St. John The Evangelist Anglican Parish - Cairns

The parish was established in April 1884 when the original St. John's church was blessed.  At that time St. John's church was the only church in Cairns and the Church of England the only religion practiced.  The original parish extended from Hartley's Creek in the north to Babinda in the south to Kuranda to the west.  The following is a time line of significant events in the life of the parish and the Anglican church in Cairns and the surrounding district.

• 1876 - Cairns settled by Europeans and Cairns named as a port

• 1878 - Diocese of North Queensland formed.  Previously the district had been ministered by the Diocese of Sydney

• 1884 - St. John's blessed and the Parish of Cairns created on 6th April

• 1915 - St. Saviour's, Kuranda was blessed

• 1917 - Holy Cross Church, Babinda was blessed

• 1920 - The old St. John's destroyed in a cyclone

• 1923 - The old Abbott Street site sold and the present site purchased

• 1926 - Foundation stone laid for the new St. John's church

• 1927 - The new St. John's church is blessed

• 1931 - St. Peter's in McLeod Street is dedicated

• 1946/1947 - ex army huts purchased and erected at Edge Hill, Aumuller Street, and Stratford

• 1967 - West Cairns parish established based at St. Margaret's church

• 1968 - Edge Hill parish established based at the Church of the Good Shepherd

• 1974 - New parish hall and rectory built

• 1983 - Trinity Anglican School opens

• 1985 - Archdeacon George Tung Yep and Canon Arthur Malcolm consecrated as assistant bishops

• 1988 - Bishop Tung Yep appointed regional bishop

• 1991 - Father Jim Leftwich appointed to head up the Torres Strait Islander Ministry in Cairns

• 1993 - St. Peter's in McLeod Street (since re-designated St. Luke's) was handed over to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministry under Bishop Malcolm and Father Jim Leftwich

• 1995 - St. Peter's Chapel at the Marlin Coast campus of Trinity Anglican School completed

• 1997 - Memorial covered court yard constructed at St. John's

• 1997 - Mother's Union began its ministry to the Domestic Violence Court

• 1998 - Hospital chaplaincy established

• 1999 - St. Saviour's, Kuranda, and St. Peter's Chapel, Marlin Coast, gain separate parochial status.

Acknowledgement:  These facts are taken from the publication "A History of St. John's Anglican Church Cairns. Qld."
Edited by Glenn F. Ross. M.A., Ph.D., Th. L.