When Deacon Tony Hoban and his wife Annette Hoban finish up at the end of this year as leaders of the parochial district of St Luke’s at Marsden Park, they will do so after nearly seven years building the community to the point where it will be decreed a parish on 1 January 2025.
To mark this occasion, we asked them to reflect on their time at St Luke’s and what they have planned for the future.
This is an edited version of the conversation.
Catholic Outlook: You’ve been instrumental in shepherding St Luke’s from infancy to where it is now. How are you both feeling at the end of such a momentous journey?
Deacon Tony: Certainly mixed emotions. There’s joy that the community has reached this stage of now being big enough and sustainable enough to become a parish. Certainly sadness that we’ll be leaving people who we’ve grown to love deeply, but also excitement. After 36 years we’re taking the next step of life together.
Annette: I see Church as being about relationships: relationship with God, relationship with others. We’ve made some really strong relationships over the last almost seven years, so it will be very hard to break those relationships.
Catholic Outlook: What are some of the highlights of your nearly seven years at St Luke’s?
Deacon Tony: In the early days, there was all the firsts – our first mass, our first baptisms. It was exciting to tick them off. But also growing as a community… we used to have one Sunday mass of about 150 people early on. It’s now grown to two masses with probably 650 people. Seeing that growth in the community has been quite exciting.
Annette: Every Easter Mass that we’ve celebrated at St Luke’s has definitely been a highlight; all our community events, where everyone gets involved, also a definite highlight. We’ve got a really good volunteer base, and that’s really exciting to see so many people wanting to be involved and participate in church life. And also the response we’ve had to the pledge from people in this economic situation, every week they’re pledging money to help us build that church building that everyone’s looking forward to.

Deacon Tony with children during Mass at at St Luke’s Catholic Faith Community. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Catholic Outlook: You’ve emphasised the importance of working in partnership to get to this milestone. Can you explain who these partnerships have been with, and why they’ve been so necessary?
Deacon Tony: From day one, we wanted to involve the voice of the community in what we’re doing. So we met around the kitchen table with a small advisory group to say, ‘Okay, how are we going to launch this new community?’ And then over time that morphed into a Pastoral Council, which is the voice of the people, and also a pastoral leadership group. Then we’ve got so many ministry leads. In a relatively small community we have probably a higher proportion than most, in terms of people getting involved. I think it’s 17 different ministries.
Catholic Outlook: It’s not every day a new parish is formed. What have you learned about the process and what has it taught you about your faith?
Deacon Tony: The day we moved out here we were racking our heads thinking, ‘how are we going to get all this equipment we need?’ And out of the blue we got a call from the executor of a priest who passed away, and he said, ‘Can I give you vestments and vessels’ and all these sorts of things? And we looked at each other and said, ‘Okay, this is a sign from God, we’re on board’. But it’s certainly hard work.
Catholic Outlook: How did you set about the process of establishing this community? Who did you go to?
Deacon Tony: It wasn’t easy, because to my knowledge this was the first urban Deacon and wife appointed to essentially run a Catholic community. We had to really start from scratch. There were a few people we tapped into. Fr David Catterall down at Oran Park was very helpful. We learned a bit about what they’d done [in establishing a new parish], and we took on board some of their innovative ideas. Fr Chris de Souza was our supervising priest, and he gave us good guidance in the early days. We really tapped into the expertise of the community, in how we would build the community.

Bishop Vincent, Deacon Tony (middle left) and Annette (far top right) with parishioners at St Luke’s Catholic Faith Community. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
Catholic Outlook: How did you form a roster with priests?
Deacon Tony: In the early days Fr Chris helped us. We’re very lucky that the Order of St Camillus, the hospital chaplains, particularly in the first year, covered probably two thirds of our masses. So we owe a great deal of gratitude to them. And over the years the Maryong priests have really helped us a lot. Father Andrew Hennes has come most Saturdays in the last five or six years. He’s been very helpful. And Fr Joseph Nugyen has been incredibly generous with his time. So we’ve been really blessed.
Catholic Outlook: So what’s next? We hear some travel is in order?
Deacon Tony: In the early part of next year I’ll still have things to do outside of St Luke’s. So I’m still a vicar for Deacons till late March. I’m also the chair of the National Association of Deacons. I’m on the board of Kairos prison ministry. Then probably by late April, early May, we’ll set off and escape the NSW winter for warmer parts. We’ll spend the best part of 18 months getting around the country, doing two half laps in our motorhome. We’re excited about that.
Catholic Outlook: Is there anything else that you’d like to say?
Deacon Tony: We particularly owe a great debt of gratitude to Bishop Vincent. I think he did stick his neck out and try this new model of pastoral leadership with us, and he’s supported us in an ongoing sense. He’s here probably four or five times a year. He’s continued to support us in many ways, and he’s very supportive of the diaconate as a whole.
The final Mass for Deacon Tony and Annette will be held on 29 December at 10am at St Luke’s Catholic College, Marsden Park, celebrated by Bishop Vincent.
This article was originally published in the 2024 Advent & Christmas | Summer edition of the Catholic Outlook Magazine. You can read the digital version here or pick up a copy in your local parish.