Chapel first in base rebuild
Volume 11, No. 54, October 19, 2006

Open day: Flt-Lt Jarrod Foster, DIntC, Capt Liz Camilleri, LWC and CPO Cheryl Winston, DIntC, present the service flags to the chaplains at Canungra. Photo by WO2 Wayne Ryan.

WITH the decommissioning of Kokoda Barracks’ St George Chapel last year to make way for new accommodation, as part of the base redevelopment, one of the first buildings has been completed ahead of schedule.

Maj-Gen Richard Wilson, Commander TC-A, opened the Chapel of the Good Shepherd on the base October 9. The opening of the chapel marks the first building completed as part of the new multi-million dollar redevelopment of the area.

The redevelopment has left the base looking more like a battleground than a training establishment, but from the ashes; like the mythical Phoenix, a superior establishment has started to rise.

The opening of the new chapel, formally the old Hop-In centre, saw the barracks come to a stand still, as the service took place. The service started with Principal Chaplain Army Peter Woodward receiving the service ensigns and the National flag, “it is a reminder to all who worship here, that we are serving in a military chapel,” Prin-Chap Woodward said.

Members of the Religious Advisory Committee to the service walked to the site of the St George Chapel and returned with candles lit, symbolising the burning of the old timbers, continuing the work of the old chapel.

Items from St George Chapel were then brought in by military members of the area to signify the continuing work that will be provided by the chaplains to the Defence members and their families of the area.