As a relatively new parish priest Fr Matthew Meagher has what you’d call a “good problem” on his hands—enthusiastic parishioners with more great ideas than he can action.
“People sometimes think that parishes in the inner west are small and dying but I just don’t believe that at all,” says the priest of St Brendan’s and St Michael’s in Annandale and Stanmore.
One of Sydney’s trendiest areas, his parish is home to an interesting mix of career professionals, retirees, plenty of young families as well as social housing residents among its historic terraces, Federation-style and sleek modern homes.
An ideal place for evangelisation and outreach, new renovation and building works beginning this year will support the parish in building upon its array of spiritual, educational and pastoral works.
St Brendan’s Primary School is bursting at the seams and will take over the present presbytery as part of an expansion. A much-needed pastoral centre and new presbytery will emerge after the refurbishment of a former Josephite convent at the Annandale precinct.
“I found plenty of vibrancy here when I arrived just before the COVID lockdowns, even though that was a challenging time, and it really seems to be growing in different ways. It’s a matter of harnessing that to continue to build a really good healthy parish,” Fr Meagher said.
“Right now, we don’t really have any gathering spaces for parish morning teas or meetings or any of the things we want so this will open up whole new horizons for us.
“We’re doing a lot of physical ‘stuff’ around buildings and facilities but that can be an impetus to bring the community together—having good facilities means you can build community with a lot more ease than you can without them.
“It’s been hard when people come to me and say, ‘Father can we do this, or run this event?’ and I have to say, ‘Not really’.
“We want parishioners to come up with their own initiatives and be able to say ‘Yes, here’s the space to do it and the funds to get it started’.
“We haven’t really been able to do that so far but we will get there.”
However there’s already a lot going on at the parish, which boasts two beautiful late 19th and early 20th century churches a five-minute drive apart.
It’s home to a rich pastoral life that will only be strengthened by the amalgamation of the communities that took place earlier this year.
For two decades parishioners from both churches have come together for major milestones and to support groups such the local St Vincent de Paul Society conference, and now they look to a promising future as one parish.
Young adults from across the inner west meet each Tuesday night for “Cardinal’s Corner,” beginning with Mass, Eucharistic adoration and a short talk by Fr Meagher or a guest speaker before drinks at the local pub.
And Masses bring a largest cross-section of inner west Catholics, including a growing number of young families every week.
Fr Meagher takes heart at seeing them in the pews and hearing the children excitedly tell him about what they learned in the newly-formed Sunday school.
“Catholic families can feel a bit isolated in the world and this helps them to form those friendships between them while their children are growing up together,” he said.
“There’s an old saying that if your pews aren’t crying, they’re dying.
“We have a lot of noisy young children which is a very promising and hopeful thing, right through to many young adults and our elderly parishioners who have been here almost their whole lives.”
The gifted homilist with a passion for community building will shortly launch a series of adult education sessions—again at the request of parishioners eager for renewal in their following of Jesus Christ.
“It will be an opportunity for people to come together meet others and gain some serious understanding of their faith by delving into a topic deeper than you might usually, but in a way that is still approachable for the average parishioner,” Fr Meagher explained.
“So it’s a wonderful mix and it’s a matter of putting all this together and harnessing the great ideas and extraordinary range of talents of people who want to be involved in building the parish, both Stanmore and Annandale together.”
Parish renewal sparks life in ministries old and new
Cathie Edlington and Olivia Conolly represent the diverse and vibrant parish of St Brendan’s and St Michael’s in Sydney’s inner west.
It’s been Cathie’s home for four decades, Olivia’s for 18 months.
Cathie leads Annandale-Stanmore’s thriving St Vincent de Paul Society Conference and Olivia is a young professional who supports Cardinal’s Corner, a new formation and pastoral initiative for young adults.
In recent years the Vinnies group has looked after the needs in the Leichhardt and Newtown parish areas as well as its own.
Cathie’s seeing more single mothers who have escaped domestic violence, more people with acute mental health issues, and people struggling to pay for food due to rising rent and mortgages—including some who have lived comfortably in the area for a lifetime.
“They’re basically now priced out of the area but relocating at their age away from their doctors and everything else is unthinkable,” Cathie says.
The work is a blessing for the members as much as the people they serve.
“In 2021 I appealed for new members and immediately had plenty of people put their hand up, including one who came to me straight after Mass who had just retired and became our treasurer,” Cathie said.
“Our primary school ‘mini-Vinnies’ are so enthusiastic and generous, and packed Mother’s Day gift bags and ‘winter warmer’ packs for the people we see throughout the year.”
Olivia said moving out of her family home in the Hawkesbury region and coming to Sydney was “very daunting” until she found a warm welcome at the parish.
“The support from Fr Matthew and the parish has been absolutely invaluable, and getting involved has helped me find my footing here,” she said.
“I’m a primary school teacher so my workdays can be intense and it’s good to know once a week I can spend some time with the Blessed Sacrament and receive the Eucharist, get some formation and then go to the pub with some friends without having to try and organise something myself.”
Cathie’s children went to school and her grandchildren were baptised at St Brendan’s.
“It’s a big part of my life and across St Brendan’s and St Michael’s we all help each other,” she said.
“Parents from both schools come and help with anything we need. There’s a craft group in the parish and each year parents come and help make Santa sacks for children in need at Christmas.
“Some people have moved away but still come here because it’s such a nice parish, one moved to the Central Coast and was even driving down from there for a while.
“Every parish has its own strengths and weaknesses but I can’t imagine being anywhere else, why would you?”