Friends’ Newsletter

Address: PO Box 278, Wilston, Q 4051

Telephone 3352 1730 Fax 3356 2014

Issue No. 2 December 2015

The phrase- well begun is half done - essentially means that if you make a good beginning to a task, then, however much work still lies in the future, you’re halfway to completing the work. It is a good description of where we are up to with the Friends of St Columba's. The initial launch was a great success but there is still a good deal of work to do. This work, however, need not be bur-densome, rather my hope is that the task of forming a commu-nity to care for our church is something we will take pride and joy in.

I would like to thank those who have donated at least $30 and so become ‘Friends’ for the year. We have received 67 such memberships. I would also like to acknowledge our life mem-bers, Graeme & Stella Rush, Mark Panizza & Dr Anthony Lynham. With your generous support our task is indeed well begun.

While we are off to a good start, there is still much to do. Our first priority is to grow our member base. Our target is to grow from our current member base of 67 and achieve 100 members by the time we produce our next newsletter (around Easter next year). I am confident we can not only meet this goal, but exceed it. However, we need your help. If you are not a member, please fill in the membership application on the back of this newsletter and donate at least $30. If you are a member already, perhaps you would share this newsletter with someone you know and encourage them to join. Our beautiful church was built through the hard work and generosity of others who passed it on to us as a gift. It is now up to us to ensure that it is well maintained so that it can be offered as a gift to future generations as well. Fr. Michael Grace.

In the much loved film, Mary Pop-pins, the titular character informs her two charges that they are to play a game called, “Well Begun is Half Done”. While the game is not initially embraced by Jane and Mi-chael, as the name portends much work ahead, what ensues is a de-lightful and magical adventure.

Welcome to this second issue of the

Friends of St Columba’s Newsletter!

Just a little over three months have passed since the very

successful Launch of Friends of St Columba’s! A report of

that occasion will be found on another page of this News-

letter.

We, the Committee, hope that the Launch will be the

forerunner to other events that will be held in future

months and years, to continue the promotion of this new

Parish venture.

It is our wish to thank most sincerely the many parishion-

ers who assisted with the preparations; not least among

these is the group of thirteen who folded, sorted and

packed the thousands of newsletters and invitations which

had been printed for a “letter box drop”.

Some forty years ago St Columba’s was involved in a Par-

ish Renewal with the Parishes of Stafford and West Cherm-

side and, at that time, Parish Zones were created. It was

the map marking these Zones that was used for the letter

box drop, and we have many of our “folders and sorters”

to thank, as well as others, as they put on their walking

shoes and trod the hilly streets to make sure the invitations

were delivered on time.

So too, we thank our helpers on the day – in setting up

the seating and greeting our guests – and for serving after-

noon tea. Also, we thank those who very quickly restacked

chairs and tidied the area afterwards.

We encourage any of our Parishioners or Friends to join

us in the promotion of this new group of Friends of St Columba’s and be part of the effort to keep our beautiful

buildings safe for future generations.

Josephine Nolan, Editor.

The Friends of St Columba’s have commissioned Australian Heritage Specialists Pty Ltd to complete a Con-servation Management Plan (CMP) for the church. The CMP will greatly assist in the future care of the church, including a better understanding of what repairs are urgent. The report will also provide necessary guidelines, including an action plan and maintenance schedule for the building.

An inception meeting was held in September and work is underway. An update outlining the results of the Condition Assessment completed by the consultants is expected to be available to the Committee shortly after this month’s site inspection.

The draft CMP is expected to be completed very early in the New Year.

The Conservation Management Plan will include:

Contextual history of the parish and church.

Site assessment and attendance at up to 3 committee meetings.

Statement of Significance for the complex and specific features.

Development of appropriate conservation policies, including how to manage proposed works and maintenance programs.

Development of management guidelines, with a particular focus on current and future needs.

Tabulated action plan and indicative maintenance schedule for the church.

General recommendations and advice (where applicable) for the prioritisation of works and mainte-nance / upgrades required for the site, including presentation of the draft report to the relevant com-mittee.

A tabulated assessment of statutory requirements under current heritage legislation, including development application processes and opportunities.

In addition to the core delivery of the CMP, an option to include a qualified heritage engineer has been in-cluded in the scope. This includes:

1. Undertake a structural site investigation and assessment.

2. Provide advice relating to structural inputs into the CMP, including inputs into the asset management schedules as required.

It was identified at the inception meeting that a significant opportunity exists to align the abovementioned condition inspection proposed by the CMP with the insurance works underway for the roof. Through fur-ther consultation with the Archdiocese, this has been successfully incorporated into the program and the inspection of the building will now be undertaken in greater coverage than originally proposed – (for a re-duced cost). We have been fortunate to secure top professionals in the heritage industry for our project from Australian Heritage Specialists. AHS have substantial experience spanning Australia and New Zealand for heritage mat-ters.

The key team you will see around the church will include -

St Columba’s Church – Conservation Management Plan

Benjamin Gall (Principal Consultant):

Ben has substantial experience delivering advice for a wide variety of heritage places across Australasia, including adaptive re-use of build-ings and CMPs. Ben has also provided key advice to government de-partments and agencies across Australia, including the Catholic Church since 2000.

Due to his extensive career background, Ben has been appointed to a large range of industry boards and consultancy panels and works with a number of church groups and organisations in Queensland.

Andrew Barnes: (Heritage Engineer ACOR):

Andrew has a wide experience in the application of practical engi-neering solutions for heritage places. Andrew was appointed to the Queensland Heritage Council previously and is the Chairman of Engi-neers Australia QLD Heritage Committee.

His 25 years of experience provides quick and economical solutions to any structural heritage issues. Andrew will undertake the condi-tion assessment on-site in November.

MEMBERSHIP ——————— FRIENDS OF ST

COLUMBA’S

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The

Launch

Ann & Michael

Pam, Anthony, Ben, Teresa

Mary, Ann, Maureen, Irene

Pam & Anthony Lynham, Vicki Howard, Father Michael, Teresa Gambaro, Grame Rush, Martin Wilke and Andrew Wines

The Friends of St Columba’s launch was well represented on 30 August 2015 by both parish-ioners and elected officials. It was a beautiful August afternoon function which took place in front of the church, making good use of the recently completed Piazza and well catered for by the Carlin family. The event started at 2.00pm, with Graeme Rush, as master of ceremonies, introducing the elected officials repre-senting local, state and federal governments. Graeme then provided a brief history of the Church and Parish and introduced Father Michael to lead the gathering in an opening prayer and outline the vision of the Friends of St Columba’s. Each of the elected officials spoke passionately on their connection with St Columba's, Vicki How-ard addressing the importance of maintaining our local history, Anthony Lynham speaking of the important role the Catholic Church has played historically, and continues to play in the education of children, Teresa Gambaro spoke of her support and the positive contribution St Columba’s has on the local community and, finally, Andrew Vines representing the Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, highlighted the Catholic Heritage in Brisbane as is evidenced on most prominent hills around Brisbane.

Vicki Howard and Martin Wilkie

Jenny, Gwen, Ann, Margaret, Mary and Jean

Rosa, Marjorie, Father Patrick, Marcus

Scott, Jen, Peter, Peter, Martin, Elizabeth

New Website! It is my great pleasure to officially launch the website of the Friends of St Columba’s. The website can be accessed via the following link/ web address: foscwilston.wordpress.com

The website is very much a work in progress, but it is still well worth a visit. On the website you will find previous edi-tions of the Newsletter and information on how to become a Friend of St Columba’s. In the future it will contain infor-mation about the condition of our church and the maintenance works required to preserve it. It will also contain a list of active members (please let us know if you do not wish your name to appear) and information on any upcoming ac-tivities sponsored by the ‘Friends’.

I will let you know, via the Friends newsletter, when there are further developments on the website. Nonetheless, please take the opportunity to visit it and feel free to offer any suggestions you may have. Finally, if you would be inter-ested in contributing by assisting with the website, I would be more then happy to hear from you. It is contained on the Wordpress platform and is very easy to use.

Fr. Michael Grace.

Our Inaugural Members of

…. Friends of St Columba’s

Amanda, Luke, Samuel & Lily Broadhurst Andrew & Rachael Musgrave Andrew & Zoe Vella Andrew Wines Ann & Michael Murphy Ann Hoban Anne Flanigan Br Tom Hickey Bre Barrett Bruno & Giuseppina Coppo Carmel Gooding Caroline Pauley Christine & Uresh Anand Colleen Jackson Curran Family Dawn Marano Dr Anthony Lynham Fiona Walsh Giacomo & Sandra Di Trapani Glyn & Jean Netto Graeme & Stella Rush Gwen Parker Helen Summers

Isabella Gilbert Jen & Peter Gardiner Jenny Gregory Jo Evans & Graeme Newton Jodie Reilly-Berecry John Woods & Emma Fynes-Clinton Josephine Nolan Julie & Michael Carter Kerry Farrell Kirsten Van Gelder Lawrence & Elsa Brunello Leon M. Brosnan Leonard & Mary Haig Lexa Allen Margaret Board Margaret Knapp Marie A. McGarry Marie McCullough Marie Smith Mark Panniza Mary Hanifin Mary Phillips Matt & Benita Bell Michael & Alexandra Healy

Nicole & Glenn Caligaris Pamela McCarthy Paul & Lana Szumowski Pauline Pattel & Mark Brown Peter & Joanne Comeford Philip & Patricia Jones Racy & Richard Espino Rob & Carol Douglas Rosalie & Sebastian De Jong De Silva Simon & Bridget Pressley Stephen & Michelle Craven Tamika, Holly & Michael Price Tara and Frankie Carroll Tasmin & Matt Mahoney Teresa Gambaro Thomas Hession Tim Sweeney and Nancy Lee Trish Hill Veronica Punter Vicki Howard Wallabies Prep - St Columba's Primary

Warren & Rachel Hawkins

Storm Damage Soon To Be Repaired

I imagine that not many would have forgotten the ferocity of the “super cell” thunderstorm that hit Brisbane last November. I wasn't actually in Brisbane at the time; nevertheless the news of the storm reached me even on an immersion trip to East Timor. If perchance the memory of the storm did happen to slip anybody’s mind, the tarp, which still adorns the Presbytery roof, serves as a re-minder to its destructive force.

While the tarp is the most visible reminder of the storm, it is the roof of St Columba’s Church which was most severely damaged. In particular, some of the ridge tiles on the triangular gables of the roof were blown off, allowing some water to enter

Fortunately, our good friends at Catholic Church Insurance will cover the necessary repair works. This repair work had been scheduled for November 14th this year, but once again the weather held sway and the work had to be postponed. This repair work will happen as soon as another suitable date can be ar-

A reminder of the November storm

An offending gable, with dislodged ridge capping

The current plan is to bring in a very large boom lift that will allow access to the gables. The ridge capping of each gable will then be resecured, hopefully ensuring that no future storm will send them flying anytime soon.

I look forward to being able to provide you with an up-date on the progress of this work in the next edition of the newsletter.

Fr. Michael Grace.

Some of our Speakers at the Launch…...

Becoming a Friend……..

In this, our second Newsletter, we have shared the dreams we have, and the work that has al-

ready been done, to protect this beautiful Church of St Columba—built one hundred years ago by equally

enthusiastic parishioners—eager to have a church in which they could gather for weekly Masses. They

were not content with a small wooden church—they chose instead to erect a magnificent building that

would stand the test of time, and were aided in this endeavour by the then Archbishop, James Duhig,

who always searched the hilltops around Brisbane for suitable sites, in his dream to build more

churches.

Like many other buildings, large and small, there are times when repairs (large and small) are

needed. So it is that, in 2015, the Parish needs to attend to some areas of our building, critically in need

of care.

We invite you to participate in the work of Friends of St Columba’s by filling in the form below,

choosing one of the various payment methods. We look forward to welcoming you as a “Friend”! Com-

pleted Membership Forms can be left at the Parish Office, mailed, or handed in on the weekly plate.

I/We Wish to become a Friend of St Columba’s. My membership donation for 2015-2016 is $30.00

Name: ________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________

Contact Details: Email: ______________________________________ Phone: __________________

I/We wish to make my donation to ‘National Trust St Columba’s Conservation Appeal’ and will receive a tax deductible receipt.

I/we do not require a tax receipt and understand that my donation will go through St Columba’s Building Fund.

I/We wish to pay by Cash. I/We wish to pay by Cheque.

I/We wish to pay by Credit Card. I/We wish to pay by Direct Debit.

Credit/Debit Card Details:

Type of card: Mastercard Visa Card No. __________________________________

Expiry Date: ______________________ Name on Card: ___________________________________

Cardholder’s Signature: ____________________________________ Date: __________________________

Direct Debit Details:

Name of Financial Institution: _______________________________________________________________

Branch Name: _____________________________________ BSB: _______________________________

Account Name: ____________________________________ Acc No: _____________________________

Signature: ________________________________________ Date: _______________________________

Receipt No: _______________________________________