Vision and Mission:

St Thomas More’s Catholic Parish, a welcoming people of faith,
lives out God’s Mission, embracing love, justice and peace.

St Thomas More’s is a Catholic faith community whose members reside mainly 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 the Second Vatican II have been embraced.  The ministry of our community is based on its direction and principles.

In early 2003 the current model of pastoral leadership was introduced with the appointment of a Pastoral Leader who with the Pastoral Council draws forth the gifts of the community encouraging all to respond to their baptismal call.

One of the main tasks of the Pastoral Council is to develop policy for the community.  The Policy Statements are developed by the Pastoral Council presented in draft form to the faith community for comment.  Suggestions are taken back to the Pastoral Council.  The policy is then re-written, 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 the policies are re-visited to ensure they address the current happenings 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.  Our present church building allows for effective liturgical celebrations and was dedicated in June 2008.  The original church has been converted to a hall which provided 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 contains space for a number of small meeting rooms. St Thomas More’s Primary School is a key component of the parish providing Catholic education from Preschool to Year 6.

In 2010 St Thomas More’s celebrated the 50th anniversary of its establishment.  The year provided the opportunity for us to reflect on our story in the light of the idea of Jubilee as found in the Scriptures.  The faith life of the community continues to flourish as the community celebrates further milestones in its journey, such as the 25th anniversary of the opening of the current church celebrated in November 2016.