Saturday, December 6, 2008

Hawthorn Citadel

a Biblical thought...
When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (Luke 13:12-13)

a Book thought...
Life has given us two very effective teachers - wisdom and consequences. We have to choose one or the other, and if we choose neither, the second will be chosen for us. (p28 Cordeiro)
a Dave thought...
Yesterday I visited Swinburne University in Hawthorn where we are planning to relaunch the Salvos in the coming months. As Hawthorn Salvation Army existed back in the late 80's before moving to Waverley, it was interesting to note where their building was. This picture is of the original Hawthorn Citadel and as you can see was built in 1913 and was also designed with a partial crest above. It is located directly across the road from Swinburne University Hawthorn campus where 25,000 students are currently studying. Perhaps they had good reason to sell and move to the outer suburbs 20 years ago but to have a building like that today in such a prime position would have been fabulous. Well ironically I discovered that Swinburne Uni now owns this building that we once owned and as we continue to look for a space to set up our new ministry in Hawthorn lectures are held in the old temple everyday.

Just a thought.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

David,

Everything has a season, since Hawthorn planted Waverley a lot has happened. Waverley is larger than it ever was at Hawthorn (I am sure some past members would disagree) Waverley has been instrumental in the planting of Rowville, 2 Internal congregations (a 9:30 contemporary service and a Chinese speaking service). It was also instrumental in the planting of the Noble Park outreach. It is probably not well known but if you look back over that history a plant has taken place every 5 years. Which says Waverley is a planting corps.

As great as it would be to have ownership of a building without the move the Army may have missed some significant opportunities that have been benefical to the Kingdom.

armybarmy said...

it is a hard one - the reality of inner city properties is scarcity and enormous amounts of money to buy them now... and the irony that we once owned prime locations that we've sold is unquestionably painful. I really think we need to make property decisions based on population demographics not the internal needs of a corps... we exist for people who don't belong.
just a thought. ;-)
Danielle

Anonymous said...

It was always a challenge to drive up Burwood Hwy away from the city and read "JESUS CARES" on the side of the Hawthorn Citadel. What a great witness to those who drove past everyday.

(Not sure why you've gone for the "Temple" when it was always Hawthorn Citadel)

Anonymous said...

I think a survey should be conducted regarding the current uses of former Army halls. It seems to me they tend to be used for those activities that are clearly of the enemy.

We need to keep the ground we take.