STURGIS. MI – A notable decline in Sunday worship service was a key factor in Sturgis Salvation Army’ change in status to a service center.
The transformation from a core-community center to a service center standing also means the end of a hot-meal offering.
Michigan Salvation Army communications supervisor Andrea Kenski said Sunday worship and the agency’s hot-meal program concluded last month.
“What won’t change in Sturgis is the weekly food pantry and general support countywide,” Kenski said. “The Salvation Army’s commitment to helping local individuals and families remains unchanged as it continues its mission of meeting human needs without discrimination. People will still be able to go to the Salvation Army when they need assistance.”
She said attendance at the Sunday worship service in Sturgis had dwindled to fewer than a dozen people.
Kenski said higher-ups in the Salvation Army organization played a part in the decision to change the status of the Sturgis site. Specifically, officials at the agency’s divisional headquarters in Southfield in partnership with Sturgis agency leaders made the decision, she said.
“The decision was jointly made,” she said. “I don’t have the attendance numbers at their peek but in the end, there were six people showing up for Sunday service.”
She said the modification is far from unprecedented for the non-profit, social-services agency.
“As I’ve said earlier, the change all boiled down to a decline in church membership,” Kenski reiterated. “Our weekly attendance just dwindled over time.”
Longtime leaders of the Sturgis site, Tim and Sally Sell, retired June 24. Kenski said the timing was a coincidence and had nothing to do with the site’s status change to Service center.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis Salvation Army ends hot meals, Sunday services
Reporting by Jef Rietsma, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jef Rietsma, Sturgis Journal | USA TODAY Network
