Couple leaving post at Salvation Army

BANGOR – Majs. Douglas and Deborah Burr will lead their final worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 24, at the Salvation Army Community Worship Center, 65 S. Park St.

The Burrs, who have served as the apostolic team at the center for seven years, have been assigned to Rhode Island where he will serve as assistant state coordinator and she will serve as associate state coordinator.

Douglas Burr, 50, and Deborah Burr, 46, were born into the Salvation Army, he said earlier this week.

The couple, who celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary earlier this month, came to Bangor from Red Bank, N.J., in 2000.

Under their leadership, the Family Store moved to a larger facility at Broadway Shopping Center and the Powerhouse Teen Center was launched at the South Park Street building adjacent to Broadway Park.

“We stabilized the Family Store situation,” he said when asked to outline some of the high points of his time in Bangor.

“It’s now doing well financially and producing some income for our ministry. More importantly, in working with the congregation, we’ve seen quite a lot happen in their spiritual development.”

Capts. Joshua and Catherine “Cat” Lyle of Derry, N.H., will replace the Burrs in Bangor next week.

One of their biggest challenges, Douglas Burr said, will be to increase the number of people attending worship services at the center.

“They will need to get the word out that the Salvation Army is a church,” he said.

The Salvation Army was founded in 1865 by William Booth in London.

The ministry migrated to the United States in 1885, where its first meeting was held in Philadelphia.

Today, there are more than 9,000 centers and local neighborhood units in the U.S.