For Regan Lipsett, his faith journey can be summed up in one word.

“I realized that what I have seen and read in the Bible and experienced is all an example of love,” Regan says. “God loving us so much to come down, be one of us, live among us, teach us, put up with us and then die for us. It always came back to love.”

Brotherly Faith

Born in Toronto, Regan grew up in Parry Sound, Ont., and attended a Baptist church with his parents.

“It was a small congregation, but I received great Bible teaching,” he recalls. “People would testify about what God was doing in their lives and would pray for one another. It was ‘Church 101,’ an example of a loving body of Christ.”

After high school, Regan moved to British Columbia and worked some “dead-end” jobs before finally attending university. Though a churchgoer, the young man had “gotten a little bored with it all. I had always believed in God, but I had some questions about Jesus.”

By then, Regan had enrolled at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., and was looking for a new church.

In late 2000, he started attending The Salvation Army’s Cariboo Hill Temple, also in Burnaby, alongside his brother.

Feeling Loved

Regan took to The Salvation Army straightaway, for three reasons.

“I liked the brass band,” he smiles. “That was novel to me. I also appreciated the fact that hymns were still sung at Cariboo Hill, out of a songbook. I’d grown up in a very formal hymn singing church, so that felt like home.”

“Second,” he continues, “they were a Bible-preaching and Bible-believing church.”

Lt-Colonels Jamie and Ann Braund, now divisional leaders for British Columbia, were pastors there when Regan first came.

“They’re great people,” Regan says. “I still remember Jamie coming up to me and welcoming me, saying he was glad that I was attending—but not pressuring me.

“And that was the third reason, the big thing for me: I felt really welcomed and loved.”

Starting Point

During this time, Regan was struggling with what it means to be a Christian.

One day, a representative for an interdenominational organization was on campus handing out New Testaments, a CD called The Power to Change and an accompanying booklet. Regan took one of each.

Regan had been wrestling with questions such as, What must I do to be saved? Am I saved? What do I really believe about Jesus?

Listening to the CD, Regan had an “a-ha moment.” He accepted Christ’s sacrifice for his sins, right then and there.

“I’d never been able to argue with the words of Jesus,” he explains. “It always sounded like truth to me. 

“And I felt loved by the people at The Salvation Army’s Cariboo Hill Temple, by these folks who were reading the Bible and trying to follow it. That’s been a blessing.”

“Holiness Movement”

During Regan’s four years at university, the time at Cariboo Hill Temple was filled with the joys of worship and being mentored by believers there; he also enjoyed the preaching. 

After he completed his studies, Regan attended the War College, a Salvation Army discipleship training program that was in operation at that time.

“It was an amazing year,” he smiles. “Every day was an adventure. It was a year to focus on Jesus, to get close to him, to be where he would be and to do what he would do. I started to hear God in a different way.”

Regan met his wife, Jeni, at the War College and they both became senior soldiers in 2006, the very night he asked her to marry him.

“Through Cariboo Hill, I took a soldiership course, and it was neat to learn more about what the Army believed and expected of its soldiers. As I grew closer to the Lord, I felt that he desired me to be part of The Salvation Army. It’s a holiness movement, and that also appealed to me.”

Called to Officership

Regan and Jeni were married in 2007 and have four children. She is an administrative assistant at Cariboo Hill Temple, and while his full-time employment in the film industry keeps Regan occupied, his faith and his love for The Salvation Army is still strong.

“I’ve been able to help out a little more at our corps and shadow the pastors a bit,” he says.“I’ve enjoyed getting to know other officers in the Army, and Jeni and I both feel called to officership.

“It’s a grand adventure, and an exciting opportunity to look forward to, if the Lord allows it.”