By Emilie Ng
OVERWHELMING numbers filled Stella Maris Church on the Gold Coast to say goodbye to the sacred building at a Decommissioning Mass on April 24.
Past and present parishioners, past mayors, Gold Coast city councilors and Members of Parliament stood “shoulder to shoulder” at the Mass celebrated by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge.
Surfers Paradise parish priest Fr Tim Harris, who cares pastorally for the community at Stella Maris, concelebrated the Mass with the parish’s associate pastors Fr Paul Taubman and Fr Christopher Obi.
The church was full of people with great memories of Stella Maris, including a man who helped in the original moving of the church from Surfers Paradise to Stella Maris.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge spoke of the church as not just a building where people gathered but where people came to meet the Christ of the Gospels and to go forth and live the Christian values.
Fr Harris thanked the generosity of donors towards the parish’s ‘Buy a Brick’ fundraising campaign for the new Stella Maris church.
More than 430 people have contributed to building the new church by buying virtual bricks at $100 each.
The support of the parishioners and many individuals has given him the confidence to proceed in faith in the building of the new church.
It has taken 17 years to decide whether to demolish the existing church, but Fr Harris said there was “now no turning back”.
“The fact that we are beginning to build a new church to replace one that has served us well is an amazing achievement,” he said.
“Our parish is taking a leap of faith and doing what it can to secure our presence in the very fast growing area of Broadbeach.”
With the old church now decommissioned, a new Stella Maris church is due to open before Christmas this year.
Archbishop Coleridge will return to the parish to consecrate the new building once it is complete.
