St Bernardine's Parish History
Most of the area which now makes up St Bernardine’s Parish was once part of Beaudesert Parish. In 1976 the Park Ridge Church and the area south of it down to the Logan River were transferred to Sunnybank Parish.
The land for Our Lady of the Assumption Church at Park Ridge had been donated by Jim and Margaret Smith. The church that had been erected was made up of a church that was moved from Biddaddaba and another church which was moved from Boys Town to the site. This church had previously stood at Jimboomba, from where it had been moved to Boys Town to act as a temporary chapel. The two buildings were fitted together to become Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Park Ridge.
Fr Tom Hegerty administered Park Ridge as a separate entity, and priests visited from Sunnybank Parish.
In the latter part of 1980, approval was given for the establishment of Browns Plains as a separate parish. Fr John Nee was appointed parish priest from 7th September 1980. September 8th is celebrated each year as our parish birthday.
Mass was celebrated at Park Ridge Church and also at the Small World Kindergarten in Estramina St. Mass continued here until our first church / school building was completed. Mass was celebrated for the first time in St Bernardine’s Church on 7th February 1982. Archbishop Rush celebrated the Mass on 25th March 1982.
In 1988 renovations were made to St Bernardine’s Church and the opening Mass of the remodelled church was celebrated on 1st July 1988.
St Catherine’s Church, Jimboomba was opened on 11th February 1995. The church was later moved to East St, near Emmaus College, Jimboomba.
In late 2019, it was necessary to relocate the Presbytery from within the Parish Office, located on the site of St Bernardine’s Catholic Primary School. Both Fr John’s moved in over the Christmas break.
This allows what was previously the house, to be retained and turned into the new Parish Centre. A welcoming space for groups, meetings and the odd cup of coffee.
Some of the groups operating in the parish include the Parish Finance Council, the Liturgy Team, Sacramental Team, Out of Hours School Care, Prayer Groups, St Vincent de Paul Society, Fifties Plus Group (social), CLEO which stands for Catholic Ladies Eating Out (social), and the Craft Group (social).
History of the School
The current Principal is Mr Peter Griffin.
St Bernardine’s School opened at the beginning of the 1982 school year, with 48 students in Years 1-3. Mr Harry Newman was the first principal. This has now grown to a school with approx. 600 students. The first school building was completed for the 1984 school year.
Our Patron - St Bernardine of Siena
Feast Day - May 20th
St Bernardine was born to a noble family near Siena, Italy on September 8th, 1380. As a young man he volunteered to care for the sick when an outbreak of the plague struck Siena during the 1400’s. He worked tirelessly throughout the plague and only stopped when he became ill himself. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1402 and was ordained two years later.
St Bernardine was responsible for a renewal of faith amongst all classes of people, for making peace amongst warring factions, and for helping the poor organise “credit unions” to help themselves.
He was an eloquent and captivating speaker, he preached all over Italy and became known as one of best preachers of his time. At the heart of his preaching was Jesus and he designed a symbol for the name of Jesus on a banner with the Greek letters “IHS” at the centre, surrounded by a blazing sun. Have you noticed it, on the way into St Bernardine's Church at Regents Park?
St Bernardine devoted his entire life to spreading the word. He died on May 20th, 1444 and was canonized six years after his death on May 24th, 1450.
When we began our life as a new parish on 8th September, 1980 we chose St Bernardine as our patron.