Gunnedah Salvation Army's new leaders local, loved

Peter and Sally-Anne are "almost part of the furniture" at the Salvos after facilitating children and youth ministries for a number of years, but say they have much to learn in the coming months as the new core and community leaders.

The pair fill the gap left by Leftenant Marika Haupt and Major Zane Haupt who were transferred to Darwin in January.

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"We did put a lot of prayer into and considered it. We have always felt that we should stay in Gunnedah, that Gunnedah was our focus [and] we each got affirmation from prayer that this is something we should do," Mr Hall said.

Mrs Hall said they had originally wondered if they were suited to the job, but they realised it wasn't about them.

"When we were first asked, we thought, 'We're not good enough to do that', but it doesn't come down to whether or not you're good enough - it comes down to being willing and it's what God wants, so God will help us to do the best we can because it's his will," she said.

Mr Hall has resigned from his previous occupation to work full-time for the Salvos, while Mrs Hall is dividing her time between the Salvos and her massage therapy business. They married in 2007 and have two children.

"I feel my massage business - helping people with oncology and lymphoedema - is actually part of my ministry and part of my gift from God, so I did struggle a little bit with whether I needed to give that up," Mrs Hall said.

"But I felt God gave me a Bible verse that I could continue doing that and help Pete here as well.

"We really want to share the love of Jesus with our community ... it's an amazing opportunity from God to go out in another capacity again."

Mr Hall said the role "gets you out of your comfort zone", but it helped that their appointment was well-supported by the Salvos community.

"There's always that unknown when you get a new officer ... but they already knew us," he said.

"A few of the volunteers, especially, have said, 'It's been good that I've known who is coming and we can talk about things before you even start'."

Finding their feet will be the focus of the first few months, and networking with other community organisations.

"At the moment, our goals are really simple - it's actually working out how we do this role; how we actually lead the Gunnedah Salvation Army," Mrs Hall said.

"Then our next goal will be, 'How can we do mission? What are we going to do?'. "

The couple said one of their first priorities was to ensure the Tempest Street building was a homely place.

"Sally is very passionate about that - making people feel welcome and comfortable when they come in ... It can be quite daunting walking into such a big space," Mr Hall said.

"We'll try and create that by having relationships with people when they do come in through the door - no matter what they're coming through the door for - [we want to] make them feel valued and welcome."

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