Capricorn Region celebrates 125 years
Worship Celebrations take place during Capricorn Region Corps' 125th Anniversary weekend. (Photo supplied by Major Peter McGuigan)
We love the Salvos because they always show up … week-in-week-out coming alongside people with all kinds of needs. In Rockhampton, they’ve been showing up for 125 years and this weekend The Salvation Army celebrates this milestone.
– The Morning Bulletin, Saturday 4th August 2012.
So read the opening lines of a full-page article in the Saturday edition of The Morning Bulletin, Central Queensland’s daily newspaper. The article focused on both the history of the Army in the Rockhampton region, and the 125 years celebrations that would take place that weekend.
And celebrate they did. Praise and thanksgiving filled the Capricorn Region Corps worship auditorium all weekend. From the opening strains of a gala concert on the Saturday afternoon to a powerful celebration service of worship on Sunday morning, more than 400 people were caught up in an environment high in energy and the Lord’s presence.
During the celebrations, Divisional Commander, Major Kelvin Pethybridge challenged the congregation to be people and a church of faith. (Photo supplied by Major Peter McGuigan)
Guest visiting group Jazz Effect (led by Nathan Drury), from Bundamba Corps in the Army’s South Queensland Division, brought outstanding musical accompaniment to the weekend. They were joined at the gala concert by the Capricornia Silver Band and the corps’ own band and timbrels.
Visiting band, Jazz Effect, in full swing. (Photo supplied by Major Peter McGuigan)
Popular throughout the weekend were electronic displays of photos of The Salvation Army and its people—from the early days in Rockhampton till more recent times. At one stage the Army operated from six locations in the Capricorn Region - Rockhampton, North Rockhampton, Hillside (Murray Street), Mount Morgan, Kabra and Keppel Sands.
Through a series of amalgamations, the latest in 2003, The Salvation Army in Rockhampton now operates out of a large, multi-functional centre in North Rockhampton, with satellite units (outposts) in Kabra and Mount Morgan, and an independent mission on the Capricorn Coast.
But it all started way back on 2 September 1887 when two Salvation Army officers, Captain Buckingham and Lieutenant Redmond, “opened fire” on the district with their take-it-to-the-streets style of Christianity. Within a year many had been impacted by their work and a 20-strong brass band was conducting open-air meetings in the heart of Rockhampton with their officers.
Salvationists in the early days participate in an Anzac Day march. (Photo supplied by Major Peter McGuigan)
These were still pioneering days for the town and the Salvos’ efforts met with both support and opposition. One record in the movement’s official history tells of how Captain Buckingham was “lashed by a cabman trying to disrupt an open-air meeting, and stabbed by a drunken man”. “But even amid these trials,” it goes on, “he still found time to marry!”
The Salvation Army today runs multi-faceted services across the Capricorn Region of central Queensland. These include employment, aged care and welfare services; financial counselling; spiritual counselling; crisis accommodation; worship services in Rockhampton, Yeppoon and Kabra; multiple activities for children, youth and families; women’s ministries, men in sheds … The list is a long one.
Report by Major Peter McGuigan, Corps Officer, Capricorn Region
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