Majors Keith and Pamela Maynor | The Salvation Army College for Officer Training (CFOT)
Majors Keith and Pamela Maynor, who are assistant training principal for administration and director of mission and ministry training, respectively, take on the task of helping create the next generation of Salvation Army pastors.
Major Keith Maynor
We have a sacred privilege of helping cadets discover more about themselves and grow in the knowledge of the Word of God. Everyone here is part of a larger team that is working to raise the next generation of leaders.
Every training college asks itself the same question: “How do we serve the present age?” The world is getting complicated, and the landscape of ministry is changing day to day through trends and demographics. A challenge for me is always ensuring that I’m equipping lieutenants to go out and serve the present age. Their training must maintain affinity to the gospel and integrity to the Salvation Army’s doctrine and mission. But it also needs to be updated and strategic to a constantly changing world.
When you serve at the CFOT, it’s never about yourself. Any success and honor in this ministry comes from transforming those cadets into lieutenants. It’s about them and helping them grow their confidence in their own ministry skill sets.
Major Pamela Maynor
I love the ministry and community that comes with being at the CFOT. It’s very humbling and exciting to be a small part in the process of training a Salvation Army cadet.
In my role, I help ready cadets to be in the field. That means preparing them for everything they will take on as officers, from ministry to evangelism. Having only 24 months to do that is an enormous challenge. But something I’ve realized in that challenge is that if every cadet who finished the training had it all together, and felt ready in their new role, they would leave here completely dependent on themselves, not God. You need to leave here with a sense of humility and know that you don’t have it all figured out. I was commissioned in 2007. If I ever feel like I’ve figured out ministry, then I have failed at ministry. We should always be able to learn more.
It’s never about honoring us. It’s about honoring God. That’s where the real victory is. There’s no greater reward than to see people that I’ve impacted in some small way grow in their relationship with the Lord and lead others to Jesus.
“Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.” —Galatians 6:6
October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and we’d like to thank our Salvation Army officers — pastors — for their faith, their dedication, and the hard work they do for their communities and the Lord.