Our Journey Through Time
Abbey Community History: From England to Caboolture
Sixty years ago a small group of pioneers arrived in Caboolture with little more than faith and resolve. Their story began three decades earlier and half a world away, in England.
In England (1928–1945)
John Sebastian Marlow Ward and the Founding of the Confraternity
The Abbey Community, also known as the Confraternity of the Kingdom of Christ, was founded in England by the Reverend John Sebastian Marlow Ward (1885 to 1949) and his wife Jessie. The Wards formed a spiritual community that drew a connection between Christianity and principles found in other major faiths.
John Ward was a Cambridge-educated scholar, a leading Freemason, an author and a spiritualist. Born in British Honduras, the son of an Anglican minister, he became headmaster of the Diocesan School in Rangoon before ill health brought him back to England, where he met and married Jessie Page, a headmistress in Finchley.
In the late 1920s a series of mystical experiences led Ward to give public lectures on life’s deeper questions: purpose, karma, evil and the nature of God. A small group gathered around the Wards, forming the Confraternity of the Kingdom of Christ. Together they bought Hadley Hall at New Barnet, north of London, and started a school, St Michael’s College, the same name the Community’s own school in Caboolture would later carry.
The Community moved from the Church of England to the Orthodox Catholic tradition, and Ward was ordained, later becoming Archbishop. A 14th-century tithe barn was relocated to New Barnet and rebuilt as their first Abbey Church.
Ward’s lifelong love of historical artefacts led to the opening of the Abbey Folk Park in 1934, an open-air museum featuring constructed ancient buildings and reconstructed historical buildings containing artefacts. It thrived briefly before closing during the Second World War. In 1945 Ward and a small group of followers left for Cyprus, where they stayed until political unrest made it unsafe to remain.
In Australia: Arrival and Settlement (1955–1967)
Arrival in Caboolture: How the Community Found Its Home in 1965
After Ward’s death in Cyprus, his community sailed for Australia, arriving in Sydney in 1955. Two years in Sydney and eight more in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains (where members supported themselves with a wool clothing business) led them finally to Queensland.
On 14 July 1965 the first members reached Caboolture. Some travelled by train. Father Francis drove the Community’s blue FC Holden ute with two children, and a cage of prized chickens in the back. Real estate agent Frank Unwin showed them the property that would become their home: 313 acres of virgin bush, a small fibro cottage, a well, a few slab sheds and a patch of cane.
Seven adults and twelve children arrived with almost nothing.
Bribie Island Road had just been built and was still unsealed. Their nearest neighbour, Mrs Offer, kept a cow and taught the Community to hand-milk once they bought their own. There was no running water. Water was pumped by hand, with every child old enough rostered to work the pump, and heated in a copper for washing, a task Sister Martha oversaw. Sister Helena cooked on a wood stove and used its coals for the iron.
Money was scarce and farming in Australia was new to everyone. Members took outside work to keep things going while land was slowly cleared for crops. In 1966 the Community cleared ground for a church, and Father Francis bartered and negotiated for every length of timber. The Abbey Church was consecrated on 9 September 1967, built in part from timber salvaged from a demolished fish and chip shop.
A hall followed soon after, hosting wedding receptions, musical evenings, nativity plays and games nights. As families grew, the small cottage gave way to a larger residential building, the start of the Abbey complex that stands today.
Our Journey Through Time
From a Timber Church to an Art Gallery: Six Decades at Caboolture
Six decades of growth, told through eleven milestones
1967
Abbey Church consecrated
The Community’s first permanent building, built in part from salvaged timber, consecrated on 9 September 1967.
1973 to 1974
New piggery built
A small piggery added to help support the Community, surviving Cyclone Wanda.
1978
Church extended
Two side chapels added to the Abbey Church as the congregation grew.
1983
St Michael’s College established
The school was formally founded, opening with a handful of students and carrying forward the school name first used in England.
1986
Abbey Museum opens
The museum opened to preserve and share the Community’s collections. The College’s first purpose built classroom block was erected on the new campus.
1989
First Medieval Tournament
The first Medieval Tournament held on the church lawn, the seed of today’s Abbey Medieval Festival.
1994
Dairy becomes a commercial enterprise
The farm’s dairy herd grew into a registered commercial operation, providing livelihood and sustainability for the Community.
2001
Performing Arts Complex opens
A new home for music, drama and the College’s growing performance programs.
2012
Early Learning Centre opens
Extending the College’s care to local community families.
2018
Multi-Faith Centre established
The Multi-Faith and Cultural Dialogue Centre opened, extending the Community’s doors wider to the Moreton Bay region.
2025
Sixty years in Queensland
The Art Gallery opens and the Abbey Community marks six decades on this land.
Sixty Years and Beyond
Still Growing: Life at the Abbey Community Today
Over the years the Community built a school and an early learning centre, a museum and an art gallery. People have come and gone, each leaving their own mark on the Abbey’s story.
In 2025 the Abbey Community marked sixty years in Queensland, a milestone carrying a thousand memories: some difficult, many joyful, all shaped by a shared sense of working toward something larger than ourselves.
None of this would exist without the time, energy and dedication of the people who built it. We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to our story. Building something meaningful is rarely easy, and we know that even the hardest chapters offer opportunities to grow.
Our journey continues. We are committed to achieving our vision: to be a vibrant centre dedicated to the wellbeing and spiritual enrichment of all peoples and to work for peace in our world.
We invite you to be part of our story.
Continue Exploring
The Abbey Church
An Orthodox Catholic church offering Sunday Holy Communion, evening meditation, and sacramental care.
Abbey Museum
The Abbey Community brought collections from England and established a museum in 1986, home to the Abbey Medieval Festival.
St Michael’s College
An independent co-educational P-6 school and Early Learning Centre, grounded in the ethos of the Abbey Community.
Abbey Farm
A working dairy farm, orchard, and organic garden that has sustained the Community for 60 years.
Retreats
Nine quiet rooms, a refectory, library, chapel, and courtyard garden for personal retreat and group programs.