St John's Lutheran Church

Eight Mile Plains developed as a coach stop on the route through Logan to the South Coast in the mid-nineteenth century. A general store and blacksmith’s shop were among the earliest buildings constructed and, in 1863, Baker’s Hotel (later known as the Eight Mile Plains Hotel) opened on the site of today’s Glen Hotel. A post office opened in the hotel in 1868 and a primary school was built in 1869. The residence of ‘Hughesville’, built on Logan Road in 1892-93 for the Hughes family, later became a landmark for travellers to the South Coast. 

A United Protestant Church was constructed  on Millers Road between 1902 and 1904 and this served as a meeting place for various faiths until local congregations were able to build their own churches. Eight Mile Plains remained a mostly agricultural community of farmers, fruit growers and poultry farmers until the post war period when the population was around 800. The local population continued to increase through the 1960s and 1970s, reaching 3,334 by 1981.

The Lutheran Church began acquiring land in Levington Road (then named Baker Road after an early landholder) in 1948 when it purchased over half an acre from Friedrick Fels. Another 30 perches was purchased from Ernest and Grace Collett in 1949. Once work on the new brick church was commenced, progress was slow as the building was constructed with volunteer labour from the local community. It was not until 2 April 1950 that Pastor M. Lohe, the Lutheran Church Queensland president, laid the foundation stone of the church and a further 18 months before the church officially opened. 

The new church was opened by Pastor M. Lohe on 9 December 1951. The Courier Mail reported that around 30 members of the church worked for some 10,000 hours to construct the building using 75,000 bricks. The cost of building once the tower was completed was expected to reach £3,000. 

In 1965, the Lutheran Church acquired another acre of land to add to the site, followed by an additional acre in 1968. In 1976, a spire was added to the tower, completing the design of Reg Waldman.  The site was enlarged again in 1981 when the Church bought 1.137 hectares from the Colletts. Today the site covers an area of 11 370m².

Additional buildings which have been added to the site include a church hall in 1954 (constructed from two ex-army huts), a manse constructed during the 1960s and a kindergarten/preschool built circa 1972. These buildings are not included in the local heritage listing.

Broad circular steps lead to the gothic arch of the entrance. The church has several gothic windows including three on the western wall of the nave.

The church is set in landscaped grounds which include several mature trees and a low brick wall along the front boundary to Levington Road.

1. Brisbane City Council (BCC) aerial photographs.

2. Brisbane City Council Building Cards

3. Greave, Betty,  telephone interview with BCC Heritage, 6 February 1991

4. State Library of Queensland. John Oxley Library, photographic collection

5. Queensland Certificate of Title

6. Courier Mail, 10 Dec 1951. NLA Trove website. Viewed 10 Sep 2013

7. Logan City Council Libraries, “Mt Gravatt and Eight Mile Plains Districts”. http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/74767/6558573-Handout20-MtGravatt-EMP.pdf , viewed 13 Sep 2013

8. Letter from Owen Scholl, Executive Officer, St John’s Lutheran Church, to Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit, 17 Jul 2003

9. Brisbane City Council Kuraby District Local Area Plan: Character Study. July 1996

10. Centre for the Government of Queensland. ‘Eight Mile Plains’. http://queenslandplaces.com.au/node/310. Viewed 13 Sep 2013