Two new Bush Chaplains have joined Frontier Services recently. One has settled into a remote town on the edge of the Territory’s vast Tennant Barkly region, already sitting down with local Elders and communities. The other is based in Darwin, coordinating a team of volunteer chaplains and preparing for whatever the next disaster season brings. Between them, they carry years of experience in disaster recovery and community care into their new roles across the Northern Territory.
A full circle moment in Tennant Creek
For Nigel, the day usually starts before anyone else is awake. He’ll sit and watch the sunrise, then move through a routine of meditation, poetry, prayer and quiet listening, before heading out into the community to see who needs him.
Nigel is based in the town of Tennant Creek, home to around 3,000 people, and serves the wider Tennant Barkly region of the Northern Territory. He’s already building relationships with local communities and Elders.
There’s something of a full-circle feeling to the move. Two decades earlier, on a trip through the heart of the country, Nigel had picked up a handful of red dirt and tucked it away in a box. Packing up his life to move to Tennant Creek this year, he stumbled across it again.
“Some people think the desert is an isolated, lonely place, but for me, it speaks deeply. There’s an expression called Dadirri that means ‘inner deep listening and still awareness’, a state of being, which I deeply respect.”
With 15 years of chaplaincy experience across hospitals, aged care and disaster recovery, including floods, fires and their aftermath, Nigel brings real depth to his new role as an ordained deacon of the Uniting Church.
“I’m not a saviour. I just want to be present with people if they’re willing to share their journey, whether that’s to sit with and mourn with them, or celebrate with them.”
There when the cyclone hit
When Cyclone Narelle struck the Northern Territory earlier this year, Bush Chaplain Jamie was already on the ground. The flooding that followed pushed entire communities, Nauiyu, Palumpa and Numbulwar among them, into evacuation. Jamie spent that time moving between three separate evacuation centres, working alongside a small team of volunteer chaplains.
“Some families had lost everything, and many had to stay for weeks.”
Frontier Services’ newest Disaster Recovery Chaplain is based in Darwin, and what Jamie does is straightforward to explain but genuinely difficult to live out day after day: turning up, sitting alongside people, and staying with them through whatever they’re facing.
“Sometimes, even if you don’t say anything, just your presence can be enough,” he says. “We approach people with kindness and humility. If they don’t want to talk, we leave them alone.”
For Jamie, what stands out most is the kindness people show eachother during a crisis.
One detail has stuck with him: during the floods, plenty of families were forced to leave pets behind.
Police ended up bringing back photos and videos just to prove the animals had made it through okay.
“You’d see people light up saying, ‘that’s my dog!'”
On top of his current work, Jamie is stepping into a second role as Senior Chaplain for the Northern Territory’s Emergency Response Chaplain Service. Over the coming months, he’ll focus on building out the systems, training and equipment needed before the next crisis hits. “Preparedness is key.”
Nigel and Jamie are already making a real difference for people across the Territory, whether that’s sitting with Elders in Tennant Creek or helping a family see their dog safe again after a cyclone. It’s steady, patient work, one relationship and one crisis at a time.
This story first appeared in the August 2026 edition of Frontier News. Want more stories like this one delivered straight to you? Subscribe to Frontier News to stay informed.
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