The St. Anthony's Homes Co-operative Society Ltd. was formally inaugurated on the the 24th of March, 1925. St. Anthony is the patron of the Society because on his feast, 13th June 1927, the Society obtained its land from the Government. A tribute must indeed be paid to the great wisdom and foresight of the Society's founders. A rare vision displayed by this band of pioneers has resulted in the flourishing Catholic Society that exists in Chembur today.

Chembur in those days was little more than a village, with no amenities whatsoever. Even the rail link was tenuous with a steam engine plying after an interval of an hour between Kurla and Mankhurd. The breakdowns on this line were proverbial and one had to foot it from Chembur to Kurla and back on numerous occasions. The roads were not metalled; there was no electricity nor the basic amenities of a shopping center. The absence of a Church and a school proved a great handicap to the growth of this place. The Society's Pavilion was erected in 1934 and named after its Patron, St. Anthony, and Church services were conducted there on Sunday mornings from 1934 to 1959. The Pavilion was also used as a primary school on weekdays.(Pictures as on April 2001)

In the early 1950s, after electrification of the railway line, Catholics came in large numbers to Chembur. The two Religious Orders of St. Joseph's nuns and the Alphonsian Society entered into membership of the Society and established a girls and boys High Schools, a monastery, and a Church, during the decade 1950 to 1960.

From 1950 to 1951 the Pavilion was used as a residence for the nuns as they built their convent and school. The foundation stone of the Convent was laid by H.E. Sir Maharaj Singh, Governor of Bombay, on 29th January 1951. His Grace, Dr. Valerian Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, blessed the stone. The school was opened by Shri G. N. Desai, Mayor of Bombay, on 21st April, 1952.

From 1952 to 1953 the Pavilion was used as the residence for two priests who were lent by the Archdiocese for services. From 1954 to 1959 it was used by the Redemptorist Fathers. The Church and the boys school were opened on 6th March 1959.

After the Church was built, a statue of St. Anthony was put up in the Church as a result of a stipulation in the agreement between the St. Anthony's Homes Co-operative Society and the Alphonsian Society.