Holy Spirit leads Macarthur Corps into the ‘new’
BY LAUREN MARTIN
In the first half of this year, Macarthur Corps (NSW) had a problem – a good problem – it had outgrown its Sunday worship space and needed other renovations to accommodate more staff, volunteers and community activities.
God was at work because, around the same time, Macarthur Corps Officer Captain Nicola Poore received a phone call from Divisional Headquarters suggesting that the corps leadership team be expanded with an additional corps officer: Major Melanie-Anne Holland.
The two knew each other well. They had been on the same Area Leadership Team for the past five years, and Melanie-Anne had developed an organic faith community in nearby Oran Park/Badgerys Creek, south-west of Sydney.
“I have so much respect and a deep loving regard for who she is as a person,” says Melanie-Anne of Nicola. “Her ministry is exemplary, and to be joining in with that is a privilege.”
Nicola says that their mutual respect for each other allowed them to come together as a team in a healthy, Christ-like way: “As we sat down in our initial conversations around ‘How will we share leadership?’, we realised that naturally our strengths, areas of passion and our preferences, they fell in different areas and complementary areas.”
“We have a deep appreciation for each other’s strengths and gifts and a sincere love for one another.”
Corps undergoes upgrades
While the leadership changes were occurring, the physical changes to the corps building were also underway.
Internal changes gave the corps more office space, a reconfigured worship space and a new multi-purpose room with moveable walls that could be configured to suit different needs.
Nicola says the physical changes have engaged the corps in healthy ways of thinking differently about how mission and ministry happen at the corps. "In terms of our church culture, it has been helpful in encouraging our people to be open to doing things differently."
And, with Melanie-Anne moving into the leadership space, she is bringing new eyes and fresh ideas, building on what is already a healthy, flourishing corps.
“Macarthur is a really warm and mature congregation,” says Melanie-Anne. “That’s not about age, it’s the fact that it has really healthy dynamics and a local leadership that’s well equipped and able to lead.”
Faith for multiplication
A few months after Melanie-Anne joined the leadership team at Macarthur, and with the bulk of the renovations complete, Divisional Commander Major Kim Haworth visited the corps to celebrate its five-year anniversary.
During her message to the congregation, Kim said something that confirmed a word from God that Melanie-Anne had been hearing.
“I felt the Lord saying this wasn’t an ‘addition’ [her joining the Macarthur team], this was about not ‘one and one equals two’, this was about amplifying each other in ministry,” she said.
“And then at the fifth-anniversary meeting, Kim said something very similar, she talked about it not being an addition, it was a ‘multiplication’.”
The congregation and its two leaders are trusting that God will continue to guide them into this new season, bringing more and more people into spaces where they can encounter the life-changing love of Jesus.
“We are on the cusp of stepping into something very new and very different,” says Nicola, with Melanie-Anne adding: “Next year will be an adventure focusing on discipleship, justice and reaching out.”
