Kingborough-Huon Corps celebrates ‘the fruit of the past 50 years’
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
More than 50 years ago, a Salvationist from Hobart, Lillian Parsell, felt called by God to start a Sunday school in the Blackmans Bay area with her grandchildren and others.
She also commenced a Home League ministry for women in the area 20km south of Hobart. This work became an outpost of Hobart’s Sandy Bay Corps, and in February 1976, The Salvation Army appointed the first corps officers, marking the beginning of the Blackmans Bay Corps, which has now become Kingborough-Huon Corps.
Last month, the corps celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Salvation Army’s work in the region.
Kingborough-Huon Corps is a vibrant mission expression under the direction of Captain Roz Edwards.
Last month, family members of Lillian Parsell, current Salvationists, Salvation Army mission partners, members of parliament and the community gathered to celebrate Lillian’s discernment and obedience to God’s calling in her life.
“Since then, we have met in three different locations,” Roz said. “Our present hall is a beautiful hall, and we are the Salvos in the community here. We have a strong community presence, we have a bursting community meal during the week at Kingborough, and at Huonville, which is 25 minutes inland, we have a booming missional centre.”
The impact that the Kingborough-Huon Corps has on the community was evident during the anniversary weekend, which included members from the local Rotary Club (that partners with the Salvos), members of state parliament, representatives from other charities and services, all attending either the Saturday afternoon tea time of reflection, or the Sunday celebration meeting.
“We had a whole row of Rotarians in church on Sunday,” said Roz. “We had one of our other local charities, their director, in church on that Sunday. At the end, we were having morning tea, and they said, ‘We never knew church was so much fun; we didn’t think we’d laugh so much at church!’ They said, ‘We loved hearing from [Major] Kim [Haworth – guest speaker for the weekend.] The worship was just wonderful – lots of really high praise and giving God glory.”
Former corps officers travelled from Queensland and Victoria to attend the weekend, and on Saturday, many shared memories of their time at Kingborough-Huon Corps.
There was also a celebration of the people God had called into full-time ministry from the corps – Lieutenant Dave Bruford, now Corps Officer at Devonport, and Reverend Simone Smalley, who leads the Uniting Church in North Hobart.
“We wanted to celebrate the fruit of the past 50 years and the people whose time at Kingborough-Huon prepared them for full-time service,” said Roz.
For Roz herself, the weekend was very special, as she explained to those gathered:
“Well, about 70 years ago, Lillian Parsell was also sponsoring ‘10-pound Poms’ [over one million British citizens migrated to Australia between 1945 and the early 1970s for just £10 under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme].
“A lot of them came out to Tasmania. Lillian sponsored this young man, a Salvationist from England. When he got off the boat, he saw a Salvo lady handing out War Cry’s [The Salvation Army newspaper] on the dock, and he said, ‘Where’s the local Salvation Army and what time is the meeting on Sunday?’ She told him to go to Sandy Bay Corps at 11am.
“Well, it turned out that those two got married and went to Salvation Army Training College to become officers. Anyway, several years later, they came back to Tassie as Salvation Army officers, and while they were there, they had a third child. That third child was me!”
For Roz to now be the Kingborough-Huon Corps Officer – through Lillian Parsell's listening spirit and obedience to God’s voice – is not just a coincidence.
“I really feel like God called me back to Tasmania,” she said, explaining that when she was in ministry in Canberra, God really ‘laid it on my heart’ that she needed to be in Tasmania. “Everyone was saying, ‘Oh you don’t want to go there, you’ll freeze!’… but the Lord had laid it on my heart.”
During the 50-year anniversary celebrations, Lillian Parsell’s eldest grandchildren – those she started the Sunday School with – cut the anniversary cake.
Anne Liddell and Bill Parsell – the eldest grandchildren of Lillian Parsell – cut the 50th anniversary cake of the corps that she had helped to found.
During Kim’s message, she used the story of the wedding at Cana, and reminded us of Mary’s instructions, to ‘Do what He says’.
At the end of the weekend’s Sunday meeting, Tasmanian Divisional Commander Major Dean Clarke challenged the congregation to move into the future in the footsteps of Lillian Parsell.
“He encouraged us to be ready to really seek God. We are in days of seeking God in a fresh new way, and we are ready to be obedient to his callings for the future ministry of this corps,” said Roz.
Click through the slideshow below for more photos of the anniversary celebration weekend:
