The Gore Salvation Army Corps might be reducing the number of church services it holds a month but the corps is not closing, Majors Murray and Wendy Sanson say.
The Gore corps would come under their leadership now Major Glenys Fairhurst had retired, they said.
She retired at the end of last year.
Mr and Mrs Sanson are the Invercargill corps officers.
‘‘We are not closing — this is just a new expression of how we’re doing Salvation Army in Gore,’’ they said.
A Sunday service with a shared lunch to follow would be held once a month.
‘‘It is changing, but it’s still God at work and serving the Gore community,’’ Mrs Sanson said.
Food parcels could be picked up from the corps on a Monday and Friday from 10am to 2pm.
The couple planned to run courses in Gore which they found helped people in Invercargill.
‘‘It’s to try and support people bettering their lives and lifestyles,’’ Mr Sanson said.
‘‘This isgiving people tools to help better respond to when life chucks some big stuff at them.’’
At Sunday’s service, church members thanked Gore Salvation Army community support worker Kaye Byron and case worker Donna McCullough for their years of service.
While new staff were found to fill the roles the two women had left, Invercargill corps members would help out, Mr Sanson said.
