and Aspley state primary schools with instruction on the Catholic Faith and the Sacraments. When Craigslea State High School was opened in 1975, parish catechists also helped with religious education classes in the school.
Parishioners continued to lobby the archdiocesan authorities for St Gerard's to be declared a separate parish. In September 1973, Brisbane’s new Archbishop, Francis Rush, celebrated an evening Mass at St Gerard's and later met with parishioners. Archbishop Rush was presented with a report that pointed out 600 Catholic families lived in West Chermside and about 1100 attended the Sunday Masses that by then numbered four. Overcrowding in the 360-seat church remained a major problem at some Masses.
Fr Wilson enlisted help from several priests to enable the Sacraments to be administered to the parish, among them Frs Wrex Woolnough, Leo Coote and Frank Lourigan and the Army chaplain Eugene Harley.
Through 1974, parishioners proceeded towards establishing a Pastoral Council to assist in areas such as education, family welfare, social welfare, youth activities, financial administration, the aged and ecumenism. The generous community spirit among parishioners surfaced in January 1974, when disastrous floods inundated low-lying suburbs of Brisbane. The parish centre became a collection point for clothing, food and household items for flood victims, and parishioners were organised into groups to travel into floodaffected suburbs to assist with the massive clean-up.
In late 1974, the archdiocese announced that West Chermside would be granted full parish autonomy. The northern boundary was extended from Darwin Street to Albany Creek Road and the eastern boundary was fixed at Webster Road instead of Gympie Road as had been proposed. The parishioners' meeting on November 14 sent off a telegram to Archbishop Rush asking that Fr Wilson be appointed as parish priest.
St Gerard Majella's became a separate parish on January 1, 1975, and to the delight of parishioners Fr Wilson was appointed first parish priest.

BUILDING A NEW HOME
The parish debt, it was revealed, was $300. Thoughts swung strongly towards a permanent home for the parish. With the prospect of doubling the size of the Maundrell Terrace property by acquiring the adjoining block at its rear, a site plan was drawn up to allow development of a church/hall complex with a presbytery and tennis court towards the rear. However, it was felt parking would be insufficient for parish needs and another problem emerged - the small creek along the northern boundary would be required by the Brisbane City Council to be piped and enclosed before the land could be developed. The cost of such a project was thought to be prohibitive.
The search continued for an alternative site, and an offer of $115,000 was made to acquire four acres of land on Maundrell Terrace immediately to the north of the existing property. Consideration was given to merging the two Maundrell Terrace properties, but again costs associated with piping the creek underground made the proposal impractical. Permission was given by the archdiocesan authorities for development of the new property to be financed partially by the sale of the Pullford Street property.
Fr Wilson advocated that the centrepiece of any development should be a multi-purpose parish building, one that could be used as a church as well as a hall or meeting place with a permanent chapel set quietly aside from the general activities. The concept was new to Queensland, but Fr Wilson was inspired by a parish centre he had visited in a Melbourne suburb where the altar and a small area for worship was divided from the main church area for weekday activities.
Almost parallel to the material development of the parish, the groundwork and preparation for the Pastoral Council continued - and the first Pastoral Council was formed on June 21, 1976.
The council took on the role of coordinating the development of the parish centre. The sale of the church buildings and land at Pullford Street was negotiated, and plans for a multi-purpose church building costing $234,246 were drawn up.
On 10 October 1976, a foundation Mass, attended by Archbishop Rush, was celebrated in a huge marquee on the site of the proposed church. More than 900 attended.
Fr Wilson and the Pastoral Council renewed efforts to attract an order of nuns to the parish to take up a role as community workers, assisting with social problems, the needy and the sick, youth and catechetical work and helping with liturgy. In February 1977, two members of the Sisters of Mercy - Shirley Mears and Kay Farrell - joined the parish, occupying a rented house in Backford Street.
As the parish centre took shape, thoughts turned to the construction of a presbytery. Because of the financial burden associated with the parish centre, funds for a second building project were limited. But the parish lived up to its reputation for getting things done and the Pastoral Council undertook to build the presbytery by volunteer labour. Up to 70 parishioners spent a series of weekends on the site, led by parish members skilled in the building trades.
The new church was designed and built as a living liturgical centre, comprising a chapel to seat 70 and an area to accommodate another 400 people seated. With the press of a button, the chapel could be closed off by an automated tilting door, which allowed an intimate area for devotions while general activities could be conducted simultaneously in the main area of the building.
The church furnishings were designed as symbols of faith, and an article in the commemorative booklet published for the church's opening explained the purpose behind the designs:
Materials used are wood, glass and stainless steel - the steel representing the will aspect, the glass our consciousness, and the wood the earth and matter.
The central circle on the tabernacle represents Christ as the centre of each person’s life, and the circle is as unending as He is. The stainless steel tubes coming down underneath are the manna from heaven, the grace, protection and love of Christ. Embedded in this is the sanctuary lamp burning perpetually.
The wooden cross is the cross of sacrifice, and the steel tubes radiating from the circle of the aura of Christ represent His love for all men.
The circular shape of the altar represents the round table, which in turn represents the common sharing of a family. The three tubes represent the blessed Trinity, set in a dark shadow which is the endless space of eternity. About the lectern, three straps of metal again are present representing the Trinity.
The new church was blessed and opened on 19 June 1977. Archbishop Rush paid the parish a warm tribute, acknowledging "the incredible pioneering work done by Fr Wilson and his first parishioners". He continued "however, great as your achievements have been in providing buildings and amenities, they are nothing compared with the success you and Fr Wilson have had in moulding the people of West Chermside into a truly Christian community.
There was joyous celebration in the parish within two weeks of the opening of the new church, when Denis Scanlan - son of parishioners Brian and Mary Scanlan - was ordained a priest in St Stephen's Cathedral on June 29, and the next day he celebrated his First Mass at St Gerard Majella’s. Denis was born in Goondiwindi and completed his education at Nudgee College, and was 16 when the family moved into the West Chermside parish. Fr Scanlan worked in the Caloundra, Gympie, Grovely and Booval parishes and the Aboriginal ministry, before being appointed parish priest for Woodford/Kilcoy and presently North Ipswich/Leichhardt.

A CARING COMMUNITY
Just as the opening of the original church in Pullford Street had been a catalyst for parish living, the new parish centre on Maundrell Terrace became the focus for much parish activity. Fr Wilson and Srs Shirley and Kay guided parishioners as they accepted the challenge of a stronger involvement by the laity in the church. Parishioners discovered deep reserves of their faith as they played a bigger role in parish life.
Caring became a core activity of the parish. The Majella Care group was formed and more than 100 parishioners volunteered to make available their expertise and time to help the disadvantaged in the community. Parishioners volunteered to help with nursing, visiting the housebound, shopping for the elderly and the ill, providing transport to Mass, handyman chores, cooking, babysitting, washing and ironing - and every first Saturday Majella Care brought the elderly and incapacitated together for Mass followed by a luncheon and entertainment.
Separate to the work of Majella Care, the St Vincent de Paul conference continued with its ministry. Members met weekly, and organised and provided practical help to families in the area in need of assistance in difficult times.
In 1981, Fr Wilson was transferred and in his place Fr Des McQuaid became parish priest. The annual report of the Pastoral Council for 1981 remarked, "Fr Wilson had developed St Gerard's from a small satellite community built around the tiny church in Pullford Street to its present status. The fine parish centre in Maundrell Terrace should remain a monument to Fr Wilson’s foresight and leadership for many years.
Fr McQuaid remained parish priest for more than 20 years until ill health brought about a reluctant retirement in late 2001. He was a sincere spiritual leader whose holiness inspired laity who worked closely with him in running the parish. A colleague once remarked that few had ever lived as close to the values of the Gospel as Fr Des. He was generous to those who were impoverished, and he lived sparingly in order to provide for others from his stipend.
Early in Fr McQuaid's tenure, the term of pastoral duty of the Sisters of Mercy came to an end. The annual report recorded their leaving, "Sr Kay and Sr Shirley worked hard among parishioners, showing us how to respond to the ideals of Vatican II. As was their plan, when their duty ceased with us, parishioners were able to take up where they left off."
An adult education committee took on a mission to increase the awareness of faith in the parish, and introduced an annual Lenten programme of home discussions that continue to this time. A prayer group met once a week, beginning a long practice of extra devotion by parishioners that has continued over the years.
The parish-run catechetical classes grew to more than 100 participants, and the parish centre became a hive of activity on one night each week for primary school children's catechetics. Parishioners continued to plan and prepare the liturgy, and many of the laity undertook the various ministries required for the successful running of the parish.
The tennis court block was sold in 1985, and in its place a floodlit court (with room reserved for a second to be built) and a community hall were built on vacant land at the rear of the parish centre. This project effectively concluded the bricks and mortar development of the parish, and some would say some of the zest for which the parish was noted began to wane. It was the first time since the early gatherings for Mass at the Lillis' home some 20 years earlier that the parishioners did not have

reason to plan or build.
Majella Care continued to flourish. However, when the increasing workload became too onerous for the volunteer system, Fr McQuaid canvassed for a religious to take over. In 1986, Sr Helen Thygesen, of the Sisters of St Joseph based at Nundah, took up the ministry of coordinating the care and concern group as well as assisting with special liturgies. She worked in the parish for seven years.
The popularity of first Saturday Masses for the elderly and incapacitated continued to grow. A fleet of mini-buses, assembled each month by Majella Care and driven by volunteers, brought scores from nursing homes and retirement villages at Chermside, Carseldine, Zillmere and other suburbs for Mass followed by some entertainment and lunch on every first Saturday. Organisers counted as many as 40 visitors in wheelchairs at these Masses.
Majella Care also maintained a tradition of home help and visitations. On one occasion 22 women formed a roster to provide continuous home help for a young mother dying of cancer. The mother wanted to spend her remaining time with her three children, and doctors told her she could not stay at home unless she had round-theclock assistance. Majella Care provided that help for 14 months.
Through the 80s and 90s the parish underwent a noticeable change in demographics. Like the church at large in Australia the parish experienced a decline in the number of active participants and an ageing among parishioners. The number of Sunday Masses was reduced from four to three - a vigil Mass, another on Sunday morning and one on Sunday evening.
The sodalities had long ceased their practice, but the St Vincent de Paul Society continued with weekly meetings of the parish conference and regular charitable work.
Geographically, the parish severed ties with Wavell Heights as it was assigned by the archdiocese to a pastoral area with Albany Creek, Everton Park, Kedron and Stafford parishes.
Disaster almost befell the church in November 1994, when a bushfire that started in the nearby Chermside Hills reserve swept out of control down the hills and through the parklands near the church property. Fr Tony Patilla, chaplain to Brisbane's Spanish community was resident at the presbytery at the time, and as the fire, fanned by a strong westerly wind, swept through the trees and singed the eaves at the back of the church he managed, with a garden hose, to stop the flames from taking a hold on the church until a unit from the fire brigade could be spared from trying to save homes further along Maundrell Terrace and in Hamilton Road.
When Fr McQuaid became ill in late 2001, Fr Bill Ross - a regular visitor over the years - stood in until January 2002, when Fr Denis Long was appointed priest in residence while the Archdiocese sought a permanent pastor. The following May, the parish welcomed its new administrator, Irish-born Fr Gerard McMorrow. Fr Gerard, formerly parish priest at St Rita's, Victoria Point joined the parish as administrator with the additional ministry of chaplain to The Prince Charles, and Holy Spirit (Northside) Hospitals.
He arrived as the parish prepared to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of St. Gerard's on Maundrell Terrace and, coincidentally, 40 years since the opening of the first church in Pullford Street.
Early in 2003, under his guidence a comprehensive refurbishment of the church was undertaken, again with much volunteer assistance from the retired builders, carpinters, plasters and plumbers of the parish. This work was completed and blessed in May 2003 by Bishop Brian Finnigan. Presently Fr. Gerard has sought the advice and assistance from Archdiocesan Building and Planning for the extension and refurbishment of the parish office and adminstration centre.