Kris Halliday is the kind of guy who lives his life for others. Whether he’s giving out hot meals on the street, chatting with someone whose preparing to sleep it rough, or working with the Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees (CARAD) when he sees need, his automatic response is to help out where he can.
As a Salvation Army officer at the Perth Fortress Corps in inner city Northbridge, Kris works with some of the city’s most vulnerable people out of an intense understanding that this is where God wants him to be. He knew from a young age that he was called to be an officer with the Salvos.
Growing up in a loving non-Christian family, Kris began attending a youth group organised by the church and was drawn to its values, soon becoming a committed member. As a young adult in the 1990s, he approached the organisation about entering training for ordination, but was told that there was no place for him as an officer, as an openly gay man.
“That was devastating for me. That broke me,” Kris said. “While things were tough at school, three things kept me going; a loving family, a welcoming faith community at the local Salvos and knowing that I had my one calling in life – which was to be a Salvation Army Officer.
“When that was taken from me because of something I had no control over, nothing in my life made sense any more. So I really hit the wall and found myself experimenting with drugs and drinking and a whole lot of stuff I wouldn’t normally have done because there was no reason not to, and I just had no hope.” Continue Reading