Parramatta Salvos seeing Holy Spirit at work at weekly market day
- 21 minutes ago
- 6 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
Five years ago, Parramatta Corps Officers Major Kylie Collinson and Lieutenant Sarah Walker (now Captain, and Youth & Young Adults Secretary) started a food ministry from the newly opened Parramatta Corps building.
“There was a huge need for affordable groceries as the cost-of-living crisis started to set in after COVID,” remembered Kylie. “We connected with [Coles] Second Bite and started to do pick-ups [from supermarkets]. The first few pick-ups Sarah and I did in my car!”
Fast forward to now, and the corps has a dedicated van, with volunteers picking up from partnering supermarkets and other food suppliers five days a week.
Parramatta Corps Officer Major Kylie Collinson (right) says it’s been a joy watching the Holy Spirit at work at the corps during the weekly ministries, including the Community Market Day, with many community members and volunteers now also connected to the Sunday faith community.
Dozens of volunteers fill the Wednesday Market Day roster, having been inducted as volunteers with specific roles and job descriptions. They all know exactly what unique part they play in Parramatta Salvation Army’s biggest day of the week, where up to 150 come through the doors for free groceries, coffee and a light meal.
With that many people being assisted, one could imagine the centre could be chaotic, but a well-thought-out membership system staggers community members’ arrival times, giving them access to the market in different time slots (which are changed every week so that everyone has a turn being ‘first’).
The Ubuntu approach
Before the doors even open for Market Day, all volunteers and staff gather in the café for a team meeting. This is a big part of the ‘culture piece’ that sits at the heart of everything Parramatta Salvos does.
On the day Salvos Online visited, Program Coordinator Roza Gutschow shared the African idea of Ubuntu – that we are all interconnected and interdependent. “We are bound to each other through our humanity … so we look after each other, ourselves and the community.”
Practical information is also shared, volunteers are celebrated, and on that particular day, the upcoming Volunteer Picnic Day was advertised. At the end of the meeting, Roza led the team through what sounded like a well-worn mantra:
Roza: “We’re a …
Volunteers respond: “Community!”
Roza: “In a …
Volunteers respond: “Community!”
Roza: “Serving a …
Volunteers respond: “Community!”
After the clapping and cheering that followed the chant, everyone got up and attended to their individual jobs. Pauline told Salvos Online that she hands out the frozen meat every week. “Salvos were helping me, and then I started volunteering,” she said. “I like helping people, and it makes me feel very happy.”
Henry’s story Nearby in the commercial kitchen, another volunteer was using donated food items to cook a carbonara pasta for that day’s free meal. Henry, who volunteers five days a week at Parramatta Salvos, opened the doors to the community and stood greeting people by name as they walked inside.
“I was on the streets a long time ago,” he said. “I feel sorry for these people when I see them on the streets. They are good people, and you try to help them as much as you can.”
Henry began volunteering many years ago at The Salvation Army’s former corps location, but then got a job. When that finished up, he returned. “I thought, ‘I’ll come back, meet some people and get involved.’ I know all these people here. They are like family, and I come on Sundays too, not every Sunday but sometimes.”
Ray’s story Upstairs in the café, Ray is at his regular spot behind the coffee machine. Ray began volunteering two and a half years ago. “When I thought I had nothing more to give, I stepped into this role it gave me more to give.”
His journey with The Salvation Army began in 2016 when he had a meaningful conversation at Harris Park train station with a Salvation Army officer who was collecting. “He said, ‘Come down to Granville Corps. So, I did Bible study there, and I loved it there, and I engaged. That was 2016, and then in 2019 I became a soldier.
“I had a faith, but it was just a matter of reconnecting. I had walked away from it, and I thought that life had nothing more to offer me, but the path was given back to me, a faith pathway.”
Ray, like so many others, volunteers numerous days of the week, and attends Parramatta Salvation Army on Sundays to worship the God that they serve during the week.
For Kylie, watching God at work through his people is an absolute joy. “People come along, and then they find community within The Salvation Army, and then they find community with each other. That’s the really cool thing, and we are seeing that more and more. There are these crossovers between our community and programs, and now people are coming in to worship on a Sunday.”
A focus on God’s way
But, she said, it hasn’t always run so smoothly.
“To be honest, when market day started, it was kind of completely out of control! It used to be a bit of a ‘free for all’, and we would have people lined up outside the building at 7am, so now there is a membership system … it’s been refined over the years and that’s not been a ‘me’ thing, we have a community coordinator who looks after all the systems and we listen and take feedback from our volunteers as well.”
Now, Parramatta Corps is financially sustainable through the rental of its ground-floor shopfronts and has the capacity to employ staff, host a range of national stream workers (from Moneycare, Doorways and Homelessness support), as well as having an abundance of volunteers who assist with not only Market Day but the Corps’ Craft Group, Games Morning, Walking Group, Community Choir, English-Conversation Classes, Emergency Relief and the Community Café. But when Kylie and Sarah first started, it was just them, with a car, a vision, a whole heap of prayers and the deep knowledge that intentionality and culture was the bedrock they needed to build on.
“Culture is very important, and sometimes we have to make hard decisions about that, but it’s better to have the right people than to have more people,” Kylie said.
“Everybody’s got a job as well. That’s the other thing. When they come in to volunteer on a Wednesday, all of our volunteers, they know what their role is and what they are here to do.”
Kerry and William’s story For Kerry and William, Market Day has changed their life. They were told about it by a friend, and came along, not really for assistance, but because they felt disconnected.
“We just travelled around on public transport to the city every day, and you get bored of it after a while, seeing the same old thing,” said William. “We came here just as community members, and we liked what we saw – volunteers helping the community. So, we asked if there was any available space for us to give back.”
Kerry and William were enrolled as senior soldiers at Parramatta Corps in 2025 and volunteer several days of the week, helping with Market Day, grocery pick-ups and helping to run the fortnightly games morning. Kerry has just joined the new Parramatta Salvos’ Community Choir.
“We like to help people, and we’ve made so many friends,” said Kerry.
In his testimony at his enrolment, William said that Parramatta Salvos is “a good place to be. Sundays are special because we come to church to learn more about the Bible and how to pray. In the classes, Major Dave [Collinson] talked about serving – that each one of us can serve God in the Army – everyone has a ‘something’ they can do if you’re prepared to give it a go.”
Start small and build strong Kylie Collinson just loves Parramatta Corps and seeing God at work among its people. Her advice to other Salvationists working in the food assistance space: “Start out small and do one or two things well [and with intentionality and good culture.]
“You can’t start something on every day of the week at first, even the first year. You have to do it gradually.” And if things aren’t working or culture has come out of alignment with Jesus, just refocus.
“Anybody can serve, you don’t have to have a faith. You don’t have to be a Christian to serve, so what is the difference for us? … We do it with the love of Jesus.”
