Both Majors Dan and Wendy Broome, the new pastors at the Oakville Salvation Army Community Church — and the heads of the local Salvation Army’s varied social programs — were led to the Salvation Army by a different circumstance.

For Wendy, 46, the Salvation Army came into her life at age eight, when her dad, Bob Manlow left her life. He died of emphysema.

“We didn’t belong to a church and the Salvation Army will marry and bury anyone. My mom called them and they buried my dad,” recalls Wendy, a Picton, Ontario native.

The family then began to worship at the local Salvation Army church and by age 24, Wendy, who was working as a registered nursing assistant in Peterborough, was heading toward a career with the Army.

Dan didn’t become acquainted with the Salvation Army until he was 17 and his mom married a Salvationist and he began attending the church.

By 1993, Dan had tried several things including attending business college to study accounting.

“Nothing I ever tried fit,” admitted Dan, who was born in Toronto and grew up in Belleville, Ontario.

The Salvation Army, meanwhile had always intrigued him — and eventually he found it fit.

“It still does,” he said.

Dan also has a special interest in corrections work, a field in which he has spent quite a number of years.

“My brother had a difficult time with alcohol and drugs and spent many, many years behind bars,” he said, admitting it was often disheartening to see that little was connecting with his brother to effect change.

In working in the corrections field, as a jail chaplain, Dan admitted there is a good feeling that comes when a positive connection for change is made every once in a while with an inmate.

The Broomes met while Wendy was working as a camp nurse and Dan as a camp cook.

They married four years later, after Dan had attended college and Wendy had wrapped up her first commissioned assignment as an officer with the Salvation Army in Bermuda.

Their first married assignment saw them go to Paris, Ontario.

They were also pastors of the Salvation Army church in Milton and chaplains at Maplehurst and Vanier correctional centres for men and women.

Wendy also worked in Brampton’s Salvation Army family services program.

Dan said he liked working in corrections as he’s not one to sit behind a desk.

“I believe in hands-on work,” he said. “It’s the opportunity to make a difference in the life of someone.”

And though now he can be found at a desk in Oakville, what Wendy agrees is a small, but mighty church in Oakville keeps the couple m busy not only behind the desk and at the pulpit, but in a variety of programs including the Lighthouse shelter.

That allows the mix of leading a congregation and still having practical, hands-on work.

“We had been in pastoral work before and we missed that part of it, having a congregation, taking care of the flock and all that. We both missed the pulpit, the teaching and preaching,” said Wendy.

“We asked for a small to medium sized church and we were willing to go anywhere. We were led to Oakville,” said Wendy.

The practical side of assisting people locally through the Salvation Army Oakville’s social programs is akin to the practical work Dan felt he was doing when he was not only trying to reach an inmate in a bid to turn a life around, but helping those trying to re-establish themselves upon release, through finding shelter and support programs.

Likewise, Oakville’s shelter is not just a transient shelter, explained Dan.

Rather, those who stay there must be approved by the Region of Halton and can stay for a longer period than just overnight. They are also provided with supportive programs and assistance to help them get on their feet again.

The Salvation Army Oakville operates a community church on Rebecca Street. It also operates the Lighthouse shelter, a family shelter program and family community services.

“Right from the start, we felt this fit us, it fits like a glove,” said Wendy.

The couple arrived in early July and has committed to stay at least five years.

Growing the small Oakville church is important to them — and the future of the church.

Key to getting that job done is letting the community know the church exists, as well as the local social programs, and that you don’t have to be experiencing tough times to join the church, which also offers a Sunday school, a kids’ club and has a brass band that makes the Broomes proud.

“A lot of people in Oakville see us as the shelter, food bank and family services, but they don’t always see us as the church,” said Wendy.

“We do these things because we are a church,” she said.

However all public funds collected for the Salvation Army’s social programs go to the programs, not the church, said Dan.

To that end, the Broomes are currently swept up into the Salvation Army’s traditional seasonal campaign.

The Kettle Drive began last weekend and will continue through Christmas.

A Toy Depot will be opening Monday (Nov. 24) to serve clients who qualify and need to shop for toys or stocking stuffers for their children in order to provide a Christmas for a child.

A Christmas fellowship dinner will be hosted in conjunction with St. Paul’s United Church on Sunday, Dec. 21.

There is a tea and bazaar at the church this morning (Saturday, Nov. 22).

On Dec. 6, Dan will take part in the annual Santa Shuffle — a 5km run and 1km walk — that is being held in conjunction with The Running Room and Canwest Global.

It’s a national event for the Salvation Army, but it hasn’t been done in Oakville for some time, according to Dan.

It sets off from The Running Room at 156 Lakeshore Rd. E. at 10 a. m. and costs $25 per person or $75 for a family of six.

All registration fees will stay in Oakville and will go toward the Lighthouse. All pledges raised over and above registration fees will go to the Salvation Army’s national Red Shield appeal, but national funds do get funneled back to Oakville’s various programs, according to Wendy.

“This is the first year in a long time that it’s being done in Oakville,” said Dan, who is a runner himself. The Broomes chose the Lighthouse as the beneficiary of Santa Shuffle funds.

“There are homeless people in Oakville. It is a reality,” said Wendy.

The Broomes noted however that much of the homeless population in Oakville is such because of a lack of affordable housing rather than issues that surround the stereotypical idea of a transient, homeless derelict.

Wendy said many homeless people in Oakville are forced out of their home through circumstances like job loss and find they have no place to go and no place they can afford. As such, they are also forced to move outside their home community.

“I’ve heard people are sleeping under the Kerr Street bridge,” said Dan, noting the homeless in Oakville are not typically pushing shopping carts or dressed in rags.

That’s where the Salvation Army and the Lighthouse steps in. It provides, through approval from Halton Region, temporary accommodation, the potential for transitional housing, food and support programs to help people get back on track.

The local shelter is well maintained and clean and offers a total of 25 beds for men and women.

Dan said there is no typical age of homeless people in Oakville, some are in their late teens and one was recently a senior woman.

With everything that bears the Salvation Army shield in Oakville, from the church to myriad Christmas programs, under the purview of the Broomes (except the Thrift Store), Wendy admits the Oakville Salvation Army is a force to be reckoned with.

“We are small, but mighty,” said Wendy. For information about the Salvation Army,

contact the church located at 1225 Rebecca St., 905-827-5324 or www.salvationarmyoakville.ca .