God weaving a beautiful tapestry at Clarence Salvos in Tasmania
BY LAUREN MARTIN
The movement of a mysterious God is impossible to fully grasp, track or predict. Yet the fruit of the Holy Spirit is unmistakable, and that’s what’s being seen at Clarence, on the ‘sunny side of the river’ in Hobart, Tasmania.
When Corps Officers Major Joel and Captain Kate Clifford were appointed to the northern side of the Derwent River in 2019, they inherited a small corps with a big heart.
“We were never short of volunteers when we needed something done,” said Joel. “Our people love God, they’re willing to get on board, and they’re very mission-focused.”
So, when Joel, who has “about five different ideas a day”, felt God wanted to build a ministry around his passion for paddleboarding, the corps was fully behind providing the finances and resources for ‘Paddlers Against Poverty’, a Salvation Army Community of Hope expression that is still going strong today. ()
But the corps itself was ageing and had no children (apart from the Cliffords’ own kids). That’s where the Holy Spirit went to work.
“We have a playgroup on a Monday,” said Kate. “We get anywhere between 20 and 30 parents and children, and we have seen a few families come through [to church] from the playgroup.
“When the first family [came], I was ‘straight up’ with them … I told them we didn’t have a kids’ church, but we need families to come and stay in order to establish it. So, they stuck around; they’re still here, and just having that base has enabled us to grow.”
Welcoming atmosphere Jess Reynolds has been working on-site at Clarence Salvos as part of The Salvation Army’s Pathways of Hope team. She and her kids began attending after Jess got to know Kate and Joel while working together.
“I’ve got a son that has a lot of trouble sitting still, and so sometimes church can be very hard for that, but Clarence [Corps] is so kind and welcoming,” she said.
Other new arrivals, including Emily Cullen and her young family, also love the welcoming atmosphere.
Emily says everyone embraces each other, young and old: “People are very accepting that we are all different … the freedom for the kids is fantastic. They don’t come to church to do another day of school where they are taken away from mum and dad and have to sit and do what they’re told.” At Clarence, kids can come and go from Kids Church, and sometimes even ‘help’ the band during worship!
And when it comes to the quarterly packing of school lunch packs to donate to nearby high schools, there’s no pressure from the pulpit for people to volunteer to stay back – it’s a favourite event for young and old alike!
“The kids are like, ‘Yes!’ said Emily. “It’s really lovely because everyone stays and we all do it together, and it’s a chance to have a bit more of a chat.”
Having a ‘bit of a chat’ is another thing Clarence Salvos is known for.
A few years ago, then Chief Secretary Colonel Winsome Merritt visited and remarked that she had never seen so many people turn up early for a corps meeting to hang out and chat.
“People turn up at 9.30am for a 10.30am meeting,” said Katie, with Joel joking that he often has to drop the ‘Blue Brothers’ line a few hours after church is over and say, “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t say here!”
Communities have formed within the larger community of faith, with a group of Clarence Salvos and some of the Paddlers for Poverty deciding to buy tickets for the ‘Big Bash’ cricket series together last summer. “Every week or so, they were sitting in the stands at Bellerive Oval, talking and hanging out together and developing relationships,” said Joel.
Scripturally based Kate and Joel say that making Jesus and Scripture the centre of everything they do has also been key to inviting the Holy Spirit to transform Clarence Salvos.
“We keep Scripture really central to what we do,” said Joel. “We start with a call to worship from Scripture … we preach exegetically rather than topically, we pick one passage and we really unpack it … and we finish with a benediction from Scripture as well.”
Kate, who finished her master’s in Theology last year, planned a year-long study of God’s big picture throughout the Old and New Testaments, which has supported the Christian formation of their congregation. The Sunday meeting is followed by Tuesday Bible studies, which shape people’s discipleship journey.
With the congregation now more than double the size it was when they arrived, Kate and Joel are about to start new Bible studies and hand over leadership of existing studies to emerging leaders.
You know God is on the move when ‘church' becomes ‘family’ ... and that’s what’s happening at Clarence Salvos.
