Meet the Officer – Major Zane Haupt

1. What is your current appointment and what do you find most satisfying about it? My current appointment is as a Corps Officer/Team Member at Greater Ballarat Salvos. Together with my wife, Marika, we mostly work alongside members and volunteers of the Ballarat Community Church site. The most rewarding and satisfying part of this role is being part of our community café that operates three days per week. Being able to share in the journey of so many people in our community is just such a huge privilege!

2. Away from the appointment – if that’s possible! – what do you do to relax or unwind? That is a very good question. Away from my appointment, I do a few things to relax and unwind. Belting out a few tunes on the piano, going for a drive to a new location, taking walks around the lake, and going out for a good coffee are all in the top five. However, when time permits, my all-time favourite thing to do to unwind is to get lost in nature. Nothing refreshes my soul more than being out and about in God’s creation!

3. What’s a favourite Christian song and why do you like it? There are so many to choose from – it’s hard to pick just one! I’ve had many over the years that speak into the season that I was going through at the time. But, if I had to choose just one, though, it would have to be ‘Thou oh Lord’ made famous by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I first came across this song when I was a member of the Sydney Staff Songsters, and I instantly fell in love with it. Based on Psalm 3, it’s a song that reminds me over and over that no matter what is going on around me, God is my strength, my shield and protector, and the one who lifts me up when life isn’t so easy.

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? Apart from Jesus, there are two characters that I would love to sit down and have a coffee with – the woman at the well and the woman caught in adultery. I’d love to hear from them their first-hand experience of encountering Jesus. What emotions were they going through? Were they afraid? At what point did they realise who Jesus was? How did they feel knowing that the one person who could justly punish or condemn them chose mercy and forgiveness instead?

5. If you were talking to a group of Salvationists and they asked if you recommended officership or not, what would you say? After having an appointment previously as a Territorial Youth and Candidates Secretary, most people would expect me to say a resounding yes! However, my honest answer would have to be ... it depends. Primarily, it depends on the calling that you believe God has placed on your heart. I believe that God calls us all to ministry, no matter what our job title may be. If God has revealed to you that full-time spiritual ministry in the form of officership is the pathway He is calling you to, then absolutely yes, I would recommend officership to you. If, on the other hand, you think officership is a good job with lots of benefits and securities attached, then I would be cautious to recommend it to you until we explore some of the spiritual aspects together. Officers, just like everyone else, go through a season of great joy and happiness where life and ministry meet in synchronous harmony. There are also seasons that feel like chaos where life and ministry are completely mismatched. Through it all, the good and the not-so-good, dependence on God and a continual revelation of the calling God has placed on your heart (whatever that might be) are key to living our best life.

More information on Salvation Army officership can be found here.