Major Debra Blackman

I’ve served as a Salvation Army officer for 23 years in partnership with my husband.  Together we have pastored three churches and are currently stationed in Burnaby, B.C., with our four sons who will all (briefly) be teenagers as of June 2026. In my spare time you can find me puttering in the garden with a good podcast, or hiking on a mountainside trail.  Having conquered a bucket list hike, the West Coast Trail, this past summer, I’m on the hunt for my next adventure!   

In our first appointment as officers, we were given the mandate to plant a new church. This gave us the opportunity to think through what exactly the purpose and calling of the church is and how The Salvation Army can fulfil our unique role in the body of Christ through the gifts God has entrusted to us.  We have been blessed to lead in three different corps communities and in each, endeavoured to learn what it means to hear from and follow Jesus through submission to the Word and prayerful discernment.  We hope to create churches that are welcoming, generous spaces that feel like family and where each person can discover the gifts God has given them to love and serve others. 

Officer well-being matters to me because I love officers.  Each one is uniquely built with a strong sense of calling, service and self sacrifice.  The covenant officers sign means that they have had to wrestle with what it means to orient their lives around loving God wholeheartedly, making the salvation of souls the first purpose of their lives and caring for the last, lost, least all around us.  Supporting how The Salvation Army wisely stewards the gift that God has entrusted to us in each officer is mission essential.  When we listen to their wisdom and experience, maximize their skills and empower their gifts, we will have what we need to impact an ever changing world through the love and power of Jesus.