Soon after land acquisition a building fund was established and by 1857 a small timber slab building was constructed for use as a church and school. By the late 1860s, Toowoomba became the centre of the Darling Downs and the Church of England acquired another central site for the construction of a brick church known as St James' on the corner of Mort and Russell Streets, Toowoomba. Services moved from the primitive St Luke's Church to the permanent new church. School facilities remained at the slab building. There was much debate at the time about shifting the parish from the original St Luke's site and it is thought to have proceeded at the behest of influential members of the parish, who were keen to have the church closer to the residential area around the Mort Estate. Despite the removal of the parish to the site of St James, the debate continued for many years until 1891 when the Toowoomba parish was divided into northern and southern regions, with Margaret Street forming the intervening line. In the early 1880s services had resumed in the original St Luke's and small extensions were made to the building. With the formation of their own parish, renewed efforts were made into the construction of a major new church on the St Luke's church site.[1]
