Roof tiles salvaged from the demolition of the old nurses’ quarters at a rural Queensland health service have found a new lease of life at St Peter’s Church, Childers, where they will patch a leaking roof. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Childers parish priest Fr Jack Ho said it reminded him of the words of Pope Francis, who has referred to the Church many times as a “field hospital” for those in need.
He said the donated tiles from Biggenden Multipurpose Health Service were going from a physical hospital to a spiritual hospital, where they could continue to shelter members of the community.
The Biggenden church community is small with about 15 people at Masses twice a month.
Fr Ho said while it was a small community, it had adopted a mission focus to go out to serve others and grow in prayer together.
The first Catholic church built in Biggenden was built in 1898 and the current church is a brick church built in 1939.
The old nurses’ quarters, which had served the local healthcare workforce well for more than 75 years, had deteriorated and was no longer fit for purpose.
“We were approached by members of our Community Reference Group who identified this great opportunity to help out the local community and keep a piece of our history alive,” Wide Bay Health and Hospital Service chief executive Debbie Carroll said.
“It was a bit emotional to see the demolition of a building, which had housed so many nurses over so many decades, so we’re delighted to be able to repurpose some of the tiles and support a local community group at the same time.”
FULL STORY
Tiles going from country hospital roof to the ‘field hospital’ in Biggenden, Fr Jack Ho says (The Catholic Leader)
