The Army in nearby Tingha
Stories from three small corps in Australia illustrate the vital contribution such corps have made to the ongoing mission and ministry of The Salvation Army, especially through those of their number who have become Salvation Army officers.
Of the 495 corps across the four territories of the Western South Pacific, 321 are small corps with 50 soldiers or less.[1] This means that 65% of our laity are engaged in small-corps mission and ministry.
Colac
One Saturday evening in November 1888 the normally quiet streets of Colac, Victoria, reverberated to the sound of a Salvation Army brass band. Many of the town’s 300 people lined the streets to get a glimpse of the arrival of the Salvationists. A short, enthusiastic meeting was held at the close, of which three people knelt at the penitent form.[2] From that small beginning, God has enabled Colac Corps to make a significant contribution to the wider community.
The 5 August 1905 War Cry reported, The corps is a live soul-seeking concern and scarcely a week goes by when we don’t have great rejoicing over someone turning to God. During those early days the band, fondly known as The Red Shirts, marched the streets of Colac, making their presence felt.
Salvationists of all ages were actively involved in the mission of the corps. Granny Richardson, aged 83, walked three miles to raise 30 shillings for the Self-Denial Appeal. She said, I did it for the Lord.[3] Another, a young domestic servant lost two jobs due to her fidelity to The Salvation Army. Her latest master was an artillery officer who was parading one Sunday morning with the militia. The lass approached them claiming to be a soldier too, only her ammunition was the War Cry. The War Cry commented: This is the sort we like – the military spirit! The eyes of Colac are upon you lass, and we are much mistaken if you will not expand into a greatly extended sphere.[4]
Officers linked to Colac
Three generations of Begley family Salvation Army officers can claim a connection with Colac. Colin Begley lived in a Salvation Army boys’ home from age 11 following the death of his parents. At age 14 he went to live with his elder sister in Colac. Bandsman George Freeman took an interest in him and invited him to the corps. About the same time twin girls Edith and Elsie Doherty followed the band to the corps hall and became fully involved in the corps. At age 18, Colin was accepted for officer-training and two years later Edith followed. They married in China in 1922 where they served for 20 years then a further five years in India. Of their three children, Audrey was commissioned as an officer in 1947 while Ian and his wife Mary became officers in 1957 serving as reinforcement officers in the Caribbean, Hong Kong and Singapore. Two of the next generation are also officers - Lynette (Begley) Jones is an officer in the Caribbean while her brother Raymond and his wife Carelle serve in Melbourne. Their eldest daughter is considering missionary service while her cousin is planning to train as a doctor and then to serve as a Salvation Army officer. The early ministry of Colac corps has thus led to three generations of officers with yet another in prospect.
Nanango
Nanango, the fourth oldest town in Queensland is located in the South Burnett area. Forty years after the first settlers arrived, the blood and fire flag was unfurled under an old Bunya pine tree in September 1889 by Lieutenant William Thompson. After being an outpost of Ipswich corps, Nanango was declared a corps by Captain H. Mickle on 2 June 1892. The Blackbutt and Kingaroy districts were also included in a circle corps until they too were granted corps status in 1911.
Officers rode on horseback or used a horse and sulky for transport. Because their horse roamed the town to find food, one officer, Dick Haynes came up with a creative idea to spread the message. On one side of the horse’s rug he emblazoned the words The Salvation Army with God is love on the other.
A brass band formed under the leadership of 18-year-old Bandmaster George (Bert) Knowles eventually included six of his eight children. Bert remained bandmaster and was also corps sergeant-major for many years. Later on when the corps was unofficered, son Vic and his wife Lil ran the corps as well as giving oversight to Blackbutt. In 1923 land was purchased and an officers quarters built with funds donated by the citizens of Nanango.
Pioneer officer William Thompson later became a pioneer Salvation Army missionary to the aboriginal people in the district. In 1901 he established an aboriginal mission station north of Nanango on 7000 acres secured from Barambah station.[5] He gathered local aborigines onto the mission station and was superintendent until 1904. The rudimentary conditions, worsened by drought and lack of finance meant that control of Barambah passed to the state government in 1905. Barambah became the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement in 1931 and as Queensland’s third largest aboriginal community, has greatly impacted the indigenous population of the area.
Officers linked to Nanango
At one time Nanango corps had a reputation for sending more cadets into training than any other corps in Australia. Nanango community’s centennial history book stated: Over the decades, the Army in Nanango has prosecuted its campaigns with unremitting vigour. During this period, no less than twenty-three local candidates have graduated via the training college as Salvation Army officers and thence to carrying to new fields the standard that was first unfurled under the Bunya tree near the Burnett Inn by Lieutenant William Thompson [in 1889].[6]
Among that number were Ethel Parsons, James Starkie, Harold Hosier, Gus Robinson, Edith Birch, Jessie Birch, Laura Hoult, Tottie Heal, Gladys McCauley, Irene Nicholls, Jean Knowles, Merle Knowles and Ken Knowles.
My grandfather, Thomas Patteson, was appointed corps officer of Nanango corps in 1898, just six years after its commencement. Later he resigned to marry my grandmother and they remained in the district. In 1930 my mother, Ena Patteson left Nanango to enter the Blazers session of cadets along with her sister Ruby. Ruby later married Frank Cotterill and their son Ronald also became an officer.
In 1931 my father, Harold Luhrs left Nanango corps to train as a cadet in the Fighters session along with his brother, William and my mother’s brother, Kenneth Patteson. On 20 June 1934 my mother Ena married Harold while William later married Elsie Taylor who had previously joined the Victory session from Nanango in 1923. Their daughter Nola and her husband Alf Dawkins also became officers.
My sister, Margaret (Warry) trained in the 1955 Soulwinners session. Then in 1965 Ivan (Lang) and I became cadets as Defenders of the Faith. Following our commissioning in 1967 we were appointed to Kingaroy corps in the South Burnett region and just 25 kilometres from Nanango. We travelled what seemed to be a never-ending journey with our two small daughters. We eventually arrived at the Kingaroy quarters feeling very weary and far from familiar surroundings to be greeted by a plaque on the front verandah that read: This quarters was donated by Thomas Patteson,my grandfather! We immediately felt at home.
This appointment marked the commencement of 41 years of service as officers with ministry opportunities in more than 20 countries around the world and almost four years on the mission field in Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar. Twenty-four years later (1989) our daughter Wendy and her husband Peter Staines became cadets in the Witnesses for Jesus session and our son Matthew and his wife Sara were also officers for a short period. In my family alone, twelve officers over four generations have come from the work started at Nanango.
Tingha
Life was very hard for the residents of Tingha, a small tin mining town in the north of New South Wales. Tingha’s climate had two extremes, freezing in winter and extremely hot in summer. The early settlers had to be tough to survive as their livelihood depended on the amount of tin they could mine from the ground. It was in this setting that Tingha corps opened in May 1888 and the early day soldiers showed a wonderful zeal for God and for souls.
Colonel Winsome Williams, a product of Tingha corps reflects on its impact on her own life and calling.
From family sources I am led to believe that my great grandmother Margaret (Bathesby) Suey, a widow, and her family of five children, Jim, Arthur and daughters Hannah, Sarah and Margaret were among the first converts of the Tingha corps. Many of their descendants are still Salvationists today.
Margaret Suey married my grandfather Charles Lee Chue and produced six children: Ray, Vida (born in 1899), Arthur, Winifred, William (my father) and Sarah. All were Salvationists and one daughter, Vida became an officer. She went to college in Melbourne in 1920 as a cadet in the General’s session. A number had preceded her including the famous Brigadier Sir Arthur McIllveen (Padre Mac) who went to college with Will Percy in 1910. In 1924 Robert Duck-Chong went to the Sydney training college.
In 1930 my mother, Captain Edith Mary Gilbert was appointed to Tingha Corps as an assistant officer and after 12 years of officership, she left to marry my father William (Bill) Lee Chue, settling in Tingha in 1932. My two brothers and I experienced a lively Salvation Army as the corps was the largest church in the town. We had large musical sections and a very active youth work. We all became band members. We were surrounded by uncles, aunts and cousins who were all keen Salvationists.
World War Two saw many families moving to Newcastle and Sydney for work and while this affected the strength of the corps my parents and their friends carried on. We still had two weekly open-air meetings in the main street and marched to the hall for the Sunday evening salvation meeting. We played carols to the town from 5am to 10am on Christmas morning. Our corps band of 16 marched in civic parades and at notable functions. Cottage meetings were held regularly in our home.
At 17 years of age I was the young people’s sergeant-major, guard leader, corps cadet, bandswoman and songster. Our Sunday school had over 100 children attending each Sunday afternoon. It was always fun to belong to the Tingha Corps. We went to every divisional event and travelled to other small corps to help out with harvest festivals and fund-raising fetes. My parents sacrificial nature and involvement created a lively environment of music and outreach.
I wanted to be a Salvation Army officer from a very early age but my personal calling came strong and clear at the age of 15 years. Given that I was surrounded by some impressive examples of ‘Blood & Fire’ Salvos, I doubt that anyone was surprised.
As a child of 8 years I remember the Foley twins (Elsie McLachlan and Miriam Schroder) going off to college and then at 10 years Emily Luxford (Pesket) also left for training. My cousin Delma Suey (Ferguson) entered training when I was 17 years-old and a friend Merton Darby left for college just two years before I too entered training with my fiancé Cecil Williams in the Faithful Session of 1957. Thus began a forty year partnership in ministry as Salvation Army Officers in many varied appointments, including the leadership of The Salvation Army in Papua New Guinea and our marriage of almost fifty-one years.
Missionary work in Tingha
A large Chinese population lived in and around Tingha in the mining days and Christian missions had many converts among the Chinese immigrants and their descendents. To assist in evangelising these people, the Tingha Corps had Chinese Bibles printed.
Robert Duck-Chong was born in Tingha in 1901. Religion did not play a large part in his upbringing. Robert said: Mother and Father never sent us to Sunday School or church and never went themselves. The only thing they did was about every new moon, they’d give a bit of a feast to the gods consisting of roast pork, whisky and all that and when the gods had finished, we helped polish it all off.
Robert smoked, drank and gambled but the Salvation Army officer of the day, Ensign Alfred Whittaker kept inviting him to the Army.One night Robert stood outside the hall listening to the meeting. The officer’s wife sang the words I cannot leave the dear old flag and even though he was unsure of which flag she was singing about, when the officer invited people to the penitent form, Robert went into the hall and to the mercy seat. That night he was converted and on 23 May 1922 he was enrolled as a soldier.
Robert became a cadet in the Dauntless session in 1924 and was commissioned on 5 January 1925. With his wife Coral (Taylor) they went on to serve for more than 40 years. Robert was well known in Salvation Army circles as a wonderful evangelist and a great prayer warrior. He wrote a letter for the centenary celebrations of the Tingha corps in 1988 in which he said, I owe a debt of gratitude to so many of the older comrades who actually loved me into the kingdom when I was just a young convert.[7]
Conclusion
These examples of small corps in Australia could be likened to an oak tree growing from a small acorn to a green shoot and eventually becoming a mighty oak.’From little things, big things grow’ If Salvationists are vigorous in their personal faith, visible in their mission and vital to their community, God will bless and multiply their ministry. The spirit of our pioneers will live on and we will continue to be an Army actively engaged in transforming lives, caring for people, making disciples and reforming society as God’s change agents.
By Heather Lang
[1] SAMIS - Australia Eastern and Australia Southern territories and statistics from New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga and Papua New Guinea territories.
[2] The first 100 years - 1888-1988. Colac Corps history book, p.9.
[3] War Cry , 20 November 1915.
[4] War Cry , 31 May 1890, p.4.
[5] Queensland Parliamentary Papers, 1906, p.938.
[6] Murphy, J.E. Wilderness to Wealth. Brisbane, Smith and Paterson, 1950. p.344.
[7] 1888-1988 - 100 years of service, Tingha Salvation Army history book, p.32.
