“What I most enjoy about being an officer in The Salvation Army and what I’m enjoying most about my job is the creative aspect I’m allowed to have, not only as a Christ follower but as a woman,” declares Major Tammy Sabourin.

“The opportunity that The Salvation Army provides for women is very important to me,” she continues. “I’m equal to my husband in our authority. I get to do the same things that he gets to do—pastoral care, preaching—that kind of thing.

“I admire Catherine Booth, co-Founder of the Army, and all that she stood for. And I’m glad to be able to carry the torch.”

Journey to Hope

Major Tammy grew up in The Salvation Army.

“My parents were officers,” she says. “From a young age, I felt the call to officership but pushed it to the back. Our family was transferred from place to place as part of my parents’ duties, and it got to a point when I was a teenager that I didn’t want to do that anymore. I knew that if I accepted that role, moving was going to be part of it.”

Major Tammy went through several years where she was “in a kind of wandering state,” trying to do things on her own and not attending church.

Then she met her future husband, Jason Sabourin. They married, but three years into their new life, she developed a longing for God to return to her.

A new Salvation Army church plant was opening in Ajax, Ont., where the couple were living, and they decided to attend an open house to see what it was all about.

“There were a lot of young people our age there, and we really clicked with a lot of them,” says Major Tammy.

The couple started attending Hope Community Church, as the plant was called, on a regular basis.

Teamwork

Slowly but certainly, the call to officership was growing on Major Tammy.

“I was spending a lot of time listening to a Christian radio station, and I found the music was speaking to me,” Major Tammy says. “And as I looked into my heart, my fears of what officership would mean dissipated.”

Once that happened, she approached her husband with the news.

“Unbeknownst to me, he had been feeling the same way,” Major Tammy smiles. “He was a new Christian, and new to the Army. He had never moved in his life, whereas I had moved a lot.

“But the Lord was calling us to do the same thing.

“I like to say that God paired us up because Jason’s strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa,” Major Tammy goes on to say. “We complement each other well. Our personalities are very different—he’s obviously an extrovert and I’m more introverted—so we have different perspectives on things, but once combined, we make a great team.”

Today, Majors Tammy and Jason are serving as corps officers in Ajax at Hope Church and Community Services, which was formerly named Hope Community Church.

“Hope, of course, was the place where my husband first came to faith and where I renewed my faith,” she says. “And so it has a very special place in our hearts. We never thought we would return and become officers here. We didn’t know that was a possibility, so when it was proposed to us, we jumped at the chance. It’s just a special place for us.”

“Why I Choose”

Before she accepted the call to officership, Major Tammy reflected long and hard on the prospect. She didn’t want to become an officer just because that was what she had been born into.

“I wanted to make sure that it was a good fit,” she reflects. “I explored other opportunities, but in the end, The Salvation Army was the place for me.

“I just really love the mission. It’s a simple one, and yet it’s not a simple mission because it’s a seven-day-a-week commitment. And it’s not just all about Sundays, although Sundays are very important.”

Major Tammy loves the ministry that takes place during the week and the community services aspect of The Salvation Army, as well as the fact that it puts her and Major Jason on the frontlines.

“I think that’s where we need to be the most,” she concludes. “And the mission of the Army fits best with my ministry philosophy and my mindset.

“So that’s why I chose The Salvation Army.”