Nukunu Country

John O'Dea

Holy Trinity has a strong Faith community and is a welcoming and vibrant church family. All age groups are represented at mass and parishioners are actively involved in all areas of liturgical and parish activities. Some examples of this involvement are:

• The Catholic Women’s Group organising hospital and aged care facility visiting, catering for funerals and other parish functions;

• Special ministers taking Communion to the sick and home-bound;

• Grounds and building care and maintenance;

• All aspects of Liturgy especially music;

• Weekly Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament every Friday

• Benediction once a month;

• Twice weekly Liturgy of the Word with Holy Communion;

• Rosary before Mass and Liturgy of the Word as well as Rosary in the Home during October;

• Lenten Groups plus Friday evening Stations of the Cross.

• Sunday school taught by parents fortnightly during school terms

Church History

Taken from Diocesan website <http://www.pp.catholic.org.au/about-our-parishes/crystal-brook>
Holy Trinity Catholic Church at Crystal Brook has a long history dating back to 1853 when the priests and brothers from Sevenhill in the Clare Valley started visiting the district. It was not however until July 1879 that St John Regis Church was opened and this was mainly due to the untiring efforts of Fr Neubauer. This church continued as the main catholic church in the town until 1922 when the foundation stone was laid for Holy Trinity church which is adjacent to St John Regis Church. In 1924 the current Holy Trinity Church was opened and in 1926 the old church became St Stanislaus School with the arrival of the Good Samaritan sisters. This coincided with the purchase of the old Crystal Brook hospital which became the Convent, Orphanage and boarding home for girls. This was later replaced with a new convent and orphanage which was built. In 1955 a new school was built and this operated right up until 1975 when the school was closed. The Orphanage continued operating until approximately 1978 when the Good Samaritan sisters left the area and it was closed.
In 1986 under the initiative of Bishop Peter DeCampo and Monsignor Don Victory the convent building was converted into a boarding facility known as Sacred Heart Home This began as a co-educational boarding complex for secondary school students attending St Mark’s College, Port Pirie. The Home was established in Victory House in 1986 by the Catholic Diocese of Port Pirie, to enable country students to receive a Catholic education. It was originally established to take five-day boarders. However, increasing demand for seven-day board prompted the need for another building which was opened in January, 1992. In recognition of the support given to Sacred Heart Home by Bishop DeCampo, the seven-day facility was named DeCampo House and the other facility opened in 1993 was named Trinity House. In 2007, after twenty years at Crystal Brook, the boarding facility moved to Salesian House (formerly the home of the Salesian priests) on the St Mark’s College site.
In 2000 the Holy Trinity parish community built a Grotto to our Lady and established a rose garden commemorating all families in the Parish. To assist the local priest at the time in 2003 Bishop Eugene Hurley commissioned the first Acolytes of the Port Pirie Diocese being Denis O’Dea, Gary Stokes, John O’Dea and Brian Clarke.
Gary Stokes was later ordained as the first Deacon of the diocese on 2nd September 2011.