New Officer Roundup: Lt. Rose and Larry Campbell, Liverpool

Summer at The Salvation Army brings with it a number of new beginnings as officers around the country transfer to new appointments. Here in the Maritime Division we have 13 new officers starting in five locations. Today we bring you the third of our seven-part series introducing you to them.

Lieutenants Rose and Larry Campbell are originally from New Waterford, NS, and spent 20 years living in Yarmouth, NS, before deciding to enter into the College for Officer Training in Winnipeg. The Campbells are currently settling into their second posting, this one along the South shore of Nova Scotia in the town of Liverpool, where they will serve as Corps Officers. Prior to arriving in their home province, Lt. Rose and Larry served as corps officers for three years in Bayview, NL.

We caught up with Lt. Larry recently to see how things are going and get to know a little more about our new Corps Officers in Liverpool.

Tell me about your most recent posting?
Larry Campbell: Rose and I are what you might call unique, as we were a bit older getting into officership, and probably one of the older couples to graduate from the College for Officer Training.

Rose and I were corps officers in Bayview, NL, before arriving in Liverpool. It was a great posting for us, especially just starting out in our ministry. It was a nice community and a very traditional Corps. Bayview is a part of the Twillingate Islands, not far from the Twillingate Corps actually, and we took care of the kettles for the area. We also had a small food bank, a Pioneer Club, and we held two church services every Sunday. In addition to our positions as Corps Officers, I acted as Chairman of the Pastoral Care Committee at the hospital and Rose and I both served at the ministerial association where I was vice-chair and Rose was treasurer, so it was a busy posting.

Do you have any previous experience with the Maritimes?
LC: We are Maritimers ourselves, so this is home to us. After spending 20 years in Yarmouth, we have gotten to know this part of the world very well.

What are your first impressions of the Corps and the community?
LC: Liverpool is a beautiful place and the community is great. We received a very warm welcome when we arrived, and we are looking forward to our time here. This is an older Corps, but it is full of life. Our congregation is eager to get involved in projects and volunteer with us. It’s great to be here in Atlantic Canada, to be near the sea and be a part of this culture. I think there is a lot of potential in this community, and we are both looking forward to seeing what God will call us to do.

What have you gotten done so far?
LC: Well, we’ve only been here for three weeks so we haven’t quite figured everything out yet. We’re getting settled, trying to get familiar with the community and the Corps, and just meeting people through visitation. Right now, we’re holding outdoor church services on Sundays for the month of July, so that has been great. We really got right into our ministry when we arrived, as Rose has been working with the Family Services program each week. I visited a Christian fellowship last week, and we will continue to get to know our community and our congregation in the upcoming weeks. All of the programs are shut down for the summer months, but we’re now planning for the programs that will be re-starting in September.

Do you have any specific hopes or goals for your new corps?
LC: I’m really hoping to see growth in our Corps, especially amongst young people. This is an older corps, and I think the trend right across the territory and even across all denominations is that younger people aren’t getting out and going to church. I’m also hoping that we can really reach out to the community, and that our own congregation will be a part of this. I hope that we, with our congregation, can look more evangelically and I’m optimistic that this will happen. We don’t have anything specific in mind yet, but we welcome whatever God leads us to do.