The Archdiocese’s western-most parish celebrates its 150th anniversary

In the far west of the Archdiocese of Melbourne sits Meredith Parish, a vibrant mixture of young families, old farmers, migrants and tree-changers. At its heart is Fr Joseph Panackal, a young and energetic priest who is busy keeping five churches running while organising the parish’s year-long 150th anniversary celebrations.

With such a large and varied parish, Fr Joseph and his team have decided on a series of events throughout the year, with a spotlight on each church: St Joseph’s, Meredith; St Brigid’s, Anakie; Sacred Heart, Inverleigh; St John the Baptist, Winchelsea; and St Mary MacKillop, Bannockburn.

The sesquicentenary officially launched on Sunday 16 March with a special Mass celebrated by the Archbishop Peter A Comensoli.

Congratulating the parish, Archbishop Comensoli noted, ‘You have shone out from this vantage point for 150 years, describing yourselves as “a beacon of faith and fellowship.” You are at the easterly face from which the face of Christ shines out across the west of Victoria.’

Parish administrator Fr Joseph was initially meant to be in the post temporarily but has found a home in the community since his arrival in 2021. ‘I love it,’ he says.

Fr Joseph is originally from the state of Kerala in India and trained as a priest through Institute Voluntas Dei—a secular institute with pontifical approval. He has been in Australia since 2018 and in the Meredith Parish since 2021.

He conducts Mass in each of the five churches, spreading them across the week, with two on Sunday mornings and another one on Sunday evening each month. Additional services include nursing home visits and special events.

Fr Joseph describes the parish as welcoming, supportive and close-knit.

‘It’s different from other parishes I have been in,’ he says. ‘People are more connected, you know, and have honest conversations. People love to talk, and the community likes to do things together. ‘

He attributes the connectedness to the community’s size—everyone knows everyone. Fr Joseph says they’ve built relationships over years and, in some cases, lifetimes.

‘In all our communities, we have fellowship after the Mass, whether it is a cuppa or people bring food and we share it. So that’s engaging people,’ he says.

Even in the newest church in Meredith Parish, St Mary McKillop in Bannockburn—which opened in 2022 after the old church burnt down in 2015—Fr Joseph says people like to stay and chat after Mass. ‘I started fellowship there maybe a year ago, and now I think about 80 per cent of the people stay. So, I don’t know whether it’s because of the country lifestyle that people like to stay and talk and get to know each other.’

Parish worker Mary Foster, who helps out in the Meredith office, confirms the friendliness of the community.

‘We make a particular effort to be welcoming to new people, new parishioners,’ she says. ‘We don’t want anyone coming to Mass and then leaving without having someone say hello to them. We try to keep our eyes open and recognise when there’s someone new here.’

While the common threads through the Church communities of Meredith Parish are stability, trust and hospitality, each is unique.

Fr Joseph says the smaller, rural towns face the common issue of young people leaving for the city, but there has been an influx of younger families in recent years in Bannockburn, Inverleigh and Winchelsea.

Bannockburn is by far the biggest town in the parish, with a population of around six-and-a-half thousand. Since 2018, it’s been home to the parish’s only Catholic school, St Mary MacKillop Primary. Many Bannockburn residents make the short commute to work in Geelong. Inverleigh is also becoming something of a satellite town to Geelong, only 28 kilometres away.

‘Inverleigh is a younger community, a lot of young families with kids,’ says Fr Joseph. ‘Children are involved in reading and prayers of the faithful; they’re involved in the Mass quite well there. And also Winchelsea very lately, I’ve started seeing families moving in, young families with kids.’

Anakie’s St Brigid’s has a congregation of just five. The church is actually a few years older than Meredith’s St Joseph’s and was the second in the town after the Presbyterian church was established there in the mid-1800s.

The town itself has never grown much since its founding, as farming lots consolidated and families left the area. But Fr Joseph says the congregation is dedicated and active in the church.

‘They are ladies on fire!’ he says. ‘Even though they are only five people, they still have that cuppa after the Mass. ... They like to share and chat. They obviously get along well want to stay and talk.’

Fr Joseph emphasises that any decisions about the future of the small church will be made with the community’s input.

‘They still want to keep going, so I said to them, “As long as you want a Mass here, I’m happy to come and help you. But you tell me when you think it’s time; then we’ll make a decision.” They have been there all their life, worked hard, kept this community going, and there are lots of connections, sentiments around the church.

‘It’s not me making a decision. I can’t just rock up and say, okay, this is your time. It’s up to them, and it’s up to the Archbishop, and I think Archbishop also understands the community’s concerns.’

Fr Joseph says the other smaller community in the parish, in the farming town of Meredith, also has a dedicated congregation.

The town was at the geographic centre of the initial mission that was established in 1875, and Fr Joseph says it remains the base for the priests and church offices. ‘I think they [the congregation] do a lot to support the parish and keep the church going,’ he says.

Mary Foster says when she and her husband moved to the area from suburban Melbourne in the 1980s, they found the church community to be friendly and welcoming.

‘We thought, this is where we wanted to be,’ she says. ‘We’ve been here ever since, gradually getting more and more involved as time’s gone on. We love our little church.

‘Sadly, like a lot of churches, our part of the parish has seen attendance decline as people have gotten older and young people have moved away. My husband Greg and I are among the youngest in this corner of the parish.’

But, Mary says, there are still newcomers to welcome. ‘There’s a gorgeous young couple at the moment with three little kids, and the church has become their family because their own family is all interstate.’

Whether it’s the older, farming community or the young families, worshippers across Meredith Parish are excited to celebrate the 150th anniversary. Planned activities include Olympics-inspired games, trivia nights and events to engage the community. Fr Joseph says one parishioner is bringing his horses to Inverleigh on one games day for children to ride and engage with.

Each church will host a special anniversary Mass, starting with Meredith in March and concluding with Bannockburn in November.

Mary says the anniversary is important to the parish. ‘I mean, 150 years! You think of the people who strove and built the churches. It’s a different scenario nowadays, but we’ve been so lucky with donations and people gifting their time.’