Meet the Officer – Lieutenant José Porcia

Jul 31
7 min read

1. What is your current appointment, and what do you find most satisfying about it?

I serve as the Corps Officer/Team Member in the Westside Melbourne Salvos Hub, serving across Sunshine, Brimbank and Sunbury. Recently, I found myself reflecting on my Officer’s Covenant. One phrase captured my heart all over again. It speaks of proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, loving the unloved, and befriending those who have no friends. Guess what? I get to live those words every day.

Westside Melbourne has wonderful worshipping communities, but my appointment has reminded me that ministry is far bigger than a Sunday gathering or preaching from behind a pulpit. More often, it happens over a shared meal, beside someone waiting for a shower, while handing out groceries, listening to a difficult story, praying with someone in crisis, or simply remembering a person’s name.

If I could describe this appointment in one word, it would be ‘participate’. Isaiah paints a vision of new heavens and a new earth. Revelation closes with God making all things new. That has become one of the defining images of my ministry. Every act of justice, every expression of mercy, every life restored, and every person who discovers the hope of Christ becomes a small but real glimpse of God’s coming Kingdom breaking into the present. What a privilege it is to participate in His renewing work. That is why I feel so blessed in this appointment.

2. Away from the appointment, if that’s possible, what do you do to relax or unwind?

Self-care has become an important part of my discipleship. Over the years, I’ve crossed many liminal spaces in life and ministry. I arrived at my first appointment as a single officer, and as life has unfolded, my understanding of rest has grown with it. Today, I find joy not only in solitude but also in the gift of meaningful relationships and sharing ordinary moments with people I care about. Those moments remind me that God’s grace is often found around an everyday table as much as in extraordinary moments.

One rhythm, however, has remained constant: running. I love running because it helps me pay attention to both life and God. The more I run, the more I realise it is a wonderful metaphor for discipleship. Some weeks the kilometres seem effortless. Other days, despite all the training behind me, every step feels like hard work. Faith can be like that too. Following Jesus doesn’t always become easier with time, but we learn to keep putting one faithful step in front of another.

I’ve discovered that when I combine running with the ancient spiritual discipline of meditation, the rhythm of my footsteps becomes a kind of liturgy. The problems that seemed enormous when I laced up my shoes often look much smaller by the time I get home, while God somehow seems much bigger.

I also love reading. Books allow me to sit with great thinkers, pastors and saints who continue to shape my understanding of God and people. They remind me that while ministry happens in the present, we don’t have to learn everything for ourselves.

3. What’s a favourite Christian song and why do you like it?

At the moment, it has to be ‘The First Hymn’ by Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding.

One of the unexpected joys of this appointment has been becoming part of the Brimbank Salvos choir, the Suavis. That may surprise anyone who knows me well because I couldn’t hold a tune if I wrapped both arms around it!

Our conductor, Merryn, often asks us to ‘drop a note’. The problem is that my note usually lands in another suburb! Yet somehow, with remarkable patience, she gathers my scattered notes and weaves them into harmony with the rest of the choir. It’s become a gentle reminder of the Holy Spirit’s work in my own life. Left to myself, my life was out of tune. By God’s grace, He continues to gather the scattered pieces and compose something beautiful.

One of the songs we sing is ‘The First Hymn’. What makes it so special is its remarkable story. It is based on what is believed to be the oldest surviving Christian hymn (preserved on a papyrus fragment), sung by believers nearly eighteen centuries ago.

It is stuck on repeat in my car. I find myself imagining those early Christians lifting these same words to God, long before church buildings, denominations, or even the New Testament had been fully gathered. Their worship continues to echo through history.

When I sing that hymn today, I am joining a chorus that began long before me and, according to Revelation, will continue long after me, when every tribe, every language and all creation gather before the throne to worship the Lamb.

I love that thought. Worship isn’t simply something we do. It’s something we are invited to participate in. Across the centuries, God has been gathering scattered voices into one great chorus of praise, and by His grace, I get to add my voice to the song.

4. If you could have a good talk with a biblical character apart from Jesus, who would it be and what would you talk about?

I think I’d choose Barnabas. He is one of the quiet heroes of the New Testament because he had an extraordinary ability to recognise the grace of God at work in people. That is a remarkable gift because when someone sees God’s future in you before you can see it yourself, it can change the trajectory of your life. Barnabas didn’t simply encourage people. He helped them become who God was calling them to be.

Have you ever met someone like that? Someone who saw more in you than you could see in yourself? I have. I think our Territorial Commander, Commissioner Miriam Gluyas, has that gift. There was a time when my application for officership reached a red light. Commissioner Miriam looked beyond my history and recognised what God might yet do through my life. That act of grace was, in many ways, a reflection of the spirit of Barnabas.

We often remember Paul, but I sometimes wonder whether the Church would have embraced him in quite the same way without Barnabas. After Saul’s conversion, the believers in Jerusalem were understandably afraid of him. He had the reputation as a persecutor of Christians. Where others saw suspicion, Barnabas saw grace. Where others saw a dangerous past, Barnabas discerned God’s future. He took Saul, introduced him to the apostles, and used his own credibility to help the Church receive him as a brother.

I’d love to ask Barnabas what he saw that others couldn’t. How did he learn to recognise the grace of God in people when everyone else was still captive to their past? What gave him the courage to risk his own reputation for someone whom others still feared? I think those are important questions for our own culture. We often define people by the worst chapter of their lives. Once trust is broken, suspicion comes naturally. Barnabas invites us to ask a different question: What if the grace of God is already at work in this person’s life?

His story reminds me that encouragement is far more than offering kind words. It is seeing people through the eyes of grace, becoming a bridge instead of a barrier, and helping others become who Christ is calling them to be. By God’s grace, I hope to become a little more like Barnabas.

5. If you were talking to a group of Salvationists and they asked if you recommended officership or not, what would you say?

I wouldn’t recommend officership because it’s a career – I’d recommend it because it’s a calling.

Years ago, not long after my life had begun to change, I attended a Salvation Army meeting in Coffs Harbour with friends from prison and rehab. Commissioner Floyd Tidd was preaching, and throughout his message he kept pointing in our direction. I remember feeling increasingly uncomfortable. After the meeting, he came looking for me. He smiled and said, “I wasn’t pointing generally. I was pointing at you. God will use you in The Salvation Army.” My immediate response was, “Don’t confuse God’s will for your life with God’s will for mine.” I thanked him politely and walked away.

At the time, I wasn’t dreaming about officership. I was simply trying to rebuild a life that addiction had almost destroyed. I was grateful just to have another chance, another day, another opportunity. Officership wasn’t on my horizon.

Looking back now, I smile. Not because one conversation changed my life, but because God refused to let His invitation disappear. I’ve come to believe that God often speaks with remarkable clarity. In Jesus’ parable of the Great Banquet, the invitation was never the problem. The invitation was clear. The tragedy was that people found reasons not to come.

When God calls, He has a gracious persistence. He keeps inviting, confirming, nudging and opening doors until the question is no longer, ‘Is God speaking?’ but, ‘Will I say yes?’ So, if you sense that God may be calling you into officership, don’t dismiss it too quickly. Pray. Listen. Seek wise counsel. Test what you’re hearing. But don’t be surprised if the invitation keeps finding you.

There are easier ways to make a living, but I can’t think of a better way to spend a life.

Officership has taken me into a place where human need and human hope meet. It has taught me that our calling is far bigger than simply meeting immediate needs. It is an invitation to participate in God’s renewing work. Every act of compassion, every proclamation of the gospel, every shared meal, every life restored becomes a small but real foretaste of the new creation Isaiah envisioned, and Revelation promises, where sorrow, injustice and death will one day be no more.

Officership is about saying ‘yes’ to Jesus. It’s a specific way of participating with Him as He makes all things new.

More information on Salvation Army officership can be found here.