By Susan Shinn Turner for The Salisbury Post

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is adjacent to the jail. Across the street are attorneys’ offices, and it’s around the corner from the courthouse.

Reg Boland and the other congregants at St. Luke’s wanted a way to serve the law enforcement community just outside their doors. What they came up with was Tranquility Place, a hospitality room and chapel open 24/7 for all first responders in Rowan County.

The door’s access code is available to employees of Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, Salisbury Police Department, Salisbury Fire Department and Rowan EMS. And any members of law enforcement who are at the courthouse are welcome to use the room, Boland points out.

Visitors will find a cozy room stocked with drinks, snacks, and two comfortable wing chairs. There are restrooms for men and women and a cellphone charging station. The space is dual-use. In one corner of the room are vestments worn by the parish’s priest, The Rev. Robert Black.

“We only use this room about 15 minutes a week,” Black notes. “We wanted to be a good neighbor to those in the criminal justice system.”

Boland visited an Episcopal church in Winston-Salem to see how their hospitality room was set up. The St. Luke’s room has been in use for about two years. Getting snacks and drinks are no problem, the two say, as St. Luke’s members are happy to provide them.

Boland and Black know folks are coming in because visitors sign in on a wall calendar by department, but they’d like to see the room used more.
Boland, an office volunteer who serves the unofficial leader of the project, also came up with the name of the hospitality room. He wanted something peaceful, pleasant, and serene, he says.

Tranquility Place is just that.