Anchors in a Season of Change

This year Devonport Chaplaincy celebrates 20 years. What began as a small group of chaplains has grown into a network of mentoring, wellbeing, and community programs that now reaches thousands across Tasmania every single week.

At around our 12th year we established Loaves and Fishes Tasmania. It was a very direct and strategic way of ensuring we could address three things we knew mattered deeply to Tasmanians: Food, Community, and Jobs. This expanded our reach, but never shifted our foundation.

Over two decades so much has changed, in our schools, workplaces, communities, and across the wider world. Families are facing new pressures, technology is reshaping daily life, financial instability is weighing heavily, and the pace of change seems faster than ever. Some changes bring hope and opportunity, while others bring challenge and uncertainty. We see this in shifting governments, and in the heartbreak of nations caught in conflict and unrest.

And yet, in the midst of all this, our calling remains clear.

At the heart of these 20 years has always been people. That’s where we began, and that’s where we will remain. At the very centre are chaplaincy and mentoring, not just programs but people faithfully showing up in schools, workplaces and communities, building trust, bringing hope, and offering perspective in the everyday—spiritually, emotionally, and practically.

But relationship doesn’t stop at just when the wheels fall off . That same heart for young people drives us to create new pathways into stronger and more hopeful futures. Our Ian Potter Foundation grant has launched a five-year program supporting young people with training, nationally recognised qualifications, and employment opportunities.

One of those young people is Chloe, who was supported through chaplaincy and our wellbeing team. She recently had the opportunity to work at Cradle Mountain as a trainee chef, an experience she never imagined possible. Stories like Chloe’s remind us that when young people are supported, believed in, and given opportunities, whole futures can change. Chloe’s story is just one example. Watch it now.

One of the strongest foundations of this work is consistency. Through every season, chaplains, mentors, and volunteers have remained steady, listening, encouraging, and simply being present. What drives this is not duty alone, but the example of Jesus, who said, “I came not to be served, but to serve,” and lived that out through a life of faithful presence and compassion. His way continues to shape chaplaincy and mentoring, and it is why our people show up day after day, helping others navigate both the good changes and the difficult ones.

In an unstable and often inconsistent world, such faithfulness is not just valuable, it is vital. Presence offers stability. Relationship brings meaning. And consistency builds trust. Over 20 years, that quiet, steady foundation of chaplaincy and mentoring has carried our work and strengthened our communities.

As we look to the future, this commitment will not change: to walk alongside people every day, offering stability, care, and hope in a world that keeps shifting around us.