Wiarton experiences a rebirth of Salvation Army ministry.

Wiarton is a town of fewer than 4,000 people, situated on Ontario’s scenic Bruce Peninsula. The Salvation Army “opened fire” there in 1884, under Salvationist pioneer Joe Ludgate. Captain McCarthy became the first commanding officer. The fledgling work closed in 1898, but was reopened on May 29, 1915. The Army finally withdrew its forces in 1987, giving the hall to the community to be used as a second-hand store.

Fast forward 12 years, however, and there is now a healthy corps with a band, Sunday school, kids club, Community Care Ministries, women’s and men’s groups, family services and a soup kitchen. The building also houses a day-care centre, legal-aid office and an adult learning centre. Last September, the corps sent two cadets to the new college for officer training in Winnipeg.

Behind this resurrection is a woman who says her life “has been a series of profound miracles.” Mary Millar, raised on a farm near Stayner, Ont., in an Anglican family, knew Jesus was with her from childhood, and her confirmation into the church was a meaningful event in her life.

After she and her husband, Dwight, were married, they moved to Kincardine where he was employed with Ontario Hydro. Eventually, Mary owned her own business as an image and fashion consultant, but the dishonesty of an employee resulted in the closing of the venture. ”Having been broken myself, I now understand the brokenness of others,” Mary says of the experience. “Facing financial disaster taught me how to be compassionate.”

In 1994, Dwight, Mary and their three children moved to Wiarton. Throughout their marriage, Mary had actively supported the Anglican Church in Kincardine. But in their new community, they had difficulty finding a suitable congregation, so the family commenced a “church search.”

Dwight had not been in a church since their marriage 17 years before, but as a teenager in Kirkland Lake (CO Captain Glenn Patrick), he had briefly been a Salvationist and he suggested that Mary try the Army in Owen Sound. The whole family went together, and it was a life-changing moment for them. Mary became a soldier in May 1995, and the three children followed her into active salvationism.

In late 1994, Mary was asked by the CO in Owen Sound to serve as a family services worker in Wiarton for 15 hours a week. The United Church would provide space for her. She accepted the challenge and says that “by January I knew why I had been created.”

Mary found some prayer warriors at a seniors’ residence where she began holding meetings. Envoy Lucy Law, from an earlier era, was part of her support team. The Army’s motto for that year was “Do something.” And they did.

Mary assessed the community needs. Single moms were a group for whom few services existed, so a community kitchen was established in the Mormon Church, where women received cooking lessons. The next obvious step was a kids club, which operated out of the Lutheran Church. Salvationist Bert Morris from Owen Sound scrounged up some brass instruments and came out to teach some of the youngsters to play. He is still at it and has both a senior and learners band functioning.

Eventually, there were Army activities operating in seven different locations. The old Army hall was acquired and reopened as a Thrift Store. For the two succeeding summers, meetings were held in a tent erected behind the store.

The corps officer of Owen Sound, Captain Gordon Armstrong, dreamed of a permanent L-shaped facility with one wing for the corps and one for community services. It was right there already: a long-unused printing plant that even had the right shape! But it was a dump, in an almost total state of disrepair.

With financial assistance from Owen Sound, community support and volunteers, they purchased the building and began the long task of refurbishing. Meetings commenced in the only usable section in October 1997.

There were multiple problems to be dealt with. After many months of leaks, a local company offered to repair the roof for free and, slowly, other problems and deficiencies were tackled.

“It took two years of frustration and waiting,” says Mary, “but we had faith to believe that the project would come to completion. Each day, we saw lives being touched by the love of God. Now the building is continually in use. It is our church on Sunday, but during the week it is a beehive of activity.”

Officially, Wiarton became a corps in 2001. That was also the year that Mary’s husband, Dwight, was converted to Christ, took early retirement and was enrolled as a soldier by his wife. In 2003, he and Mary were commissioned as lieutenants and together, they are providing leadership to 24 senior soldiers, 18 junior soldiers and 29 adherents. Wiarton is a place of resurrection miracles.

“It is totally beyond me,” says Mary, “it is the power of God.” Drawing from the Old Testament story of Moses and the Red Sea, she states: “People miss the parting of the waters because they won’t step out in faith.”

Mary and Dwight dream big dreams for their community: a seniors’ residence, second-stage housing for women, low-income housing for families. “We want everybody on the Bruce Peninsula to know where to find “living water.”

by Lt-Colonel Margaret Hammond