Salvation Army

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=====Gilbert St. Onge=====
Lt. Col. **Gilbert St. Onge** began his officership in September 1962 and retired in September 2007.

^Lt. Col. Gilbert St. Onge||
^Rank|Lieutenant Colonel|
^Session|Heroes of the Faith|
^Relations|[[Marilynn Hollingworth St. Onge|Lt. Col. Marilynn St. Onge]]|

====Appointments====
^Appointment^Rank^From^Until^
|Cadet - [[College for Officers Training - Canada and Bermuda Territory]]|Cadet|1962|1964|
|Corps Officer - [[Burlington Ontario|Burlington, Ontario]]| | | |
|Divisional Secretary - Bermuda Division|Major|(1990)|(1992)|
|Divisional Commander - Bermuda Division|Major|(1992)|(1994)|
|Divisional Commander - Quebec Division| |(1994)| |
|Divisional Commander - Ontario North Division|Lt. Colonel| | |

====Salvation Army Appeals For More====
...the charity reach its $220,000-plus target.

According to divisional secretary and campaign director, Major Gilbert St. Onge, the appeal has so far raised $155,297.

The funds will help to maintain several of the Salvation Army's services including emergency welfare, the Harbour Light Centre, the Emergency Night Shelter, Alcohol Rehabilitation Division, the League of Mercy, senior citizen activities and summer camps for children.

Major St. Onge said he was confident the remaining $65,000 could be raised.

Donations can still be made through the post, to PO Box HM 412, Hamilton HM BX, or cash can be dropped off at the Divisional Headquarters office on 92 Reid Street in Hamilton.

"Throughout this month, many volunteers have assisted the Army in going door to door canvassing for much-needed funds required to help maintain the several programmes carried out in Bermuda," he said.

"We are extremely grateful to these volunteers for their time and efforts." Another opportunity to give donations was on the annual Salvation Army Tag Day on Friday.

//The Royal Gazette, June 1, 1992//

====Salvation Army Begins Work on Harbour Light Extension====
The Salvation Army's plans for a $200,000 extension to the Harbour Light facility will be getting under way shortly, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Captain Max Barrett said the work will begin and plans have been put in motion to raise the most of the money locally.

"We will be raising 60 to 70 percent of the money right here," he said, "If we are successful we will get a grant from our Territorial Headquarters in Toronto.

"We will not be going to the public for any money because it will be raised solely from within our organisation though some businesses often will make donations.

Captain Barrett said the idea for the project came about two years ago and he is glad to see it come to fruition.

"We will be building an extension on to the Harbour Lights facility on the corner of King Street and we will then move the thrift store up there from Reid Street. We will use the money from the sale of items in the thrift store to run the facility.

"The new building will have a furniture and appliance repair shop, and an area for clothing to be sorted.

"This is an act of faith. Right now we have 11 men in our substance abuse programme which we have run since 1977.

"Our goal is to assist people to get their life in order so they can become contributing members of society." BREAKING NEW GROUND -- Salvation Army Major Gilbert St. Onge breaks ground on the site of a new work therapy and counselling centre for individuals on Salvation Army rehabilitation programmes. Looking on from left to right are: advisory board member Mr. Tom Wall, architect Mr. Ouemonde Brangman, Lt. Ivor Minors, Captain Max Barrett, board member Mr. Dudley Butterfield, Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness and board members Dr. Majorie Bean and Mr. Cyril Rance.

//The Royal Gazette, November 10, 1993//

====Salvation Army Defends March====
Marching on Parliament to protest the attempt to scrap Bermuda's anti-gay laws.

The Salvation Army as a rule does not participate in political marches, public relations secretary for Canada and Bermuda [[Mel Bond|Lt. Col. Mel Bond]] said yesterday from the Christian organisation's Toronto headquarters.

Army Divisional Commander Maj. Gilbert St. Onge, however, did not view Monday's march as political, although he conceded, "some might".

Salvationists took part in the Christian Coalition march purely in protest of a Bill that would make gay sex legal if passed, he said.

The Army did not condone homosexuality, he said. Its "Positional Statement on Homosexuality" made that clear.

But it was not anti-gay either, he said.

Maj. St. Onge, agreeing the Army was seen around the world as a protector of human rights, stressed it had not been protesting gays by marching.

Salvationists were among 300 Christians who took part in the march. It ended in the handing of a petition to the Premier opposing a private member's Bill to make homosexual acts legal.

While the Bill was the first real step Bermuda has seen to dismantle its anti-gay laws, Great Britain -- considered a leader when it decriminalised homosexuality in 1967 -- is set to vote next week on lowering the age of consent for gay sex.

"I want to make it clearly known that our stance is not anti-gay," Maj. St. Onge said.

"Our viewpoint has always been that we embrace the person. We do not condemn homosexuals, but we cannot condone their actions, which are the same as an alcoholic or drug abuser, where life is being destroyed." The Army, which runs a homeless shelter, would welcome any gay person into its care, he said.

Maj. St. Onge said the Army took part in the march basically because it had been invited to say a prayer.

He had prayed for Bermuda's political leaders and gays to make "the right decision" and be on the side of morality.

Petitioners had said the passage of the Bill, tabled by United Bermuda Party backbencher the Hon. John Stubbs, would contribute to "demoralisation and degradation of our society".

The Bill is not expected to come before the House until at least March 11.

Maj. St. Onge said the Army was not actually in full support of Bermuda's anti-gay law because of its "punitive aspects".

"I am not convinced a person involved in homosexuality should be sentenced to prison," he said.

However, the Army was opposed to scrapping the law because it felt the move would be "more crippling".

"While we are opposed to the legalising of any act which would further weaken the moral fabric of our society, we maintain the equally important Christian duty and obligation to minister to the homosexual providing compassion, Christ-like attitudes and spiritual counselling," he said in a letter to The Royal Gazette .

"The Salvation Army offers ministry to people regardless of their circumstances in life and seeks ultimately, the best, both socially and spiritually for all." Lt. Col. Bond said he was not aware of the march or the local branch's participation in it.

"We do not as a rule participate in marches other than our own," he said.

"And we have never participated in any marches of that kind." Lt. Col. Bond said the Army believed gay sex was "out of step" with scripture.

But, he said, "We are not about to victimise in any way people of that sexual orientation." Its positional statement said: "Salvationists are opposed to the victimisation of persons on the grounds of sexual orientation and recognise the social and emotional stress and the loneliness borne by many who are homosexual.

"The Army regards the origins of homosexual orientation as a mystery and does not regard a homosexual disposition as blame-worthy in itself or rectifiable at will. Nevertheless, whilst we are not responsible for what we are, we are accountable for what we do ..." Army policy renders gays ineligible for soldiership.

The British Parliament, free of party constraint, is to vote next Monday on lowering the age to have gay sex from 21 to 16, bringing it in line with everyone else, Reuters reported this week.

Ms Edwina Currie, Britain's outspoken former health minister, proposed the vote. She insisted the timing was right and argued the state had no place in the bedrooms of the nation.

The news agency remarked that next Monday's vote in the 651-seat House of Commons "could hardly be more badly timed" for Prime Minister John Major, whose "back-to-basics" campaign for a return to traditional core family values has been left in tatters over a string of sex scandals in the ruling Conservative Party.

Members of parliament, their personal lives now under the microscope of Britain's voracious tabloid press, may not be ready in the present emotion-charged atmosphere to take a liberal stance over gay sex, Reuters said.

"Our personal morality is our own affair," said Ms Currie, who has won the backing of the opposition Liberal Democrat and Labour parties but still needs to win over a large chunk of wavering Conservatives. "The age of 21 is ludicrously high. It is widely ignored and it turns gay young men into criminals," she told Reuters.

Britain was a leader in decriminalising homosexuality in 1967 but now has the highest age of consent for any country in the European Union.

//The Royal Gazette, February 18, 1994//

====Salvation Army Commander Is Reassigned by Marina Esplin-Jones====
Salvation Army Divisional Commander Maj. Gilbert St. Onge is to leave the Island next month following the termination of his posting here.

He has been reassigned to Quebec where he is due to take charge of the Canadian province's Salvation Army branch on June 30.

News of the transfer comes just weeks after Maj. St. Onge moved to sever links with the anti-gay Christian Coalition.

The Army hit controversy by participating in one of the group's marches on Parliament in February to protest passage of a Bill to legalise gay sex.

But Maj. St. Onge and other Army officials, confirming the transfer yesterday, said it had nothing to do with the march controversy.

"It has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on his re-appointment," chairman of the Army's local Advisory Board Mr. Cyril Rance said.

"We will be awfully sorry to see him go. But this is a promotion for him. He will be taking charge of a much larger territory." The French-speaking Salvationist was needed in Quebec due to the sudden transfer of that branch's divisional commander to Belgium.

Maj. St. Onge said he would liked to have stayed here a few more years, describing his three-year term here as an "average" length for a posting.

A public relations officer at Army headquarters in Toronto said it was "coincidental" that Maj. St. Onge's transfer came so soon following the controversy over gay rights.

"We do not have a lot of personnel who speak French and Maj. St. Onge has French language capabilities," she noted.

Mr. Rance said he expected to learn who Maj. St. Onge's replacement would be within the next ten days.

Maj. St. Onge was first told he was being re-assigned to Quebec several weeks ago, he said.

Maj. St. Onge said he would liked to have stayed in Bermuda to see the fruition of several projects he had helped get off the ground including plans for a youth camp, a halfway house for ex-inmates, and expanding the Army's social services to reach all needy Bermudians.

"(Serving as divisional commander) is usually a four-year term," he conceded. "But I was needed in Quebec -- where I come from -- to set up strategic restructuring of the whole division." Maj. St. Onge came to Bermuda as divisional secretary and was appointed divisional commander after two years.

He felt an important accomplishment was the extension of the services of the Harbour Light shelter to include a work therapy programme employing the homeless in such jobs as furniture repair.

However, he did not look back on his term as a list of accomplishments.

"We are here to serve. The whole goal is to serve people and if I was able to brighten one life that's significant," he said.

The Army earlier this month launched its annual Red Shield Appeal, setting a $254,000 target to help fund its welfare programmes.

As of yesterday, $103,000 had been raised, but Army officials said the Appeal had started a week later than normal and still had another week to go.

Several residents had written letters to The Royal Gazette saying they would no longer financially support the Army because of its ties with the Coalition, called "fanatical" by the Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness, after it urged a boycott of a local AIDS charity.

But Maj. St. Onge said he felt the letters would only have "a limited effect" on the Army's fundraising.

"When people take that attitude, they are really saying they are going to stop helping the public." The letters stemmed from the Army's taking part in an anti-gay march on Parliament in mid-February to halt passage of the Stubbs Bill (passed by the Senate last week).

At the time, The Royal Gazette reported that by taking part the Army had gone against policy.

As a rule, the Army did not take part in political marches, a spokesman from the Army's Toronto headquarters said.

On May 6, after the Coalition said the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation charity was not worthy of support because of links with an alleged pro-gay group, Maj. St. Onge attempted to set the record straight.

The Army's "first and only involvement with the Coalition was taking part in its initial march on Parliament," he said in a statement. And the Army considered the action nothing more than a "prayer walk" to support Government during "a time of tough decision making."

//The Royal Gazette, May 31, 1994//

====Sights and Sounds from Ground Zero====
A whistle blew. Machinery ground to a halt. Quiet settled over the wreckage that was once New York City's World Trade Center. Rescue workers placed the body of a fallen firefighter into a bag, carefully laid it in a carrying basket and draped it with an American flag. A chaplain offered prayers and with him stood a man identified by his clothes as a Salvationist. Together, the men led a procession from the heart of the devastation, referred to as the "pit," to its perimeter flanked by an honour guard of firefighters.

The Salvationist was Lt-Colonel Gilbert St-Onge, DC, Ont. North Div. He was in New York City with one of the teams from the Canada and Bermuda Territory who assisted rescue efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In working at the station closest to the pit, Lt-Colonel David Hammond, a retired Army officer living in Burlington, Ont., served firefighters and police officers who were digging for bodies. "Many of them came to the Army tent for a pause. I have never before witnessed such despair on human faces," he says. "I tried to find a way through their darkness. I offered coffee and encouragement; more often I just shared their silence."

Major Elizabeth Church, CO, Cedarbrae CC, Toronto, Ont. Central Div, served on the night shift at one of the Army's canteens offering food and drink to clean-up crews. "They were working around the clock," she says. "As the men came in, the talk was very general but within minutes I was able to engage individuals in conversation that allowed me the opportunity to ask them how things were going for them." Over and over again the story repeated itself, although each person was affected in different ways and for different reasons. "They stayed most times for only a few minutes and you could see the strain as they headed out again to search for those whose lives had been taken from them," she says. "I could do little to lessen their hurt or to quell their anxieties, but I believe God called me to a task that He had chosen for me."

"Ground Zero was real," adds Joel Turley, a Salvationist from Bracebridge, Ont. North Div. "Real big. Real Loud. Real busy. Real sad." He remembers it as a place where most conversations went quickly to what was important, to what people had and were experiencing. "When people share what is real to them, it is a great privilege just to listen. Hurt, loss, tiredness, anger, frustration, resolve, compassion, thankfulness, hope, love, faith." Joel recalls stories from people at the disaster site, like the woman who climbed down 50 flights of stairs holding a friend's hand in the moments following the terrorist attacks. Her friend was crushed when the building collapsed. And a man in charge of security in a building adjacent to the World Trade Center who, not knowing his building would survive undamaged, sent people into the street to their deaths. "What a humbling honour to stand with these people and share their memories, having so few answers and being thanked so often," Joel says.

Dennis Carson, of Windsor, Ont., a retired detective sergeant from the Ontario Provincial Police, traveled to New York City to lend a hand. "I co-ordinated manpower, equipment, supplies, transportation and fuel to keep relief sites open," he says. Dennis admits that his career as a police officer did not fully prepare him for service at the World Trade Center. "I have seen a lot of death by misadventure, including the investigation of homicides, but nothing will ever compare to what I saw at Ground Zero." He continues: "Talking with rescue workers, you could see the hurt and pain, and what little support we gave back was greatly appreciated."

"The memory that stands out the most to me is the sight of family members standing at memorial sites, weeping," says Captain Karen Ingram, divisional retired officers' secretary, Nfld. East Div. "So many people mourning was a solemn experience that brought tears to my eyes." Captain Ingram spoke with many who worked at the World Trade Center and who then volunteered in recovery efforts. "Their courage and faith were inspiring," she says. "They praised God for saving their lives and helping them cope with such traumatic changes."

Mark Tan, a THQ employee and Salvationist from Toronto's Agincourt CC, Ont. Central Div, reflects on the service he provided in New York City. "As I worked at the respite site closet to the pit, I found myself talking and listening at length to firemen, policemen and other rescue workers," he says. "Within minutes, most workers recalled where they were on September 11 and how they have coped ever since." Mark believes God helped him know when to share his faith and when to simply listen. "At times, I felt deep within myself that offering a coffee to someone would be enough." He continues to pray for the families who lost loved ones and for the survivors to know that God has a purpose for their lives. "As seen in Isaiah 61:4, I trust in the Lord that He will restore their city once again."

Amidst the noise and confusion of recovery efforts, a man stood just outside the barricades around Ground Zero. He carried a bouquet of flowers and a look of sadness. Jeff Noel, director, community and emergency response, Ont. Central Div, approached him and asked if he could do anything for him. The man explained that his sister had perished in the disaster and he wanted to leave the flowers in her memory. Unable to enter the area due to security restrictions, the man could do nothing more than he was doing. "I mad arrangements for the delivery of the flowers," says Jeff, "and I followed up to make sure they got there." A seemingly small gesture, but as Jeff says: "It was important to him."

//The War Cry, January 2002//

====External====
  * [[https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news/article/20110208/salvation-army-defends-march/|Salvation Army Defends March]]
  * [[https://www.royalgazette.com/religion/lifestyle/article/20110209/salvation-army-commander-is-reassigned-by-marina-esplin-jones/|Salvation Army Commander Is Reassigned by Marina Esplin-Jones]]
  * [[https://www.royalgazette.com/religion/lifestyle/article/20110209/salvation-army-begins-work-on-harbour-light-extension/|Salvation Army Begins Work on Harbour Light Extension]]
  * [[https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilbert-st-onge-43bb9851/?originalSubdomain=ca|LinkedIn]]
  * [[https://www.royalgazette.com/other/lifestyle/article/20110208/salvation-army-appeals-for-more/|Salvation Army Appeals For More]]
  * [[https://anyflip.com/pfqoo/tnyy/basic|Sights and Sounds from Ground Zero]]
  * [[https://salvationist.ca/archives-and-museum/sessional-information/toronto/heroes-of-the-faith/|Heroes of the Faith Session]]