About St Thomas More’s

St Thomas More’s is a Catholic faith community whose members reside mostly in the south-eastern part of the City of Toowoomba, the major regional centre of the Darling Downs of Queensland.  The community forms part of the Diocese of Toowoomba which itself encompasses some 35 faith communities extending across a huge area of southern inland Queensland. In 1960 the first seeds of St Thomas More’s were planted and from this grew our ongoing story.

For some time, the faith community of St Thomas More’s has been building its response to the challenging environment faced by the church in contemporary society. The attitudes and values engendered from Vatican II have been embraced. The ministry of our community is based on its direction and principles.

When then Parish Priest, Fr Frank Leonard, retired early in 2003 a new model of pastoral leadership was introduced with the appointment of a Pastoral Leader to work with the Pastoral Council in drawing forth the gifts of the community in response to their baptismal call. Since that time the parish has not had a Parish Priest but is supported by a Priest Director based at
St Patrick’s Cathedral.

One of the main tasks of the Pastoral Council is to develop policy for the community. Policy Statements are developed by the Pastoral Council presented in draft form to the faith community for comments and suggestions which are taken back to the Pastoral Council. The policy is then revised, accepted by the Council members, and published for the Community.

These policies provide the basis for decisions when requests concerning the life of the community and its assets are made. Periodically policies are revisited to ensure they address the current circumstances of the faith community.

Since our beginnings we have seen the need for a variety of facilities to support our efforts to promote the mission of Jesus. St Thomas More’s Primary School was established in the 1960s and is a key component of the parish, providing Catholic education from Preschool to Year 6. Our present church building was opened in 1991. It enables effective liturgical celebrations and was dedicated in June 2008. The original church has been converted to a hall which provides a well equipped venue for parish activities as well as being available for commercial hire. The former presbytery functions as a place for the parish offices and small meeting rooms. The former convent is used as a base of operations for Rosie’s Friends on the Street.