SALISBURY — When a lot of people think of the Salvation Army, Christmas comes to mind, but it serves God’s mission throughout the year. On Saturday in Salisbury, the Rowan County chapter was celebrating spring and inviting the community to come and see what it offers.

The Salvation Army’s full-time church, located on Bringle Ferry Road, provided the site of the Spring Fling event. Captain Teresa Bush, who also serves as the pastor at the church, spoke about the event’s goals. 

“Today we are doing a Spring Fling,” Bush said. “It is one of our firsts to try to get into the community and get to know the people and share God’s love with them.

“Sometimes, these events help grow our congregation and our core and our youth programs here at the church.”

Bush indicated that on a good Sunday, they have about 30 people in attendance at the church service..  

“We would love to welcome more families in,” Bush said. “We are more like a family here than we are just a church. Some churches you go in and you fill in a seat in a pew but here we are like a family. We all pitch in and we do things.”

Bush pointed around the event. Everyone in a red shirt is part of the church. It was apparent that everyone was pitching in to make the event a success. Events like the Spring Fling are a great way for the church to open their arms and doors to welcome new members and show them about that family mentality that they have.

“What we are doing is a Spring Fling out here today to get us into the community to let people know that we are still here and that we are still active,” Bush said.

It might be the first Spring Fling they have done, but Bush is optimistic about what the future has in store. 

“I am hoping every year we will progress a little more,” Bush said. “We have vendors out here today … We have food that we are selling like hot dogs, chips and drinks and popcorn. 

“We are doing an Easter egg hunt and have a yard sale. We have little crafts going on and stuff like that for little kids to participate in as well.”

Bush mentioned that people in the church donate items and with those items they are able to hold yard sales. 

“All the funds come back to our church to help run our programs,” Bush said. “Here we have youth programs, so people kind of think of it like the Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts. We have our own but they are Christian based. We have those and we have women’s programs. We have men’s programs and we get together to do different things.

“Of course we have our Sunday programs, like our Sunday school programs and our church service.”

Serving in the Salvation Army is in Bush’s blood. 

“I am born and raised Army,” Bush said. “I am a fifth-generation salvationist. I have been here since June of last year, so we are trying to get a little more into the community and just let people know.

Bush loves meeting people, being around them and just sharing the love of God. 

“Its about letting letting them know that we are here and and here for them,” she said. 

To learn more about the Salvation Army in Rowan County, go to https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/rowan/home.