Pilgrim Soldier

Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, I went on to Strangers into Citizens service and rally, which was something of a first for me. Despite having been involved politically with a number of projects over the years this was the first real chance I had to actually go on a march.

Strangers into Citizens march

For those that don’t know anything it about the campaign pay a visit to their site (link above) and read a little about it. Basically though its about giving an opportunity for those undocumented migrants who want to contribute to UK society, who want to work and live here, a chance to do so. I’ve heard quite a bit of negative feedback, people saying that it won’t make any sort of significant difference to the problem of at least 750,000 people in this country, but it’ll make a difference to those who take up the opportunity if the government were to give it too them. Jesus said that we will be judged according to how we respond to people including the stranger, so if you’re in the UK why not write to your MP to see if they support the campaign!?

As you can see from the picture The Salvation Army were represented on the march and in the Free Church service before it. There were around 80 people connected to The Salvation Army marching amongst the marchers and several people spoke to those around me saying how good it was to see the Army supporting them in this campaign. This is, of course, part of our heritage that we’ve forgotten so it’s great to see the Army out there where it really matters supporting some of the most marginalised people in our society! Let’s hope we keep it up and if anything increase our support for this and other campaigns that are about lifting the mantle of oppression from the lives of individuals and communities.

Below is also a link to the YouTube campaign video if you want to find out more!

It’s been over 2 months since I last wrote and it seems that this college lark is curtailing the time I get to spend on blogging and even commenting!

One of the things that I love about the Army is the diversity that there is here in the UK. So far we’ve been involved in 3 different corps since arriving in London, all of which are very different.

Deptford, where we soldier at when we’re not on placements, is small and unique and we simply love being there as its a real home for us and the girls!

Chalk Farm, where we’ve now led 5 meetings since January, is a wonderful corps with a traditional style of worship and is full of lovely caring Christian people who clearly have a genuine love for each other and those cooming into the building.

Forestdale, where we spent a week on placement last month has a more contemporary feel and a sense of vibrancy about the worship, but faces very real challenges in reaching out to the community around it!

Whilst I miss being involved in one fellowship all the time, I love the experience of seeing what else is out there and spending time worshipping with some real Godly people.

The next few weeks hold more of these experiences as we are spending Easter at Poplar corps in the East End of London and then will spend the summer at Thornton Heath in South London.

In his book ‘Life Together’ Deitrich Bonhoeffer writes about the real privilege it is to be part of a worshipping community of God’s people. I hope that the experiences I’m having here at college will help me to never lose sight of that, even when things might not be going so well!

A lot of those writing in the Salvation Army blogosphere are expressing the need for a return to the militant attitude of the past. It has to be all or nothing and we must keep up with the best examples to be of any use in this Army of ours. Whilst I have some sympathy for this position I’m growing increasingly worried about the way this must be affecting those faithful soldiers who have fought the fight for many years, yet do not have the same sense of urgency in their expression. Is this their fault or are they simply the innocent victims of the malaise that has affected the Army for decades now?

Something I have understood from my very short time in ministry is that we need to give time for people to grasp the vision of a better discipleship. It is not going to happen overnight for everyone and we have many people in our congregations who are open to learning but who are not going to be transformed in the time that we want them to but instead will be in God’s time!

Taking terms from the theatre of war is common in our Army so here’s another. I wonder how many of our potentially best troops are being injured by ‘friendly fire’ from well intentioned but inconsiderate and careless forces within their colleagues!

It’s now more than 10 years since the International Spiritual Life Commission reported their thoughts to The Salvation Army. Unfortunately, in some areas the emphasis has been placed more on what they didn’t do, especially in terms of baptism and the eucharist, than on the calls that they made to Salvationists and the corps they are part of.

I’ve been looking at them recently and within the Call to Soldiership I discovered this:

“We believe that soldiership is discipleship…”

The reality is though that for many soldiers, soldiership has actually been a route to playing an active part in the life of the ‘club’ rather than a commitment to radical, life-changing service. The Articles of War, or Soldier’s Covenant, that they signed hasn’t really made a significant impact on their lives. Why this is the case has been discussed a lot in recent days and in my opinion is a combination of poor teaching, an emphasis on ‘Army’ subculture rather than mission, poor leadership and changing times.

When you read the Soldier’s Covenant it really requires a radical commitment. Too often the emphasis has been placed on the commitments not to drink and being active as is possible in the corps programme, rather than on those of response and obedience to the Holy Spirit and living by Kingdom values.

I heard today of two corps which are well known in this Territory that have changed the format of their evening meetings. The band and songsters are now only on duty about once a month and when they are not taking part the majority of the members are absent. When one of the corps has a Bible Study they only get about 25% of the number of people who go when the band or songsters are taking part. Is this radical commitment to the Lord, or is it membership of an interest group?

Real discipleship is costly not cosy. Yet despite this cost it ultimately leads to a life that is defined by the beauty of a relationship with the Father and assurance in His promises.

Well it’s finally come around again. Tomorrow Zoe and I head off to Sunbury Court for our Assessment Conference. Despite a few last minute hiccups we are about ready! We’ve written our introductions to ourselves that we have to deliver tomorrow afternoon and are as prepared as we possibly can be for the various interviews we will be having.

As this is my 2nd one in 13 months, so I have a good idea of what to expect and also what not to say! However, I’m also sure that there will be differences as well.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the weekend just as much as I was last year. God and the assessors willing the decision will be more positive that last time around and come Monday we’ll be able to let anyone who’s interested what is going to be happening in the coming months.

Over at the ArmyBarmy blog (see Saturday 19th January 2008 entry) Captain Stephen Court says that we need to ensure that we:

assert a healthy SALVATIONIST culture and CHANGE the national culture

rather than adopting too much of a culture that is similar to the mainstream churches that most of the population have switched off to. I would tend to agree!

The problem is that too much of what many perceive to be Salvationist culture is actually a hindrance to the gospel in some places. We have fixated on certain early techniques and maintain them today, even when they are demonstratively ineffective today. There seems to be a belief, in some circles, that changing the way we do things in order to be more effective in today’s culture is tantamount to abandoning our cultural heritage.

Let’s think though what our true heritage is. Firstly, it is an openness to the leading of the Spirit. The reason that the early Salvation Army was so effective was that we were led by the Spirit. There was an openness that seems to have been replaced with a closed mind. The second aspect of our heritage was our openness to adopt things from the culture we were in and ‘redeem’ them. So we see people writing Christian lyrics to music hall songs, and those arriving in non-British cultures attempting to live in culturally relevant ways. There are more elements to our heritage of course, but these two are some of the main reasons we were so effective.

This is the wonder of the transformational power of the Gospel. If we are led by the Spirit and through him act in ways that redeem culture then the Kingdom will be seen at work in our lives, and that in turn will make our witness more attractive.

Over the last few months I’ve seen an increasing number of advocates for a higher standard of education to be a requirement for those considering officership. The reasons given seem to be pretty much for worldly considerations, rather than from a truly ministry point of view. Therefore, it was interesting to see Stephen Court’s take on this over at his Armybarmy blog (see October 28th entry)!

I’m amazed, and in some ways frightened, by this growing insistence on seeing highly qualified officers as being the only way we can go. I look at the majority of the early day officers in the Army and ask how many of these would have made the standard of these advocates of education. I look at the men that Jesus chose as his disciples and again ask what criteria they would now need to meet.

I know of some Salvationists who put great store in the letters after people’s name! For them it seems that the only true indicator of leadership ability is what follows their name! The problem is that some of the best officers I know are uneducated in the world’s eyes and yet have personally led many people both to the Lord and to a deeper faith in Him.

This is not to say that education is wrong, but when the lack of it becomes a barrier to stopping passionate, God appointed men and women from following His will for their lives through officership, then I’m sure the enemy will be rubbing his hands in glee!