Gallery: Palmwoods church consecrated 100 years after opening
Sue Erlangsen, Archdeacon Lucy Morris , Archbishop Jeremy Greaves, Bev Scholz LA, Reverend John Cornish.
by Cameron Outridge
St Augustine of Canterbury Anglican Church in Palmwoods was formally consecrated on Sunday — almost exactly 100 years after the building first opened its doors in 1925.
The service was led by Most Reverend Jeremy Greaves KCSJ, Archbishop of Brisbane, who described the event as a milestone that went against the tide of what’s happening across churches everywhere.
“It might be a hundred years late, but it’s a really significant thing,” Archbishop Greaves said referring to a long-lasting oversight that meant the Palmwoods church, though opened for such a long time, was never consecrated. “We are mostly closing churches, not consecrating them. This is only the second church I’ve consecrated in 30 years of ministry.”
The Archbishop reflected on the enduring faith and community spirit that brought the church into being a century ago — and sustained it through changing times.
“A group of faithful people came together with a shared vision to establish a church that would serve as a spiritual home for this community. Today we stand on their shoulders and give thanks for their legacy.”
The consecration marks a formal recognition of the church’s sacred status, affirming its place in the life of the Palmwoods community for generations to come.
“This little church over a hundred years has been a place of community and care,” Archbishop Greaves said. “It has been a place of hope and faith in an uncertain world — through wars, economic depressions, and social change.”
He acknowledged the challenges faced by small parishes across the diocese — particularly those without full-time clergy or steady funding — but encouraged congregations to embrace their scale and seek new ways to flourish.
“We’ve never been a megachurch. Our DNA is 50 to 80 people wherever we are in the world. What does it mean to flourish when we are small, when we’re tenuous, when we find it hard to pay the bills? It means doing and being the church in a different way.”
Archbishop Greaves also touched on the history of church leadership and the ongoing challenge of clergy shortages, noting that similar concerns were being raised as far back as 1925. “We are a church that will never have enough money and will never have enough clergy. But let’s get on with being God’s people. We have everything we need for this season in our life together.”
As he unveiled the consecration plaque, the Archbishop offered a prayer for the future of the church, its people and its mission:
“May this remain a place where the gospel is proclaimed, where love and compassion are lived out, and where God’s light shines for all to see... May it be, as we heard in the gospel, that people look to this place and say, ‘We found the Messiah. Look, here is God.’”
