Salvation Army - Update 1

Majors Mitham and Angela Clement

The Petaluma Corp (church) of the Salvation Army has new co-Pastors, Majors Mitham and Angela Clement.  (See my original post about the Salvation Army - how it is a church, and its history.)  I recently visited the church and met them.

Both Mitham and Angela were born and grew up in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific.  Mitham did a lot of spear-fishing there as a kid.  They met in college there.  Angela was involved in the Salvation Army there, and kept asking Mitham to go.  At first, he thought it was part of the military base in the Marshall Islands. Though he said yes, he didn't go.  Angela stopped asking him and started praying.  He went.  Mitham was impressed by how much they put their faith into action - going to the hospitals, going to the homeless, etc.

They married and decided to become Officers in the Salvation Army.  For two years they attended the Salvation Army College for Officer Training at Crestmont in Rancho Palos Verde, California.  Then they were ordained (commissioned) as Lieutenants.  They served for some years at a post in Hawaii.  Their most recent post was in Springfield, Oregon.  Over 18 years, they have risen to the rank of Majors.  They have 3 children: Curtison (25), adopted by Angela from her family before their marriage , serves as a Lieutenant with the Salvation Army in Sacramento.  Christiane (23) remains in Hawaii, while Hamelee (21) lives with them and attends the local junior college.

New Community Center

When I last visited the Salvation Army, they were building a community center on their property.  It is now completed, and I got to tour it.  It houses several offices for their ministries, which frees up rooms in the church for other uses.  They also have a good sized warehouse in the rear where they store food for food distribution, but also for disaster relief.  They also keep many army cots prepared for use should an emergency develop.  The Salvation Army believes in being prepared for disaster relief, and have often provided it when disasters and emergencies arise.

When I last visited, back in 2011, Captains Scott and Barbara Schneider served as co-Pastors.  They left for a new post, and Mike and Rachel Johnson then served as co-Pastors, until June 29th when the Clements arrived.  Salvation Army Officers, with some exceptions, tend to be assigned new posts every  5 years or so.  Anyway, I am rooting for the Clements.  They have a history of taking small congregations and helping them grow.  They already undertook a project to clean out and organize the church.  God bless them.