New lieutenants join Salvation Army Newark Corps

NEWARK – Lieutenants Denise Martin and Chelsey Crawford have spent their first few weeks at the Salvation Army Newark Corps poring over the giant binders left for them.

The two women arrived in Newark on July 1 to manage the shelter following the retirement of Majors Ron and Diana DeMichael, who led the Newark Corps for 17 years.

It is standard for the outgoing officers to leave what is called a brief to help the incoming officers get a handle on what is going on with the shelter. But rather than leave a brief DeMichaels gifted four binders to Martin and Crawford.

There is a lot of information for them to take in, but Martin and Crawford are determined to read every page and live up to the expectations of the Licking County community.

“We’re here to show Christ’s love, and our door is always open,” Martin said. “And we’re excited to be a part of this community because that’s why we’re here, to help the community.”

Martin grew up in Cincinnati, graduating from college with a business degree and chasing a career in corporate America. Her first introduction to the Salvation Army was as a young girl when her grandmother took her to the Salvation Army for church.

She has fond memories of her time there, so when she and her children moved to Chillicothe that is where she took them.

Soon after she became a member of the staff, working as an office manager for a little more than a year. But she had taken a major pay cut and to do so and was worried about not being able to provide for her children, so she returned home to Cincinnati to work for Procter & Gamble.

“I was in the job that I was going to retire from,” Martin said. “God must have been laughing hysterically at me. He had been calling me to join the Army for awhile, and I was going to have to answer that calling.”

Martin started with a position at Divisional Headquarters for the Salvation Army. Five years later, she was accepted to the College for Officer Training in New York. It was a dream come true, Martin said.

After graduating, she spent two years in Norwalk before getting the call that she would be transferred to the Newark Corps. The Salvation Army tends to make those calls around the same time each year, so Martin was semi prepared for the news. At first, though, she wasn’t too sure about her appointment.

“When he said Newark my heart stopped. I thought he was talking about Newark, New Jersey,” she said with a laugh. “Then he told me, no, it was Newark, Ohio, and I was just thrilled. It’s funny because last year I remember talking to Major DeMichael and thinking, wow, I would love an appointment like that. Now here I am.”

For Crawford, Newark is her first appointment as a commissioned officer. Originally from Canton, Crawford tagged along with a friend to the Salvation Army for a music program as a teen.

Over time, she became more and more involved with the Salvation Army, attending church there, going to Bible study and participating in youth camps. She even worked as a camp counselor for the Salvation Army for four years before heading to Malone University.

But college wasn’t for Crawford. She returned home only a year later and took a job working at the Salvation Army in Wooster as an assistant. Her last year as a camp counselor she ran into the divisional youth secretary, who asked Crawford if she had ever considered going to training school.

“I always thought that maybe I was supposed to be an officer, but I wasn’t sure,” she said. So Crawford decided to take an internship at a corps in Ravenna to see if she was up for it.

The year in Ravenna was enough to convince her a career in the Salvation Army was the one for her. Crawford was accepted to the training college in 2013. One of her favorite memories of training school was ringing bells for the Red Kettle campaign in Times Square. Crawford took the role to a whole new level, dancing and lip syncing lyrics to the Christmas songs playing outside Macys.

Her performances were a big hit with the crowds, youths filmed her and uploaded the videos on YouTube. Crawford’s internet fame brought a few TV interviews and even a story in the Wall Street Journal, which she still has.

A few years later she was leaving the college as a commissioned officer of the Salvation Army. The Newark Corps is her first appointment so she’s just getting used to life as an officer, but so far she is enjoying it.

“I’m definitely a people person, so I’m super excited to meet people in the community and hear their stories,” Crawford said. “We want to become a part of this community.”

emaddern@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @emmaddern