PARISH HISTORY AND TIMELINE
Is was then considered to be in the Port Phillip District of Sydney.
The first priest in the area, Father Patrick Geoghegan arrived in 1839.
An Aboriginal police force was established in1837 at the Narre Narre Warren Aboriginal protectorate which was located in the current Police Paddocks in Stud Road Dandenong.
The first Bishop of Melbourne, James Goold appointed. Narre Warren area part of Melbourne Diocese .
Parish of Heidelberg established -The Narre Warren area would have been part of this Parish
Brighton Mission Established – This Mission /Parish covered a large area south and south east of Melbourne in including Dandenong and Berwick.
Churches were built at Cranbourne, Berwick, Dandenong and Pakenham in 1860s and 1870s.
Dandenong Mission Established- This mission included parts of West Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula.
Berwick Parish – Berwick was made a separate Parish and was then included in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Narre Warren was part of Berwick Parish. Berwick Parish was transferred from Melbourne to the Diocese of Sale in 1959.
The Parish of Narre Warren was formed on the 16th of February 1980. Father John Readman was appointed first Parish Priest. Bishop Fox was the Bishop of Sale.
The first Parish Mass was celebrated in the Narre Warren Community Centre at Malcolm Court and Fountain Gate Kindergarten
Land for Parish purchased
Parish officially named Our Lady Help of Christians by Bishop Fox.
Yallourn Presbytery which was built in 1957 was to be relocated from Yallourn to Narre Warren and this would become the new Presbytery/ Parish house.
Contract for construction of Chapel signed and the completion date was August 3rd 1981
Cath Keogh was appointed as Pastoral assistant to Fr. Readman
All Masses were now held in the completed Chapel which was called Chapel of the Living Waters.
The official opening of the parish Of Our lady help Of Christians by Bishop Eric D’Arcy.
The Piety stall was opened.
Don Bosco Primary – The First Parish primary school was officially opened.
Sister Rosaleen McCaffrey was appointed principal.
The combined conference of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in the parish
Father Gerard Coffey appointed Parish Priest. Father Readman moves to Bairnsdale.
Cath Keogh continued in her role of providing a wide range of support for Father Coffey.
First Parish Council appointed.
Father Denis O’Bryan appointed Parish Priest. Father Coffey moves to Drouin.
Kath Ornsby was appointed as the first Parish secretary.
Sister Carmel Quirk became the first Pastoral associate in the Parish.
The Legion Of Mary was initiated in the Parish.
The Good Shepherd sisters move into the Parish. Sisters Margaret, Adrienne and Elizabeth moved into a house in Song Street. They were immediately involved in a number of activities and roles in the Parish. After they left in 2004, many parishioners maintained contacts and many friendships continued.
Father John Allen was appointed Parish Priest.
Mary MacKillop Primary school – the second Parish primary school was officially opened .
Mr Paul Lomas was appointed principal.
4, Stewart Avenue in Narre Warren was purchased and became the Presbytery. The original parish (Presbytery from Yallourn) could now be used as the parish centre/office.
Father Bernie Krotwaar becomes first assistant priest in Parish. Father Bernie was moved after 2 years and was replaced by Father Bert Fulbrook.
Veronica Scammell was appointed as the First Sacrament Coordinator of the parish.
Parishioner, Tony Aspinall was ordained to the permanent Diaconate and began working in the Parish.
Trinity Primary school- the 3rd Parish primary school was officially opened.
Mrs Mary Howlett was appointed Principal.
Orchid Design studios were engaged to draw up plans for the refurbishment of the Sanctuary
Sr. Doreen Dagge joined the Parish team as pastoral associate and replaced Sister Aileen who had served in a similar role in the previous years.
After 16 years of serving in the parish, Fr. John Allen is appointed Parish Priest of Iona and Koowerup
Fr. Brendan Hogan was appointed Parish priest of Narre Warren.
Fr. Janeesh Jose appointed as assistant priest.
Fr. Sabu Adamakiyil was appointed as assistant priest.
A steering committee (Rob Pahor, Jim McInerney, Peter Verstratten, Mark Janke, Joe Locandro,John Begg, Trevor Scott, Caroline Hartanto, Darryl Jess, conny James and Schumacher Suzie) was formed to provide a detailed brief and a realistic budget for the new Parish Centre. This included a rational review of all our current and future requirements including all activities and services that are offered (or will be offered) to our community.
Law Architects from North Fitzroy were commissioned for the new parish centre and church
Fr. Babu Anthony Vadakkekara was appointed assistant priest.
Fr. Stephen Onuoha was appointed assistant priest.
Proposed parish centre and re designed church plans and budget presented to the diocese and to the parish
Fr. James was appointed assistant priest.
Site works to begin.
Fr. Saji John was appointed Assistant Parish priest
Mass Concelebrated by Fr. Brendan Hogan, Fr. Saji John and Deacon Fidelis
Bishop Patrick O’Regan officially blessed our new church, parish centre and parish office at a celebration that began with Mass at 2pm, followed by and festivities and shared fellowship.
Fr. Isuru Weliwatte MGL was appointed as the assistant Parish priest
Parish celebrated 40 years of Faith , Communion and loving service..
A special stamp was designed to commemorate our 40th Anniversary through Australia Post.
The design concept of the stamp -
- Concentric circles - is an Aboriginal symbol of a meeting place : Our church is our meeting place, so that's in the middle of the stamp with our Parish Logo.
- The coloured lines are a continuation of the waves - Aboriginal symbol of water (representing Living Waters)
- The 3 blue dots symbolise - Represent The Blessed Trinity
Covid -19, a terrible virus affected normality in a huge way and restrictions were imposed by the government on large public gatherings to stop the spread of the virus. Parishioners were not allowed to gather in church and as a result Masses began to be live streamed via You tube . The first online Mass was live streamed on the 27th of March. All Holy week and Easter celebrations were also live streamed. The link to join in for the live streaming was- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4aWrIORjmzSlaJU0Fn5e1w
