Victory for Greymouth!
In December, Greymouth Corps celebrated the enrolment of three new soldiers, Leonora and Grahame Freeman and Ollie Witton—following closely after adherent member Dave Carew in November. Keri-Ann McIlwraith was enrolled as a soldier in October, having first become an adherent in March, soon after Anne-Louise Savage became an adherent in February. August also saw the re-enrolment of Rosie Searle as a soldier. It’s been a big year with much to celebrate for the small but vibrant corps!
At Keri-Ann’s enrolment service she testified to God’s continuing help in overcoming addiction and living for Jesus. Major Bev Baxter reports that the Sunday meeting was fittingly themed around Romans 8:37 and the call to be ‘more than conquerors’ through Christ. The meeting also featured the corps timbrel group who began the morning celebrations with a great rendition of ‘He Lives’ to set the tone. With the additional opportunity to meet incoming corps officer for 2026—Auxiliary Captain Ros Johnson—a celebratory corps lunch followed the service.
However, alongside the enrolment of these much-needed reinforcements, 2025 was not without difficulty.
‘It was not the year we expected,’ explains Bev. ‘With the purchase of our new church building in 2024 and newcomers attending and proposed renovations, we were looking forward to all the promises of a new year. And while it started off so well, it also became tinged with sadness.’
The promotion to Glory of two beloved corps members, alongside a stroke, cancer diagnosis, bouts of Covid-19 and two family bereavements for the corps officers, made 2025 a challenging year. But the corps pressed into God through prayer, with Bev explaining, ‘It seemed that when we were praying more, the devil was fighting more! But with God we knew we would overcome and have the victory!’ And the victories certainly started coming!
Following Rosie’s re-enrolment as a soldier in August, she was then commissioned as timbrel group leader in December. The newly formed timbrel group had made its debut in March to the rousing song, ‘We’re a band that shall conquer the foe—I believe we shall win, if we fight in the strength of the King’. On Rosie’s re-enrolment Sunday the meeting started with the timbrel group marching into the hall to the rousing band rendition of ‘Roll Call’ and included the congregational singing, ‘When the Roll is Called up Yonder’.
Recruiting Sergeants Captains Michael and Sharryn McAuliffe, and Flag Sergeant Margaret Ellis, certainly had a busy year with so many enrolments—a huge encouragement for the corps during a year of unparalleled grief and unexpected health challenges.
