Salvos Stores opens on Sundays for worship in Beenleigh
- deansimpson7
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
Salvos Stores Beenleigh in Queensland has become a place of worship on Sundays, as a result of a growing partnership between the local corps and store.
Beenleigh Corps, south of Brisbane, was in need of a temporary home in October, while a new corps and community centre was developed.
Over the past few years, Corps Officer Major Heather McKeown had developed an enriching partnership with the Beenleigh Salvos Stores manager, staff and volunteers, so when the need arose, the Salvos Stores team welcomed Heather and her corps with open arms.
“With no hesitation or second thought, Heather and I agreed that Salvos Stores would be the temporary place of worship,” said Salvos Stores General Manager, Sean Burgess, who met Heather during a recent visit to the Beenleigh store, when Heather was running her weekly coffee-and-chat ministry in the store.
“After completing the necessary checks and balances around the use of the lease, keys and alarm codes, they were set to go!”
The first Sunday service took place in-store on Sunday 2 November, with Heather saying a good number of corps members enjoyed the new meeting space, which Salvos Stores staff and volunteers had set up for them on Saturday afternoon.
“We are so happy with the way we have been welcomed. The volunteers on the Saturday moved some racks back to create a space, which was lovely. We made use of the chairs that we set up for the monthly store barbeque and had a place for morning tea as well.”
Heather has been the Beenleigh Corps Officer for the past eight years and during that time has developed strong partnerships with the local community and Salvos Stores Beenleigh.
She began ministry in the store with the coffee-and-chat mornings, which run every Thursday, and then in 2023 added a monthly Saturday barbeque, which she said is “aimed at people who need assistance or food or just those in the community who are lonely and who want to chat.”
READ MORE: Beenleigh cuppa and a chat
Next year, when the corps re-opens in a new location right in Beenleigh town centre, the team will expand with an additional corps officer, Captain Anthony Hunt, and new facilities that will enable The Salvation Army to better serve the local community.
“We will be about 200m from the police station and about 300-400m from the railway and near the shops,” said Heather. “And just across the road [from the new premises] there is a local school, also a showground where a lot of people are camping, so a great opportunity for outreach to people there.”
The new centre will house a food pantry, shower and laundry facilities for people in need. It will offer Doorways emergency assistance and casework and also have an office for a Moneycare Financial Counsellor.
Heather said she is speaking with The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus about a possible co-location and partnership, as well as other organisations.
And, the centre will be just down the road from the Beenleigh Salvos Stores, where the beautiful partnership the corps and the store have developed will continue.
“We greatly value our relationship with the store and will continue to value and develop this relationship, as we look forward to the future,” Heather said.
