It's a Friday morning and Salvation Army Maj. Martin Ketteringham has a full day ahead of him.

On this day, however, Ketteringham doesn't go to work as a full-time pastor at the Salvation Army Church on Larch Street. Rather, he will spend the hours teaching band and choir over on Cottonwood Street at Kamloops Christian School (KCS), just as he has done for the past seven years.

Ketteringham's second job is unusual in that, "At the Salvation Army we don't, as a general rule, have outside jobs," he noted.

His teaching role grows out of a family tradition and a lifelong passion for music.

"My grandfather was a bandmaster and composer. My father and uncles all were Salvation Army bandmasters in England. And so I love music, I've grown up with music and it's always been a passion of mine to do this in some way."

After volunteering at the school in exchange for his children's tuition--a common practice at the religious school--he was invited to take on the teaching role on a regular basis. The tuition is deducted from his pay and he donates the rest to the Salvation army.
Music has long played a prominent part in the ministry of the Salvation Army, so Ketteringham inherited his family's musical interest intertwined with spiritual tradition.

"I have two passions. One is my own relationship with God and how that works out in everyday life experiences, and the other is music."

Ketteringham was born in London, England, and can remember being involved with a Salvation Army band there as early as age five. After his family emigrated to Canada a few years later, he developed his musical ability playing trombone and baritone with school concert and jazz bands. He went on to join the London (Ont.) Citadel Band, which happens to have been the first Salvation Army band formed in Canada.

While studying computer science at the University of Western Ontario he felt another calling in his life, which drew him back to God and church. Consequently he enrolled in the Salvation Army Training College, then based in Toronto.

The family tradition continues: His daughter, Hayley, graduates from the same school (now located in Winnipeg) in April and is engaged to be married in June.

And the musical tradition continues as well in a fourth generation. His youngest two are enrolled in band at KCS. That's not unusual. Of the school's 150 high school students, 70 are involved in music, including more than 40 in the choir alone. Many of them enter the annual Kamloops Festival of the Performing Arts on an individual basis, though this year the choir will compete en masse.

"We just did our first CD last year with the choir."The CD, simply entitled Holy, is comprised of spiritual selections, including three songs composed or arranged by Ketteringham. The recording is sold through the school as a fundraiser for uniforms and a school trip to Musicale, a festival in Three Hills, Alta.

It has been travel of another kind that has occasionally pulled Ketteringham away from his teaching duties.

Accordingly the pastor journeyed to New York City in the aftermath of 9/11 and to Mississippi in 2005 after hurricanes Camille and Katrina to lend support to victims. Through the Kamloops Salvation Army he was centrally involved with support for the victims here of the 2003 wildfires as well. "Some prefer a different kind of role; I enjoy this work. I enjoy being involved in the lives of people spiritually, emotionally and physically."

Spiritual need grows more acute in crises, a fact that has guided the Salvation Army since it first focused on disaster relief more than a century ago in response to another Gulf Coast hurricane.

"With work done in the name of God, I think there is an impact. To be able to share that is a very sacred moment. In the long term I believe it has its effect. People remember those things."

Nor is the art of music a seperate pursuit. The spiritual soul and the musical soul are intertwined, Ketteringham believes. Music also embodies community.

"Music depends on its parts. It's not just an individual player. I liken it to a sports team. You have to give direction or it turns into chaos. ... You have to compete together in order to be effective."

by Mike Youds
Reprinted with permission from The Daily News, Kamloops