A Brief History of St John's.

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1953 Services commenced.

​The first service was conducted in the Sherwood area by Pastor R. Gerhardy on Sunday 30 August 1953.  Services were held monthly until July 1954, then fortnightly, in the Sherwood Presbyterian hall.

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1954 Congregation formed.

In late 1954 a congregation was officially formed and named St John’s Lutheran Church.

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1955-60 Church hall built and manse purchased.

In June 1955, the congregation bought land in Primrose Street, Sherwood, and a church hall was built by voluntary labour. This building was dedicated in March 1958.  In April 1960, a manse was purchased in Dudley St, Sherwood.

The Darra Worship Centre was opened in the early 60's in response to energetic efforts by both clergy and lay people and closed alter several years.

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1964 Move to Corinda.

The Primrose Street property was small and subject to seepage from a natural spring so in 1964, St Johns acquired the present church property, including a large building and a house, which became the new manse in April 1964. The church hall was moved to the new property, improved, and dedicated on April 4th, 1965.

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1965 Further developments.

In February 1965, St John’s Kindergarten commenced in the downstairs hall of the church. Management of the kindy was later transferred to a local community group.

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1969 additional Sunday School rooms were added to the building in Clewley Street.

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1972 services were begun in the Kenmore area, and this worshipping group eventually formed the nucleus of the Resurrection Congregation, Indooroopilly.

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1974 the Coopers Plains congregation joined the parish.

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1979 the chancel was extensively renovated. Three lead-light windows from a country church were incorporated into the design.

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1986 Vision 90 - Completed.

At its Annual Meeting in February 1986, the congregation embarked on an exciting ten-year initiative called Vision 90. The goals were a single-point parish, ground-level worship centre, new manse, relocation of half-way house (alcoholic rehabilitation), adaptation of the current building for extended ministry, small group meetings, expanded adult education and enriched fellowship.

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​In 1993 St Johns separated from Coopers Plains, and became a one-congregation parish. On 13 February 1994, the new worship centre was dedicated, and in October 1995 a new manse was purchased.

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June 2007 was a time of celebration and thanksgiving as the church building debt was cleared. (The Manse debt was cleared in  2010).

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2005-2012 Corinda’s Asian Ministry.

A window of opportunity was opened in July 2005 when Pastor Brian Shek approached Corinda about hosting a Vietnamese worshipping group led by Pastor Tang.  At the time Pastor Tang was being supported by a Melbourne based Vietnamese mission society.

Arrangements were made for worship to take place in our hall upstairs on a Sunday morning, following our worship. Pastor Tang was licensed for Word and Sacrament ministry by the Queensland District President Tim Jaensch.

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At a Congregation Meeting held April 2007, St John's members voted to accept the Vietnamese worshipping group as part of St John's Lutheran Church, so the group were no longer a gathering merely using our facilities, but an integral part of our Church, working together with the main congregation, both spiritually and financially. On 10 June 2007 our first combined service celebrated with hymns that were sung in both English and Vietnamese, brief sermons in English, Cantonese and Vietnamese, followed by fellowship and a wonderful shared morning tea.

The combined arrangement continued until 14 December 2014, when the LCA QLD District made a decision to form a separate, but wider, Asian congregation across several worship centres.

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2013 A respite centre for alcoholic men, which had been based in a house owned by St John's Congregation at 699 Oxley Road Corinda, was closed, and the property was sold.

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Starting in 2016, the church was used for worship services and meetings by the The Trinity Evangelical Ethiopian / Eritrean Congregation with a vibrant worship service being held on Sunday evenings. This was Led by Pastor Berhane, but this joint use was discontinued in September of 2020.

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St Johns is blessed with many musical accompaniment groups for worship, including modern worship and contemporary music.

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