Session 3c

The Salvation Army 2014 USA Salvation Army Conference for Social Work and Emergency Disaster Services 25 to 28 March 2014, Orlando, Florida GLOBAL TRACK SESSION 3C

“How can we develop and sustain a Christian character in Salvation Army institutions and programmes?”

Dr Russell Rook Raynes Park Corps and Chief Executive of Chapel Street United Kingdom Territory with The Republic of Ireland Dynamic institutions are faithful to their roots and open to their future. This paper explores the art of faithful improvisation as one method to sustain and develop the Christian character of The Salvation Army. In this paper, I outline the concept, discuss how it works and describe faithful improvisation in action. Finally critical questions will be raised for further reflection.

Faithful Improvisation: An introduction “Dear God, please can I be in the ‘B band?’” At fifteen-years old this was one of my more fervent intercessions. The brass band at my home corps was large enough to form three smaller ensembles throughout Christmas (unoriginally entitled the ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ bands), thus trebling both the amount of carols we played and the money we raised. Now ‘A band’ was the elite ensemble. For younger players however, ‘B band’ was the place to be. Where ‘A band’ played it straight, performing traditional carols by the book, ‘B band’ struck a more contemporary note.

Unafraid of the more obscure numbers, ‘B’ band players were neither averse to a momentary musical flourish, a turn or a trill, a flashy descant or a slightly bluesy harmony. We even played unpublished music, not yet approved by THQ. Unsurprisingly, our ‘A band’ colleagues frowned upon us. They even had a four-letter word to describe our antics; in the ‘A band,’ one would never “busk!”

Whether as artistic freedom, spiritual renewal or innovative mission, improvisation can be threatening. As with the ‘A band,’ improvisation and infidelity are sometimes considered one and the same. Yet despite our human aversion to change we know that movements cannot stand still. As a Salvation Army officer once remarked to me, “I’ve never understood why we sing, ‘Change and decay in all around I see!’ Change and decay are not the same things. In fact, if we don’t keep changing we’ll soon start decaying.”1 Of late, faithful improvisation has become a popular topic of discussion for theologians. 2 N.T. Wright has famously used it to connect biblical interpretation and church life. “Suppose there 1 Major Samuel Edgar was referring to the line from Henry Francis Lyte’s hymnn, “Abide with Me.“ 2 G. Kelly and R. Rook, Route 66, (Uckfield: Elevation, 2011).

exists a Shakespeare play whose fifth act had been lost. The first four acts provide … such a wealth of characterization … that it is generally agreed that the play ought to be staged.” In order to perform the piece Wright suggests that a producer could give the “parts to highly trained, sensitive and experienced Shakespearian actors, who would immerse themselves in the first four acts, and in the language and culture of Shakespeare and his time, and who would then be told to work out a fifth act for themselves.” 3 In a similar way, Wright argues, the Bible provides the church with the first four acts of God’s story. In the first act God creates the world. In the second we witness the fall. In the third act he calls his people Israel and in the fourth he sends Jesus to save us. The fifth act belongs to the church. Knowing what has come before and how the story ends (with God making all things new), our job is to follow Jesus and fill in the gaps between resurrection and his coming kingdom. If we’re soaked in scripture it becomes possible for us to improvise the fifth act in faith.

Samuel Wells takes the conversation further.4 He assures us that improvisation and busking are different. Busking is a musician making it up as they go along. Improvisation, on the other had, requires an artist to be steeped in their art form. A great jazz musician’s improvisations only work because he has an intimate knowledge of the scales, harmonies and rhythms of his genre.5 If we are to develop and sustain the Christian identity of our institutions, Wells argues, leaders must make a similar commitment. That said, “improvisation isn’t about being original, clever, witty or spontaneous. Improvisation is about allowing yourself to be obvious. It’s about being so soaked in a tradition that you learn to take the right things for granted.” 6 For Wells, as with Wright, faithful improvisation begins with a willingness to engage with God’s story. By rooting our institution in the ancient story of the bible and acting as disciples in a changing world we practice faithful improvisation and develop and sustain our Christian identity.

A friend of mine once spoke on, “The role of the altar call in the New Testament,” at a conference in honour of Billy Graham. He began his speech thus: “There were no altar calls in 3 N.T. Wright, “How Can The Bible Be Authoritative?” Vox Evangelica, 21 (1991): 7-32. This article can be read at

tinyurl.com/qaw8tcn. Jonny Baker outlines a useful summary of Wright’s scheme for a Salvationist audience in, J. Baker, “Ruptures, Improvisation And Tradition,” last modified, 2006, http://www.freshworship.org/book/print/264. Baker also draws interesting comparisons and connections between scripture and improvisation in contemporary music.

4 S. Wells, Improvisation, The drama of Christian Ethics, (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004), 59-70.

5 Another way to answer the question as to how we develop and sustain Christian identity would be to explore

the possibilities of virtue ethics as proposed by Wells, Stanley Hauerwas et al. A conversation here would focus on the habits that our programmes and institutions should develop. For more on this see, R. Rook & L. Bretherton, Living Out Loud, conversations in virtue ethics and evangelicalism, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2010).

6 “Improvising Leadership,” last modified March 27, 2012, tinyurl.com/nndmgpz. This interview with Wells provides a useful overview on the thesis of Improvisation and is accompanied by a short video of the author applying his ideas to church ministry.

the New Testament. There were no computers in the New Testament. I believe that altar calls and computers are both excellent devices, and both are useful for the communication of the gospel, but neither of them existed in the New Testament.” He was not decrying the altar call but rather reminding us that biblical ministries find new ways to improvise upon the good news at different times. As Salvationists, we can add our own variations to this theme. There were no brass bands in the New Testament. There were no Salvation Army officers, articles of war, orders and regulations, open-air meetings, adult rehabilitation programmes, youth groups and the list goes on. And yet, these faithful improvisations have not only helped to develop our Christian identity as a movement but also enabled thousands to find their personal identity in Christ.

Faithful Improvisation: Faith in action Wright and Wells are enthusiastic proponents of faithful improvisation but how does it work and what does it look like? Here we move from the jazz club to the theatre, from music to drama. To illustrate faithful improvisation, Wells makes use of three techniques commonly used by actors.

The first technique is called ‘accepting.’ In this instance actors accept the scenario they’ve been given and respond in a reasonable way. As a result the drama continues, if a little predictably.

The second technique is ‘blocking.’ Here the actors find a way to resist the scenario. This can stifle the story and damage the drama. The third, is ‘overaccepting.’ Rather than simply accepting or blocking, overacceptance offers a dramatic springboard. From here, the actors can take the scene to another level, explore new possibilities and open unforseen plotlines.

Ultimately, it is an actor’s ability to overaccept that makes an improvisation worth watching.

For Wells, overaccepting is the key to faithful improvisation both on the stage and in the church. By overaccepting reality we are freed from simply accepting or blocking the challenges that come our way. Once again, this is rooted in the Bible story. Faced with our fallenness we cannot accept the world as it is, for the Bible promises a new creation. Neither should we block the reality of our fallen creation altogether, for God’s story points towards a cosmic transformation with human collaboration.

As Christians, Wells suggests, we should overaccept reality, using it as a springboard to tell God’s story. “[Overacceptance] is where [we] fit the smaller story that has come [our] way -which often [we] didn’t invite or go looking for -- into the larger story of what God’s doing with the world.”7 The climax of the biblical story provides the perfect example of overacceptance in action. Faced with death on the cross, Jesus doesn’t simply accept his fate. Yet neither does he block out the possibility altogether. Instead, he overaccepts his situation. Knowing how his life fits into God’s plan, Jesus overaccepts his present reality and turns the unhappiest of all possible endings into the glorious beginning of a whole new story. By overaccepting death, Jesus opens the possibility of resurrection and announces new creation.

Our own movement was the result of a faithful improvisation. Faced with enormous human 7 Interview with Samuel Wells on Faithful Improvisation.

suffering, William Booth might have accepted the failure of society to care for the poor, for after all, the poor will always be with us. Alternatively he could have blocked out the anguish and carried on regardless. He did neither. In, In Darkest England and the Way Out, Booth declares that current rulers, politicians, administrators and church leaders either accept poverty as a necessary evil or ignore it. This state of affairs is not acceptable to a disciple of Jesus. From here, Booth proposes not only a groundbreaking analysis of the cause and scope of poverty within the nation but also an ambitious scheme to alleviate deprivation altogether. Booth’s overacceptance of this harsh reality becomes the prelude to our story as The Salvation Army.

Booth writes, “The plan now has been published to the world; it is for you to say whether it will remain barren, or whether it is to bear fruit in unnumbered blessings to all the children of men.”8 As Wells argues and Booth demonstrates, overacceptance is the key to faithful improvisation. In 2000, Gary and Hannah Bishop moved to Openshaw in Manchester to plant a corps in one of England’s most disadvantaged communities. Working with the Message Trust, a mission organisation reaching young people through youth culture, Eden Openshaw, became a dynamic expression of 21st century Salvationism. Gary and Hannah’s story is told in a book entitled, Darkest England and the Way Back In. Committed to the last, the lost and the least, their improvisation was faithful to their knowledge of scripture and spirit of Salvationism. Gary writes, “Towards the end of In Darkest England… Booth makes it clear… that the work on behalf of the poor should not be eclipsed by any other aspect of service or activity which the Army engages in.” 9 In 2006 Gary and Hannah received the terrible news that their friend Jason had been found dead. Along with his girlfriend Jilly, Jason was one of the first people that Gary and Hannah had befriended in Openshaw. The couple had been long-term heroine users but, with the help of Gary and the team, had got their addictions under control and eventually had a daughter, Molly. Not long after this, events took a dramatic turn for the worse. With their relationship breaking down Jilly ran home and Jason wound up in prison. Six months later Jason arrived on Gary and Hannah’s doorstep. He was out of prison, clean from drugs and desperate to call Jilly.

Having borrowed their phone, Jason’s pleas for reconciliation would be among the last words that Gary and Hannah heard him speak. A few days later Jason overdosed and died in the room he rented from a disreputable landlord. His body lay undiscovered for two weeks.

Gary and Hannah refused to simply accept the tragic events surrounding Jason’s death and resisted the temptation to block out the pain. In their attempts to remain faithful to Jesus, the one who overaccepted death to bring about resurrection, they chose to improvise. Gary and Hannah vowed to do everything in their power to prevent another member of their community meeting the same tragic end. This led to the creation of Justlife, a project working with homeless and recently homeless adults and families. Beginning with a weekly lunch in the Army hall where homeless friends could find a hot meal, medical care, help finding housing and a 8 W. Booth, In Darkest England and the way out, (London: Salvationist Publishing, 1890).

9 G. Bishop, Darkest England and the way back in, (Carlisle: Authentic Media, 2007), p133.

listening ear, Justlife now occupies a refurbished doctor’s surgery and provides daily care and support for some of the city’s most vulnerable people.

Gary’s team now provides training, counseling, medical care, housing support and employment programmes in two cities. Since 2008 the Justlife centres have received 19,838 visits, supported 454 vulnerable adults and rehoused 203 victims of homelessness. 10 The project has featured in the national press and Gary received a bursary from a national newspaper to undertake an MBA to research sustainable social enterprise at one of the UK’s leading business schools.

Gary and Hannah have paid a high price in planting a corps, befriending a broken community and founding Justlife. That said, given their knowledge of the gospel and their Salvationist roots, these decisions and actions might appear, to use Wells’ word, as “obvious.” Whatever the case it is clear is that Gary and Hannah have learned how to develop the Christian identity of their programme through the practice of faithful improvisation.

Faithful Improvisation: Critical questions With Wright and Wells we discovered that faithful improvisation starts when we locate ourselves in God’s story and enact his good news in the world. As with Booth and the Bishops, this becomes possible when we refuse to simply accept or block the realities we face and transform these challenges into opportunities to re-enact the story of resurrection. If we can learn to do this, our Christian identity will not only be successfully sustained but will develop and grow through this fast-moving world.

In conclusion we will raise three questions for Salvationist leaders to consider. 11 Firstly we come to the role of the Bible and theology. Our ability to engage in faithful improvisation rests upon our capacity for biblical interpretation and theological reflection. As Salvationists, the aim of our improvisations is not ultimately faithfulness to our institution but rather to God, his word and his plans for creation.12 Either way, successful improvisations, as Wright and Wells point out, demand a depth of scriptural knowledge and an ability to locate our projects and programmes within God’s story. As a relatively young movement, The Salvation Army, until now, has favoured action over reflection and mission over theological reflection. However, if we are to mature and grow we will need to take theology more seriously, increasing the theological insight of our leaders and the biblical literacy of our members and staff. This we will enable our programmes and our personnel to improvise faithfully.

10 G. Bishop, “Justlife 2008-2013: The Facts,” (paper presented at the Justlife 5 Year Celebration, 20013).

11 We will explore some of these further during and following the presentation.

12 At times God’s character and plans may do damage to our institution as it currently exists.

Secondly, we must consider our tendency to accept and/or block the different scenarios that come our way. It is perhaps unsurprising that a uniformed organisation has largely chosen uniformity over diversity on issues such as doctrine, hierarchy, ordination and membership.

That said; faithful improvisation relies on our ability to question all existing realities. Likewise our comfort with consistency and continuity can, at times lead us to block new ideas and innovation. If we are to successfully foster our Christian character as an institution we must resist the urge to equate faithfulness with an unquestioning acceptance of the past or anxious dismissal of the future. To learn the art of faithful improvisation we must challenge our current conventions and embrace reality in order that we can enact the gospel in new ways.

Having told the story of Justlife, I note this is no longer a Salvation Army programme. The time available prevents further explanation as to why this is the case. That said, there is some personal sadness that our institution was unable to harness and host this faithful and fruitful improvisation. As Gary remarked to me recently, “I feel more like a Salvationist than ever before.” To develop and sustain our Christian identity in the 21st century will require a greater willingness on our part to encourage improvisation and license innovation within the institution.

Thirdly, we must reflect on our ability to overaccept the issues that come our way in the light of the good news. In short, we are called to translate every project and programme, every incident and innovation into an outworking of the gospel for the communities we serve. If our leaders are equipped to reflect theologically upon the issues we face, our corps share an understanding and love for the Bible and our programmes are prepared to meet contemporary challenges head on, then the Christian identity of The Salvation Army will be developed and sustained in many different ways. Some of these expressions and experiments may appear dangerously new and yet strangely familiar. This is the nature of faithful improvisation.

At midday on December 24th the Southsea Citadel ‘A band’ would finish their Christmas caroling programme. Not so the ‘B Band.’ We would head off to provide Christmas music in numerous pubs, hotels and holiday camps into the early hours of the morning. After only a few hours sleep we would start all over again providing much needed Christmas cheer for patients in hospital. Through it all we performed our controversial renditions and repertoire with the scandalous embellishments and improvisations that caused the ‘A band’ such horror. And yet, upon reflection, which ensemble most faithfully represented the Christian identity of The Salvation Army? The old men who packed up and went home early having done everything by the book, or the young musicians who stayed up into the night, got up early in the morning and took each and every opportunity to perform the Christmas story to anyone who would listen.

A response by Mr Daniel Alarcon South America West Territory Dr. Russell Rook answers this question reflecting on how dynamic organization needs to use faithful improvisation in order to build a Christian character while facing the challenges of today’s world and the future.

Faithful improvisation is more than just being creative or doing something unexpected. Dr. Rook highlights through a few examples that when improvising it is necessary to know and handle what we are developing. Therefore, it is very important for God’s Word to be the most significant root in the life of every Christian and in our Army.

Dr. Rook argues throughout his paper the need to go back to our roots. Not necessarily Salvation Army Administrative Systems or Methodologies but rather to give much importance to theology – focused on the Bible story and reflection to “overaccept” our circumstances and open up our church for new possibilities.

Dr Rook raises some questions for Salvation Army leadership regarding how faithful improvisation can engage us in God’s word and his plan first. He highlights the importance of relating every initiative to God’s story because, in his analysis, our church has favoured “action” over “reflection” and “mission” over “theological formation”. Dr Rook is challenging the Salvation Army to reflect in our current conventions in order to embrace our reality and in that way we can connect the gospel in new ways and sustain a Christian character.

I am very impressed with Dr Rook’s analysis considering that in my personal life I discovered myself a man of “action” rather than “reflection”. However, after my experience as an intern the International Social Justice Commissioner and reviewing the work of the IMASIC, this is something that God has challenged in my life.

I think the view of Dr Rook is very narrow as he focuses on the UK context. The Army is an international movement and what is happening in England is not necessarily the same in other places, even if we compare the UK with similar territories like New Zealand and Australia.

The faithful improvisation concept is very interesting and need for the Army but I know many initiatives are growing worldwide so my question would be: “What examples of “faithful improvisation” can we find in our territories that are making our Army develop and sustain Christian character? We need to look for good practices and experiences.

The Salvation Army is a Holiness Movement. “What is the role of the Holy Spirit around this idea? (Because just explore deeply the word of God (theology) and overaccept our challenges are not enough). The move of the Holy Spirit is part of our essence and one of the most important roots.

Finally, I understand that we need to equip our leaders and local members in order to show them a new perspective or maybe different. “Could we use the “Partners in Mission Program� (as an example) to train and develop spiritual, social and administrative skills? Because all the territories have many richness in their programmes and services and a good way to learn and open new possibilities is through a spiritual and educational significant experience.

The Salvation Army 2014 USA Salvation Army Conference for Social Work and Emergency Disaster Services 25 to 28 March 2014, Orlando, Florida GLOBAL TRACK SESSION 3C

“How can we develop and sustain a Christian character in Salvation Army institutions and programmes?”

Major John Chamness Divisional Commander, Hawaii USA Western Territory

I will address this question – “How can we develop and sustain a Christian character in Salvation Army institutions and programmes?” – in regards to my experience in running a Kroc Center as well as my recent experience in providing leadership from a divisional perspective to a couple of large drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs in Hawaii where we are working on bringing “mission” central to their daily programming.

Can The Salvation Army conduct mission work in these state-of-the-art Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Centers or are these centres simply another jewel in Mrs Kroc’s material crown?

Criticism has been directed towards Kroc Centers by some on the inside and some on the outside who would comment that they are a distraction at best from the Army’s primary mission of saving souls and serving suffering humanity. And at worse, these Kroc Centers will be the demise of the Army in the future. If we are really honest with ourselves, we could say the same thing about any Salvation Army service or programme that does not keep “missionfocused.” Kroc Centers are different in that they have the potential to magnify both the positive or negative efforts and outcomes in large and conspicuous ways.

Looking at a Kroc Center with all of their amenities such as swimming pools, fitness centres, performing arts theatres, climbing walls, recording studios, indoor soccer fields, birthday party rooms, running tracks, spinning rooms, ice rinks, football fields, boxing rings, aerobic studios and the entire infrastructure that makes all of this work, some might comment, where is the mission in all of this?

Not only is the programming and infrastructure overwhelming but the officers are tasked to manage a very large budget and a staff that can double-in-size most divisions’ existing staff.

This requires officers with significant management experience and the people-skills to work in a high functioning operation to keep this all going. These are not the simple, by comparison, Red Shield Centers or Boys and Girls clubs that many might be accustomed to which operate under a model where programming is primarily for after school kids and staffing is minimal at best.

Rather, the Kroc Centers need to operate very much along the line of a for-profit business,

keeping a sharp eye on the bottom line and providing programs that are on par with any high end fitness centre in a community or region.

Most of these Kroc Centers operate 7 days a week from 5am to 10 pm and they have as their primary business function the need to produce positive revenue otherwise they can financially sink the division. This requires a constant focus on the “business” side of running a Kroc Center with the understanding that this business model provides a service that must be delivered at the highest standards or the customers will move their membership to one of the other 20 fitness centres in town.

Not only does the officer have to manage the internal expectations of the Division and Territory but the officer also must manage the external expectations of the communities in which the Kroc Centers reside. Many of these communities have invested significant resources in these Kroc Centers. Because of this, they expect The Salvation Army to deliver on its promise to provide a world class community centre with its broad diversity of activities. For most, the promise was also made that these Centers would be open to everyone in a community without reservation. Done properly this is a beautiful thing as it brings together all classes of a community under one roof to participate in a myriad of programs. While this is a function of mission, this – of itself - is not The Salvation Army’s primary mission.

The concern by many in the Army is that the Kroc Centers will cause us to go down the same road as the YMCA and contribute to and even accelerate the Army towards “mission-slip” that is occurring across much of our organization in the Western World.

This begs the question as to what is the mission of the Kroc Centers. It should be the same mission as every other Salvation Army mission station, whether it be a corps, social service center, addiction treatment program, preschool or camp. The mission of every Salvation Army is this: To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

What is mission?

It is the primary objective of an organization. It is what determines how resources are spent and where they are spent. The mission is its main reason for existing and it needs to be front and centre in all that is done. Done properly in Kroc Centers, mission must drive the customer service approach. Mission must drive programming. It should determine the office culture. It should motivate the fitness and aquatic staff. It should even drive the maintenance team, marketing team and all public relations efforts. The officer must be the mission champion. In every meeting the officer must ask the question; how does this fulfil our mission of preaching the gospel and helping others? This is a question that does not get asked enough and needs to be brought to the forefront in all Salvation Army Mission Stations.

Mission in The Salvation Army brings to central focus the saving, redeeming, grace-filled power of Jesus Christ to save the lost from their sin and shame. It is that two fold mission of preaching

the Gospel of Jesus Christ and meeting human needs in his name without discrimination that must be evident in all we do.

This mission brings together the two greatest commands communicated by Jesus, which is to love God and love others. This is central to Salvation Army theology and practice and over the years we have used a number of ways to describe this two fold mission: Heart to God, Hand to Man. Soup, Soap, Salvation. Save Souls, Grow Saints, Serve Suffering Humanity. Some would argue that the practice of this two fold mission is not or cannot happen in a Kroc Center but I would argue that it can and is happening in centres across the country. In the Coeur d’Alene Kroc Center for example, more people are getting saved in the fitness centre then in the Corps.

Why? Because the fitness staff are being very intentional about helping people to identify their greatest need which is to not lose weight but their need for the Saviour.

These ideas are central to who and what we are as a movement and must be interwoven into everything we do. We cannot do one to the exclusion of the other. It is not enough to provide material assistance but do nothing about a man’s spiritual need. It is not enough to tell a broken person about Jesus without also addressing their basic needs of life. Too often these are divorced from our institutions and even more so from our corps. But they must go together.

Equally, it is not enough to teach a child how to swim or help a person lose weight if we leave out the fact that their greatest need is for them to discover Jesus. This mission of Preaching the Gospel and meeting human needs must and can take place in a Kroc Center Institution just as it ought to in every Salvation Army mission station.

How can a Kroc Center meet mission?

Build on the strengths of the Kroc Center We looked for ways to leverage the strengths of the Kroc Center with all of its activities to engage our scholarship families. We held scholarship meetings where all scholarship members were required to attend annually. During these meetings we would highlight every department and program in the Kroc Center for two reasons: The first was to connect them with a person in that department that they could go and speak with to find out more about the activities the program offered. The second was to showcase all of the different activities that our scholarship families could participate in.

Another reason for holding the scholarship meetings was to allow us to share success stories of other scholarship families and individuals and how they either got in shape to run a race, how they lost the weight they had always wanted to, or how their child involved in the homework center had improved their grades. We wanted them to know that we were there to help and that they could be successful in whatever positive changes they desired to make. We wanted them to see this pathway of hope.

Focus on a few at a time We realized very quickly that we would not be able to go very deep with 5,000 people on scholarship simultaneously, but we could go deep with a select few. Therefore our efforts were

to get away from the model of trying to help every family in need and instead intentionally focus on a few that we could help permanently get off their dependence on social services. The goal was to find those 10 families from the several thousand that were really serious about change and to assist them in this change by creating a tailored case management plan.

Connect them to the Corps Another key element of this was to connect them to the corps activities. We really believed that a big part of their success was to connect them to the corps and a small group where they would gain new friends and have that faith community that would hold them accountable and provide the support and resources during this time of transition and change. What occurred is that these small groups really took on the responsibility of providing amazing support for these families. These small groups purchased needed items for families, paid the rent for families and helped them to get connected to the right resources to help them become successful. They followed an Acts 4 model of the church in making sure that “there were no needy persons among them.”

Engage in helping others One of the most powerful tools was to get scholarship families engaged in giving back. This is quintessential William Booth and was a key element to the founder’s success. Those living on public assistance often feel that they have nothing to contribute to help others. However, once they discover that they do have the resources, though not always monetarily, they learn that they really do have something to share or give back. To be successful in this you have to come up with creative and simple ways to engage. Some of these programs were seasonal such as “Families Feeding Families”. This program takes place at Thanksgiving and gives every member of the Kroc Center the opportunity to purchase a $25 dinner for a family at Thanksgiving.

Another is “Clothe a Child.” This is an opportunity for a person to volunteer by helping a kid shop at a department store to purchase $100 worth of new clothing. Throughout the year these engaging opportunities were created to intentionally provide opportunities for giving back.

Leadership Team needs to be an On-Mission Team One of the things that we discovered is that it is imperative that the leadership team of the Kroc Center be made up of strong Christians who are fully committed to the mission of saving souls and helping others. Some on our leadership team were not believers and while they were supportive of the mission in concept it really was not the priority of their life and thus there was always some push back. Other Kroc Centers have been much better at making those key leadership positions ministry-participant positions that require not only a statement of faith but also full involvement in the Corps. This has proven to be the key in helping not only the scholarship families but also to help all Kroc members and other staff to see that the Corps ministry really is at the heart of what we do.

While it is true that in most Kroc Centers you will not find a food pantry or homeless outreach program you will find a large group of people on scholarships. Some Kroc Centers have made an intentional decision to focus on how to discover the deeper extended needs of these families

on scholarship and then wrap services around them that more thoroughly help them deal with their poverty. Through this intentional effort they are discovering how to fulfil our mission of helping others.

When done right, instead of the Army going out to the community with outdated evangelical outreach methods like open-air meetings the Army can BECOME the community gathering place with thousands of souls entering our doors each week. From that wonderful and attractive position, we need the Kroc Centers to be highly focused on connecting the people to our Christ-centered activities therein. The lost are now knocking at our door and are happily coming in. To paraphrase scripture, the “fish” are swimming into our nets gladly.

We can choose to look at Kroc’s with prejudicially biased and blinded eyes and fail to see their relevance in building the Kingdom, or choose to look at Kroc’s as “paradigm-shifting cures” divinely designed to open our eyes to re-align our mission to be relevant in our world today. I believe God's design for Kroc Centers is to lead us into a new, holistic, relevant ministry; to deeply encourage and fully equip the Body so it can boldly engage to lead souls to Jesus through our unique mission of Saving Souls, Growing Saints and Serving Suffering Humanity.

A response by Lieut. Colonel Dina Ismael Indonesia Territory All Christian ministry around the world faces a common challenge: economic turbulence. The Salvation Army is no different. I mention this at the beginning of my response to Major John Chamness’s paper because he highlights the complex challenges faced by Kroc Centres. This is a valuable example of modern ministry in modern societies which are remaining focused on Christian mission including our responsibility to carry out The Great Commission.

In the face of economic turbulence Kroc Centers, and complex institutions such as those in the Indonesia Territory, strive to be grounded in our mission ‘Heart to God and Hand to Man’.

However, good intentions alone are not enough. Enthusiasm, efficiency and integrity alone are not enough. There must be an added value in the way we work. If there is no added value because of the Army’s mission our work will stagnate, regress and eventually fade away and disappear.

Salvation Army ministries need to be constantly efficient, creative, bold with breakthrough innovation to change the old and traditional methods of the delivery of the Gospel whilst cultivating Christian character to make it more intense and useful.

However, we all face threats. As Major Chamness said: “Mission in The Salvation Army brings to central focus the saving, redeeming, grace-filled power of Jesus Christ to save the lost from their sin and shame”. This unequivocal statement must not be changed and must be manifested by all our institutions and programmes. But how can this be realized? Quite simply,

by displaying a Christian character in all facets of Salvation Army ministries. This is what distinguishes Salvation Army programs from those run by secular agencies.

In Indonesia, the majority of the people are not Christian so it is not easy to devise a plan or program focusing on evangelism. There are always threats to inhibit, stop or destroy evangelism programmes. In extreme cases, evangelists may be punished for violation of local laws and customs. Here lies the importance of an added value of living out our Christian character in our daily lives through a holistic ministry.

We heard an example of this in the Kroc Centre fitness program. The staff focus not only on client satisfaction. By being friendly, humble, and serving with a Christ like character the staff encourage an attitude change enabling some clients to find salvation through Christ.

The second Christian character mentioned was showing how – as in the scholarship program.

Change occurs because there is a desire for change. The Kroc Centres enable change to happen by offering a pathway of hope. If we have corps or institutions or programmes that no longer help people to experience positive change we need to ask: “Is this Christ-focused or focused on something else?”

The third Christian character I heard was mentoring. Seekers and new believer needs people around them to help their faith in our powerful God to develop. This is where all Salvationists should play an important role in displaying Christian characteristics such as caring, paying attention, and living up to the standards of holiness.

We all have to take responsibility for our mission in the midst of these turbulent economic times. We cannot wait, nor stand idly by, nor stick to old traditional methods. The Salvation Army is called to a global rescue mission in the name of Jesus Christ and this can be done in many different modern ways. I feel confident that The Salvation Army will continue to grow in Christian character when we do the right thing. Just like Javanese saying said, “Becik ketitik olo ketoro – “the bad will be seen and the good will be known”.