Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
After years of service to The Salvation Army and the community, Ken and Sina Locke will retire from The Salvation Army at the end of June.
Ken said he’s had people say he’ll know when it’s time to retire “and I think we know it’s time to retire,” with Sina adding, “and we’re of that age, so agewise and careerwise, we’re ready to switch gears.”
Ken said he and Sina had already decided to retire when Ken had a health scare earlier this year and that sealed the deal.
Sina said they are going to be living in Warsaw and aren’t planning on moving away.
There will be a retirement celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. June 17 at Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion, 119 E. Canal St., Warsaw.
Ken and Sina will be working at The Salvation Army until June 27. Sina said they’re going to take the rest of the summer off and spend time with our family, do a couple little trips. Ken said they don’t have any big trips planned and they’re just going to rest for a while.
“It feels a little surreal right now,” Ken said.
Sina said The Salvation Army has already appointed the Lockes’ replacement and the couple will arrive June 24.
Ken said he was a teenager when he had his first contact with The Salvation Army through a volleyball program in his hometown.
“But the thing I liked about it, I saw it as Christianity with its sleeves rolled up. And it fit my personality. I don’t just want to talk about it, I want to do it. I saw it really fit me and the way I’m gifted to help people, so that’s what really attracted me to (The Salvation Army),” he said. “Obviously, we’re trying to get people to follow Christ, but part of the way I saw that was, what can we do to help people and their need.”
Ken was sent to Warsaw in 1988 and spent two years initially at The Salvation Army. He went through a divorce and decided he wanted to stay in Warsaw and keep his children in Warsaw Community Schools. He worked at Cardinal Services and Petro GM Showplace.
“Then in 1997, I was asked to come back here as an employee to oversee all the social services. Then six years ago, I was asked to step up as administrator and Sina chose to come over then, too, for us to be co-administrators,” Ken said.
Sina said she and Ken have been married for the majority of the time Ken has been an employee at The Salvation Army overseeing the social services aspect.
“So I supported him from afar, you know, in the background. And then when we became directors, I left my job at Grace College and came over. And we always knew that we wanted to do this together. And so we’ve been able to do that for six years. And it’s hard work. It’s really hard. It’s a ministry that is seven days a week in so many ways. You don’t really turn your brain off to it, especially for (Ken),” Sina said. “And I think that’s going to be one of Ken’s challenges in retirement is scaling back, but he also needs to. But I also see him being involved in a lot of other things in the community. He can’t not do or help.”
Ken and Sina oversee all the operations for The Salvation Army in Warsaw, as well as being the pastors there. One of Sina’s big responsibilities is the Women’s Auxiliary.
Some of the social services The Salvation Army provides includes their food pantry, their energy assistance program, Angel Tree at Christmas time and the Pathway of Hope to help people get out of poverty.
While he thinks the Covid-19 pandemic gets blamed for everything, Ken said he has seen things shifted since the pandemic. One the biggest issues Ken said they are seeing are increased housing costs and the number of single-parent families and grandparents raising their grandchildren.
“I think we’ve tried to meet people’s basic needs. And I think, especially with the Pathway of Hope program, we’ve tried to do more than that and sit down with families individually and say, ‘What can you do to get out of this cycle?’” Ken said.
The Salvation Army also tries to help people by partnering with other agencies like Combined Community Services and Habitat for Humanity. The Salvation Army doesn’t try to duplicate what other agencies are already doing. Over the last several years, especially after Covid, they really sat down and asked how they can do that.
“It’s been a lot of work. And it’s always work. Trying to get churches to work together, trying to get agencies to work together. And it seems like we’re going into another, hopefully, good time,” he said.
Sina said they’ve seen an increase in the need for their services. She hopes the church and social services aspect of The Salvation Army continues to grow because they’re definitely seeing the need.
Ken said he’s seen people change not necessarily directly because of them but because they’ve been there.
Sina said one of the biggest things she’s noticed in Ken’s years of ministry is he’s a stable figure representing Christ and faith, and “people want, they’re craving stability. And The Salvation Army does that. We’re open five days a week. The pantry is open every morning. They can count on The Salvation Army to be there. I just think that’s huge and especially right now in this day of age.”
Ken said one of the things they can offer people is just to be there and sometimes that’s where the ministry is.
Ken noted the rewarding aspect of what they do is seeing people “kind of blossom and change,” which doesn’t always happen.
“You don’t always see the results of it, but I think if you touch people, somewhere down the line, hopefully, that’s going to make a difference in their lives,” Ken said.
When the Lockes leave, they said they hoped The Salvation Army continues to grow. Sina said she hopes the community continues to support The Salvation Army as they have in the past “with or without Ken.”
“This is not my Army. I don’t own this Army. I keep telling people this isn’t Ken’s Army, it’s The Salvation Army,” Ken said.
Ken and Sina both noted they want to be part of the community support in the future.
On the retirement celebration June 17, Ken said the celebration is to thank people for their support. Sina said it will be a come-and-go celebration with a short program at 5 p.m. where some Salvation Army associates will do a couple presentations and make a couple comments.
“To be able to represent Christ in Warsaw has been a privilege,” Ken said, adding he’s not necessarily giving that up.
