St Luke's Church

Our Unique History

The first Anglican clergyman to travel to the Darling Downs after the area of Moreton Bay was opened to free settlement was the Reverend John Gregor. He visited station properties on several occasions, before his untimely death by drowning.

Gregor was succeeded by the Reverend Benjamin Glennie. He had come from England with Bishop Tyrrell to the newly created Diocese of Newcastle. Glennie conducted the first service at Drayton in 1848 and returned as resident Priest in 1850, remaining there until 1860 when he became Rector of Warwick until 1872.

The Reverend Benjamin Glennie

The 20th Century To Today

St Luke’s remained incomplete until 1945 when, under the leadership of Canon Shand, the congregation perceived the vision of a completed church as a War Memorial. The completion of the building proved a huge undertaking and it was not until 1959 that the extensions were dedicated. The south transept still remains to be built.

As the city of Toowoomba has grown, so has the parish and St Luke’s is now the mother church of a large area, with daughter churches at All Saints’ in Arthur Street and St Mark’s at Rangeville. The congregation of St Bartholomew’s at Middle Ridge, once part of the St Luke’s parish, has grown so rapidly that it is now a separate Parochial District.

St Luke's Church
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