Shalom was called into life in response to a prayerful insight received in October 1974 by Neville Bowers who, with his wife Helen, is co-founder. This discernment reveals the lived out vision of the House of Prayer:
"Go to Carcoar, re-open the old convent, and make it a place where people can come and establish or renew their relationship with God".
The "old convent" was Mount St. Joseph
, later known as St. Mary's Academy, built in 1874 and staffed by the Sisters of Mercy - providing ongoing education until its closure in 1969.
Six years later, on January 18th 1975, Neville, Helen and their family established Shalom, the Bathurst Catholic Diocesan House of Prayer, under the authority of the Bishop of Bathurst.
