Sal-2012-10

Assisted Suicide: Fighting for the Right to Die

How to Avoid Embarrassing Yourself and God

Has the Army Given Up on Evangelism?

Salvationist The Voice of the Army

October 2012

A Farmer’s Faith At home on the Prairies, Lorne Tyacke trusts the Lord of the harvest

Good Eats

Sally’s Kitchen offers families healthy choices Salvationist I April 2012 I 1

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than is required.

Inside This Issue Cert no. XXX-XXX-XXXX

October 2012 No. 78 www.salvationist.ca E-mail: salvationist@can.salvationarmy.org

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Departments 3 4 Editorial

Blimps and Babies

by Major Jim Champ

5 Around the Territory 14 Point Counterpoint

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21 National Advisory Board 4 Inside and Out An interview with Dr. Bruce Walter

Features

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22 Media Reviews 23 Cross Culture 24 Celebrate Community Cert no. XXX-XXX-XXXX

Where’s the Salvation?

PRODUCTand LABELINGEnrolments GUIDE FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

by Captain Michael Ramsay and recognition, Lieutenant Peter Robinson tributes, gazette, calendar

16 Ministry in Action Something to Offer

by Ken Ramstead

20 Chief Priorities Risky Business

by Colonel Floyd Tidd

28 Letters 30 Talking Points Stick to the Script

by Major Juan Burry

Cover photo: Vanessa Savage

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8 Dying with Dignity

When people wish to end their lives, should it be legal for medical professionals to assist them?

by James E. Read

10 A Farmer’s Faith

Lorne Tyacke believes that farming is “God’s work”

by Kristin Fryer

12 Good Eats

Salvation Army food programs offer individuals and families healthy choices

by Kristin Fryer

17 An Olympic Mission

Salvationists engage in outreach opportunities during the London Games

by Pamela Richardson

18 Spiritual Wake Up Call

When we seek renewal, we tune our hearts to the heart of God

Inside Faith & Friends Building a New Life

When Brian Williams’ life fell apart, a Salvation Army centre showed him he could make something from the pieces

something she was keeping to herself that she needed to share with the world

Share Your Faith

When you finish reading Faith & Friends in the centre of this issue, pull FAITH & it out and give it to someone who needs to Kylie’s hear about Secret Christ’s lifechanging FRIEND +  ANAMED JOE power

Incarcerated and lost, the inmate desperately needed a message of hope

Kylie’s Secret

The supermodel was living her dream, but there was

General Linda Bond’s letters to Salvationists around the world can be read at salvationist.ca/ tag/sharing-the-vision

faithandfriends.ca

Inspiration for Living

Faith and The Walking Dead

The supermodel was living her dream, but there was something she needed to share with the world

PHOTOGRAPHER SEES THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY

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Twitter. Just click one of the appropriate icons found at the bottom of every article posted at salvationist.ca

Sharing the Vision

frıends

October 2012

A Friend Named Joe

Visit salvationist.ca

Pass It On

Share your faith electronically by forwarding articles from Salvationist and Faith & Friends by e-mail, Facebook or

World Watch

Keep up to date on what the Army is doing internationally.

Visit salvationist.ca/ worldwatch

2012-08-20 9:46 PM

Salvationist I October 2012 I 3

EDITORIAL

T

Blimps and Babies

he first snowfall of the season arrived on October 3, 1976. As such, only a handful of the faithful showed up for our Sunday night meeting in Melfort, Sask. Undeterred, we continued our series on evangelism and on this occasion showed a Billy Graham film. It turned out to be a memorable evening. The storyline of the film was somewhat silly, but that was the intention of the writer. It was a modern-day parable about reaching out into one’s neighbourhood with the good news of the gospel. And one family went to extraordinary means to evangelize, even hiring a hot air balloon to rain down invitation leaflets on their unsuspecting neighbours.

Our corps was struggling to find the right way to penetrate the community with the message of God’s love. Joseph Bayly’s The Gospel Blimp seemed a lighthearted yet appropriate teaching tool when I ordered the film earlier in the year. What I had not taken into account was the imminent birth of our first child and how fitting the title would be in view of my wife’s advanced pregnancy.

This was not lost on the good folks who were in attendance that evening. And neither has the episode been forgotten in the Champ household.

Evangelism is one of the key themes

in this month’s issue. The focus is not so much on how we do evangelism but rather on something more fundamental. In our Point Counterpoint debate (page 14), we explore the question of whether The Salvation Army is still an evangelistic movement. I am grateful to Captain Michael Ramsay and Lieutenant Peter Robinson for their passionate and thoughtful arguments. Our goal is to stimulate reflection, provoke discussion and perhaps even motivate some to action. If you have strong convictions on this subject, e-mail or post us your comments. We promise to read them all and publish as many as possible on the Salvationist.ca website or in the magazine.

It is significant that Jesus uses the image of the harvest to teach the disciples the imperative of reaching out to those who are in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. October is the time of the year when we traditionally celebrate the harvest. Kristin Fryer, staff writer, profiles Lorne Tyacke, who operates a farm near Melfort (page 10). Lorne and his wife, Janice, are active members of the corps. For Lorne, being a farmer goes hand-in hand with being a Christian. “I think farming is God’s work,” he says.

“We’re helping to feed the world and there are a lot of hungry mouths out there.” Like evangelism, farming is not easy. There are many challenges that go along with the rewards of a bountiful harvest.

Thirty-six years have passed since our church group watched The Gospel Blimp. It became evident during the course of that evening that the young lieutenants would soon welcome into the world their first child. And not too long after the hall lights were turned off and everyone had gone home, Stephen James Champ weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz.

Joy unspeakable and a memorable night indeed.

“Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!

They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

MAJOR JIM CHAMP Editor-in-Chief

4 I October 2012 I Salvationist

Salvationist

is a monthly publication of The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory Linda Bond General Commissioner Brian Peddle Territorial Commander Major Jim Champ Editor-in-Chief Geoff Moulton Assistant Editor-in-Chief John McAlister Features Editor (416-467-3185) Pamela Richardson News Editor, Production Co-ordinator, Copy Editor (416-422-6112) Major Max Sturge Associate Editor (416-422-6116) Timothy Cheng Art Director Ada Leung Circulation Co-ordinator Kristin Fryer, Ken Ramstead Contributors Agreement No. 40064794, ISSN 1718-5769.

Member, The Canadian Church Press. All Scripture references from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version (TNIV) © 2001, 2005 International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

All rights reserved worldwide. All articles are copyright The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory and can be reprinted only with written permission.

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Mission

The Salvation Army exists to share the love of Jesus Christ, meet human needs and be a transforming influence in the communities of our world. Salvationist informs readers about the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda. salvationist.ca salvationist@can.salvationarmy.org facebook.com/salvationistmagazine twitter.com/salvationist

AROUND THE TERRITORY

Family Centre Officially Opens in Winnipeg

Commissioners Brian and Rosalie Peddle, territorial leaders, and children of the late Barbara Mitchell join other dignitaries in cutting the ribbon to officially open The Salvation Army Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centre in Winnipeg

ON JULY 30, more than 200 people gathered to celebrate the official opening of the Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centre in Winnipeg. The centre was made possible through a generous donation of $1.9 million from The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and $1.5 million each from the municipal and federal governments.

“The Salvation Ar my Barbara Mitchell Family Resource Centre is a fascinating lighthouse in the middle of a community in great need,” said Commissioner Brian Peddle, territorial commander, at the opening. Formerly known as the Multicultural Family Centre, the new state-of-the-art facility

has been operating since March. Since then, hundreds of people have benefited from the centre’s programs—people affected by low education levels, social isolation, family violence, inadequate employment qualifications and low coping skills.

“People don’t come to the resource centre to get fancy things,” says Wendi Park, director. “They seek relationship and they want to be heard and valued.”

The building includes a gymnasium, well-equipped kitchen, television and video game lounge, classroom space and a computer lab. Programs include employment training and mentorship for war-affected youth, assistance and

support for expecting parents and those with infants, an English café for individuals to improve their English and get homework assistance, a food bank and a youth drop-in program. A seniors’ outreach program is a much-needed addition as the neighbourhood has one of the highest populations of older adults in Winnipeg.

During the ceremony, the Morrow Avenue Child Care Centre children’s choir delighted the audience with their rendition of This Little Light of Mine.

Christian rap artist, Shadow, joined the hip-hop group LEEP Fresh Crew, with an original song he wrote for the occasion. Major Wayne Bungay, divisional commander, Prairie Division, and children of the late Barbara Mitchell joined other dignitaries in cutting the ribbon to officially open the centre.

“We are very pleased and excited to partner with The W. Garfield Weston Foundation, the provincial and federal governments in giving hope to our communities, especially new Canadians,” said Major Bungay. “This beautiful new building will increase our capacity in providing valuable services that reach out into the community.”

The W. Garfield Weston Foundation and members of the Weston family have also made a donation of $1.1 million to support the establishment of another centre in Calgary.

Thrift Store Hosts Citytv’s Breakfast Television ON AUGUST 1, the Salvation Army thrift store in Burlington, Ont., hosted Citytv’s Toronto Breakfast Television for a LiveEye broadcast with Jennifer Valentyne. Valentyne gave viewers a look at the daily retail operation and a sampling of the quality, low-cost items available at Army thrift stores across Ontario.

During the show, Lt-Colonel Alf Richardson, area commander, Ontario Great Lakes Division, explained how the proceeds from items sold at thrift stores support Army programs and services.

Jennifer Valentyne (third from right) with thrift store staff and volunteers modelling trendy summer clothing at the Burlington thrift store

Store staff and volunteers treated viewers to a mini fashion show that included several trendy summer looks.

Throughout the broadcast, shoppers talked about their excitement in finding great deals at Army thrift stores.

“We hope the television coverage

better informed the public about the operation of our stores and the ways their purchases directly impact their local communities,” says Tanisha Dunkley, regional marketing co-ordinator, National Recycling Operations, Eastern Canada.

Salvationist I October 2012 I 5

AROUND THE TERRITORY

Sending Kids to Camp in Style

Children ready to leave for a week of fun at Scotian Glen Camp

THE SALVATION ARMY’S Scot i an Glen Camp in Thorburn, N.S., annually hosts hundreds of children from low-income households. To minimize disparities between what each child brings to camp, for the past seven years The Salvation Army in Moncton, N.B., has supplied each child it sends to camp with everything

needed for the week: a new sleeping bag, pillow, duffle bag full of toiletries, towels, pyjamas, bathing suit and clothes. Some donors help with the cost of registration and rental of a bus to transport the children to camp, while others collect goods to place in the duffle bags. The partners include Shoppers Drug Mart, Jean Coutu, Old

CELEBRATE THE SEASONS OF OUR ANNIVERSARY WINTER Winter Sports Activities Candidates Reunion

SPRING The North Toronto Story Blue Jays Game

SUMMER Waterfront Cruise Spiritual Renewal Divisional Picnic

FALL Canadian Staff Band Community Food Drive 25th Carols & Candles

NORTH TORONTO COMMUNITY CHURCH For more information, visit ntcommunitychurch.com or call 416-488-7954 6 I October 2012 I Salvationist

Navy, a local bowling team and a Facebook group.

Natasha Burkett, director of the Army’s community and family services in Moncton, says this idea or ig i n ated w it h Dav id Holt, chair of the Moncton

Advisory Board. “We had one child who went from Moncton the year before this started, who arrived at camp with an empty suitcase,” says Burkett. “He was excited and seemed to have everything he needed, but there was nothing in his bag. We want campers to have the opportunity to just be kids. Some already come burdened with stresses from everyday life, and some are carrying things that children should never have to bear. The last thing they should have to worry about is having pyjamas or adequate clothing. This way we know that these young people are at least set up to have the experience of a lifetime.”

Soapbox Derby in Swift Current, Sask.

IN SWIFT CURRENT, Sask., the Army provided the concession stand for the annual one-day soapbox derby down the town’s main street. “We allowed cars from around the province to marshal in the corps gymnasium for weigh-in and registration,” says Captain Michael Ramsay, corps officer.

“We served hot dogs, hamburgers, pop and chips with all the proceeds supporting our food bank and community and family services. The soapbox racing association also provides a further donation each year at their awards ceremony. Our people look forward to this great opportunity for fellowship, outreach, fun and revenue generation.”

The Salvation Army New Waterford Corps 100th Anniversary October 26-28, 2012 Musical Guest: Halifax Citadel Community Church Band Greetings from former officers and friends can be sent to: P.O. Box 396, New Waterford NS B1H 4S5 Phone: 902-862-3838; e-mail: brendasewell@xplornet.com

AROUND THE TERRITORY

Supporting Scotian Glen Camp THE SIXTH ANNUAL Transcontinental golf tournament in support of The Salvation Army’s Scotian Glen Camp in Thorburn, N.S., took place on August 10 at Granite Springs Golf Club in Bayside, N.S. After a best-ball tournament, players gathered at the clubhouse for dinner, prizes and a live auction.

At the end of the event, Transcontinental presented the Army with a cheque for $14,160 to help send children from lowincome families to camp. GoodLife Fitness, McInnes Cooper, Dexter Construction and CIBC also supported the event.

Scotian Glen annually hosts nearly 500 campers at children’s holiday camps and moms and tots camps at no expense to the participants. Campers are treated to a fun-filled week of swimming, hiking, canoeing, sports, crafts and campfire sing-alongs.

Transcontinental representatives Terry Mounce and Kevin Awalt present Mjrs Jean and Doug Hefford, DDWM and DC, Maritime Div, with a cheque for $14,160 to support the Army’s Scotian Glen Camp

Did you know …

… volunteers from Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Dunnville, Ont., collected 2,721 kilograms of food for the Army’s food bank after they canvassed a large section of their town? … 11 teens, aged 14 to 16, spent a day volunteering at the Army’s thrift store in Mississauga, Ont.? The young people were participants in the Windsor Salt C2C Peace Bus Project, a cross-Canada mission designed to educate and inspire action among Canadians for peace … the Army's Toronto Grace Health Centre’s cycling team raised $10,704 at a Healing Cycle Foundation’s event? More than double their goal, the money will be used to purchase equipment for the centre’s palliative care unit … The Salvation Army Golden West

Kitchener CC’s community garden meets people’s need for organic food

Community Garden Brings People Together THE SALVATION ARMY Kitchener Community Church, Ont., wanted to build relationships in its neighbourhood and address people’s need for organic produce in the under-serviced area of the city. Unused land adjacent to the church was made available for a community garden that can accommodate 100 lots. More than 60 are being used with eight of them growing tomatoes, beans, squash and carrots for the Army’s food bank at the church’s community and family services.

“We have seen families and people come together. It’s been inspiring to watch,” says Harriet Boyd, garden co-ordinator.

The project has received a significant financial boost from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and the City of Kitchener. The expectation is that with continued participation from community members, schools, local businesses and volunteers, the garden will continue to thrive.

Centennial Lodge, a long-term care facility in Winnipeg, has formed a partnership with Academy of Learning for health care aide training? Students will complete three months of classroom study prior to a four-week practicum experience … The Salvation Army supported the 2012 British Columbia Seniors Games from August 21 to 25 in Burnaby, the 25th anniversary of the games? In operating food services at two busy games locations, the Army provided support to athletes, volunteers and spectators … the British Columbia Chiropractic Association contributed thousands of backpacks to the Army's backpack and school supply drive this year? The goal was to ensure children across the province have the necessities for the new school year

… Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth, N.S., held a summer sale that urged shoppers to clean out their closets and donate their gently used clothing to The Salvation Army? In return, they were rewarded with a mall gift card depending on the size of their donation. The overwhelming response resulted in nearly 21,400 kilograms of clothing for Army thrift stores … The Salvation Army golf classic in Saskatoon raised $110,000, including a generous $75,000 donation from Supreme Steel? This gift will be used for the lifechanging programs that bring help and hope to marginalized and overlooked people in Saskatoon. Salvation Army personnel from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba provided services and answered questions concerning the Army's work Salvationist I October 2012 I 7

Dying With Dignity

When people wish to end their lives, should it be legal for medical professionals to assist them?

I

don’t know Gloria Taylor of Kelowna, B.C., but I would have to be heartless not to sympathize with her. Taylor has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is a disease that causes the degeneration of muscles, so that the person with ALS loses the ability to walk, eat, speak and finally breathe on their own.

It’s a disease Taylor knows will kill her if something else doesn’t end her life first. Each day she lives, she experiences greater agony of body and mind.

“I intend to get every bit of happiness I can wring from what is left of my life,” she has said, “so long as it remains a life of quality; but I do not want to live a life without quality. There will come a point when I will know that enough is enough … There is no pre-set trigger moment.

I just know that, globally, there will be some point in time when I will be able to say—‘this is it, this is the point where life is just not worthwhile.’ ” Because Taylor has not been content simply to tolerate her decline, she has made Canadian history. She has gone to court, and for the first time ever, a Canadian court has ruled that a physician—Taylor’s physician, specifically— may intentionally and knowingly cause the death of his or her patient, with legal impunity. In a case known as Carter vs.

Canada, the British Columbia Supreme Court said that her doctor may give her a “physician-assisted death.” If she is able to swallow a lethal dose of medication her physician supplies, she is to do that; but if that is beyond her physical capability, the physician may complete the act for her.

This would not be the first time a Canadian doctor caused his or her patient’s death. Sue Rodriguez, another B.C. woman, died a “physician-assisted death” in 1994. In that case, however, the doctor acted secretly and anonymously, because the Supreme Court of Canada had declared that such an action would be illegal. The doctor would have risked charges of homicide or assisting suicide 8 I October 2012 I Salvationist

BY JAMES E. READ if she or he had come forward.

But if this year’s lower court decision is not overturned, Taylor’s physician will not have to hide. He or she will—for the very first time in Canadian law—be able to say, “My patient wants to die and I am willing to make her death the goal of my action. I do not have to stand aside any longer and let her suffer. I do not

My biggest problem with the ruling is that it denies the sanctity and inviolability of human life. It mistakenly equates the value of life with the quality of life.

The relative balance of good and ill contained in a person’s life at any moment—important as it is—is not the whole of the story have to palliate the symptoms of her disease. The court will let me end her agony by ending her life.” (A curious addendum: The court has said that if the doctor does this, he or she can sign the death certificate saying that Taylor died of ALS, not a dose of pills or a lethal injection. Why this should be a part of the judgment, I do not know. It seems to obscure precisely what the rest of the judgment wants to make clear.)

I am not a lawyer, but so far as I can

tell, not much has changed in Canadian law since Rodriguez day, but we have seen changes in public attitudes, aided perhaps by (contested) reports that legalizing assisted suicide in Oregon, U.S.A., Switzerland, Belgium and a few other places has not created social chaos.

The judgment of the British Columbia Supreme Court is lengthy. At the risk of misrepresenting it, I will try to distill its key points.

The bottom line is that it holds that the present blanket prohibitions on homicide and assisted suicide in the Criminal Code of Canada are unconstitutional; that Parliament has one year to change the law; and that, in the meantime, Taylor is granted the legal right to protect a physician who causes her death at her request.

The court acknowledges that the lives of “vulnerable persons” (e.g. the young, the suggestible, the mentally ill) need very strong legal protection, but it does not think that everyone is “vulnerable” (Taylor being one example), and that non-vulnerable people do not need the state butting in on decisions about how they live and die. An absolute prohibition on causing a person’s death or helping them to end their own life is, the court ruled, overly broad.

In 1972, the laws against suicide and attempted suicide were removed from Canada’s criminal code. To those reviewing the law, it seemed ludicrous to set criminal penalties for suicide. Who, after all, is the state going to punish if the person who commits suicide is already dead? The reason for decriminalizing attempted suicide was different. By 1972, we had come to sympathize with those who tried to take their own lives.

We ceased to regard them as deserving punishment. We saw them instead as unfortunate souls whose suicidal gestures were cries for help. We pitied those who no longer wanted to go on living, and thought we should offer them therapy, counselling and a change-of-life prospect

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Feverpitched

in the hope that would bring them happiness. In Canada and elsewhere, The Salvation Army was among the first to offer suicide prevention helplines.

In the case before the courts now, what began as a compassionate response to suicidal unhappiness has been interpreted as a constitutionally protected permission to end one’s own life. Taylor’s lawyers presented suicide as a form of self-determination, a free choice about matters of deep personal significance.

The sort of choice that a society such as Canada’s guarantees to its citizens. It may still be true, the argument goes, that many people who attempt suicide don’t really want to die, and that they should be protected in their vulnerability; but others like Taylor should be lauded for having the strength of will to do what others cannot.

Which brings us to a second part of the judgment in Taylor’s case. Not only is the present law unconstitutionally overbroad, it treats people unequally. The B.C. court said the laws against homicide and assisting suicide offend against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ promises that we will all be treated equally before the law.

Just how is Taylor being treated unequally? Here is my summary of what the court said. Each of us has a right to

end our own lives at the time and in the way of our own choosing, but for people with ALS and similar disabilities, this is an empty right. Their bodies stand in the way of their doing what they have a legal right to do. We could as a society level the field, so the court determined, if only we let Taylor and others like her delegate their right and permit someone else to end their lives for them. (Why the court said the someone else must be a physician raises huge questions that cannot be addressed in this brief article.)

What shall we say? I believe the ruling that has come out of the British Columbia Supreme Court is profoundly flawed in many respects. Its flaw is not that it shows sympathy to people in excruciating torment. On that front, it is to be praised. Which of us would want to be confined to Taylor’s body? No one. Would that I had a solution for her that was easy or that would erase the agony she feels.

I do not. Pray that God would provide an easier way.

My biggest problem with the ruling is that it denies the sanctity and inviolability of human life. It mistakenly equates the value of life with the quality of life.

The relative balance of good and ill contained in a person’s life at any moment— important as it is—is not the whole of the story. If it were, it would not only

be understandable but patently rational for Taylor’s doctor to say, “Here is a life I am prepared to end. I do not regret acting nor do I act under coercion. I do it on purpose. My patient’s life has been drained of its value, so her death is my goal.” But the life of a person is more than the quality of that person’s life. There is more to being human than that.

The Salvation Army’s position on euthanasia, assisted suicide and care at the end of life states that “human life is a sacred gift from God. Dignity is neither conferred nor withheld by human choice; it is inherent in each person.”

Inherent value. Sacred gift. A trust from God. Is this language today’s public will understand or permit itself to use? I do not know. We are in uncharted territory. The mere assertion that human life is sacred, which the Supreme Court of Canada made as recently as their ruling in the case of Rodriguez, may no longer be persuasive on its own. How then shall we live? As our position statement goes on to say, we begin with ourselves: “As individuals and communities we are called to respect the sacred value of human life and at all times to show each other care.”

Dr. James E. Read is the executive director of The Salvation Army Ethics Centre in Winnipeg.

Salvationist I October 2012 I 9

Photos: Vanessa Savage

Lorne Tyacke and his wife, Janice

A Farmer’s Faith Lorne Tyacke believes that farming is “God’s work”

F

or Lorne Tyacke, farming is more than a vocation—it’s a way of life and a family tradition.

His father also grew up on a farm, and when he returned to Canada after the Second World War, he bought his own patch of land near Melfort, Sask.

Tyacke was born shortly after.

Growing up on a farm then was a very different experience than today.

“We had no running water and we didn’t have power, so we used the old coil lamps and gas lamps,” he remembers. “We had to bring wood in for the fire and we had a barrel in the kitchen where we melted snow and ice for water.”

Electricity and running water came to the farm in the early 1960s, when 10 I October 2012 I Salvationist

BY KRISTIN FRYER, STAFF WRITER Tyacke was in high school. After he graduated, he moved to British Columbia and became an electrician, but he did not stay away for long.

“In 1974, my dad said that if I wanted the farm, I’d better come back, so I did,” he says. “I enjoyed growing up on the farm, I liked the lifestyle, and I wanted to raise my family there.”

After he moved back, Tyacke and his father shared in the farming duties until his father retired.

“My father worked with me, but he let me take the reins and make the decisions,” he says. Tyacke continued to do electrical work on the side so that he could expand and improve the farm, which now sits at 1,200 acres. About half

of the land is used to grow wheat, barley, canola and oats, while the other half is dedicated to Tyacke’s cows and horses.

A typical day on the farm begins at 7 a.m. with breakfast and then a check on the livestock. Depending on the time of year, Tyacke could spend the day planting crops, birthing calves, bringing in the harvest, stockpiling supplies for winter or doing maintenance—there is always something to do.

“Farming takes up 365 days a year,” he laughs.

When Tyacke isn’t working on the farm, he can often be found at the Melfort Corps. Though he went to Sunday school as a child, it was the untimely death of his first wife in 1990 that brought him

to faith.

“Losing my wife made me start searching for answers,” he says. “Shortly after she died, I decided it was time to look for God.” Tyacke did not need to look far. His daughter, Angela, had been involved with The Salvation Army for a long time.

After attending Sunday school with a neighbour, she went to Beaver Creek Camp for several years, first as a camper and then a staff member. Seeing her faith, Tyacke was deeply moved and he started attending the Melfort Corps, where she was an active member. A graduate of Booth University College, his daughter, Captain Angela Bradbury, is now a corps officer with her husband, Justin, at Southlands Community Church in Winnipeg.

Going to church helped Tyacke make peace with his wife’s death.

“It settled my inner feeling,” he says.

“I learned that I could talk to God.” Attending a Salvation Army corps also brought Tyacke back into contact with Janice, an acquaintance he had known for most of his life. The two fell in love and were married at the Melfort Corps in 1994.

Today, both Tyacke and Janice are

active members of the corps. Tyacke does all of the church’s electrical maintenance, helps with other renovations and has been a member of the corps council for the past five years. Whenever opportunities to volunteer at the church arise, Tyacke and Janice are quick to join in.

“We’re helping to feed the world, and there are a lot of needy mouths out there” Home on the farm, faith is an integral part of their life. For Tyacke, being a farmer goes hand-in-hand with being a Christian.

“I think farming is God’s work,” he says. “We’re helping to feed the world, and there are a lot of needy mouths out there.”

Yet he readily admits that farming presents many challenges. Uncooperative weather can ruin a crop and a poor market can create financial dif-

ficulties. But Tyacke says his faith carries him through.

“It has made it easier for me to live with some of the hardships,” he says.

“It helps me take the bad times with the good.”

In more than 50 years of farming, Tyacke has had many ups and downs, but he is happy with the direction his life has taken.

“It’s been a good life,” he says. “Not always easy, but good.”

Guests With Special Barbara & Steve Allen, Los Angeles, CA Ian Sadler, Organist Colin Fox, Dramatist and featuring The Festival Chorus with The Peterborough Singers, Syd Birrell, Director Canadian Staff Band, John Lam, Bandmaster

Saturday, December 8, 2012 - 7:30 pm Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St, Toronto Tickets $15 to $25 available through RTH Box Office 416-872-4255 Presented by Ontario Central East Division

CwTSA 2012.indd 3

8/1/2012 4:00:42 PM

Salvationist I October 2012 I 11

Good Eats

Salvation Army food programs offer individuals and families healthy choices

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/DMPI

BY KRISTIN FRYER, STAFF WRITER

E

ach month, more than 850,000 Canadians receive food from a food ban k, an increase of 26 percent from before the 2008-2009 recession. For those living on low or fixed incomes, keeping up with rising costs is an ongoing struggle. Fresh food is frequently more expensive than processed foods and, as a result, eating healthy is becoming less affordable. To meet this growing need, The Salvation Army offers various programs across the territory that help individuals and families fill their cupboards and improve their nutrition, such as these two food programs in New Brunswick and British Columbia.

Sally’s Kitchen As a result of the severe drought in the United States and parts of Canada this past summer, food prices are expected to increase dramatically in 2012 and 2013. In Sussex, N.B., however, lowincome families are already feeling the pinch.

Seeing an opportunity to provide much-needed support for these families, The Salvation Army launched a new food mentoring program for young mothers.

“With the cost of living going up, we wanted to offer 12 I October 2012 I Salvationist

a program that would help them learn how to stretch their dollar further, while providing nutritious meals for their families,” says Major Judy Folkins, corps officer at Sussex Community Church.

Sally’s Kitchen is a sixweek program that teaches basic cooking skills, plus related tips and techniques such as meal planning, budgeting, food safety and nutrition.

For the first session of Sally’s Kitchen, which began in April, The Salvation Army received 20 applications and chose seven low-income mothers who were similar in age and situation. Five of the participants were single parents, and some of them were living on as little as $600 per month.

The program was held at the corps on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and sessions started with devotions and prayer. Group discussion followed, covering topics such as reading food labels, using points and coupons to obtain the best deals, and finding creative ways to encourage children to eat healthy food.

“Sally’s Kitchen provided a forum where participants and leaders could come together and learn how best to survive and thrive during these difficult times,” Major Folkins

says. “At the first session, I could see that this would be a learning experience for all of us. The mothers had a lot to contribute—everyone was a teacher and a learner.”

After the discussion time, the women paired up and moved into the kitchen to start cooking. One person led the session with a demonstration and the women followed her example. The women learned how to prepare a variety of dishes from

“I really enjoyed the cooking and learning, and I applied everything I learned at home” simple ingredients, and how to make some store-bought items—such as bread, baby food, cake and pasta sauce— from scratch.

Vanessa Parlee, whose children are two years old and nine months old, says that going to Sally’s Kitchen was the highlight of her week.

“I really enjoyed the

cooking and learning, and I applied everything I learned at home, including budgeting,” she says. “I had tried to budget before, but I didn’t really know how to do it because it wasn’t something I learned growing up.”

Like Parlee, Laura Herod found the program to be very educational and beneficial for her and her family.

“My children just loved it,” says Herod, a single mother with children aged 14 and six. “When I brought leftovers home from the class, my daughter would try it and say, ‘Oh my goodness, this is amazing. I want some more!’”

In Herod’s house, a new beef stew recipe has been a big winner. In Parlee’s home, it’s macaroni and cheese.

“Instead of buying macaroni and cheese, I make my own now,” she says. “My two-year-old loves it—it’s her favourite food—and it’s healthier for her and my husband.”

But for Parlee, participating in Sally’s Kitchen has meant much more than just learning new recipes and techniques.

“I really enjoyed getting to know everybody and having conversations with them,” she says. “We had so much in common. You didn’t feel like you were by yourself; every-

thing you went through, they went through, too.”

Herod, who was new to the corps when the program began, agrees. At the beginning, she knew only one of the other participants, but she quickly became friends with the others. “I felt comfortable and happy,” she says.

Major Folkins notes that even though the course was supposed to run for six weeks, it actually ran for 12 weeks because the women wanted to continue meeting together.

A new session of Sally’s Kitchen began last month.

Major Folkins hopes to run the program biannually.

Care and Share Feeding hundreds of individuals and families each month is no small task, but the Salvation Army food bank and soup kitchen in Chilliwack, B.C., has tons of help—literally.

“We are surrounded by farms so, during the summer, we get about two tons of fresh produce every week,” says Brenda Armstrong, family services director at the Care and Share Centre. “The community looks after us. They’re very good at making sure that we have the products we need, and if for any reason we put an SOS out there, within 24 hours, somebody will have met that need.”

The Salvation Army is the

Plant a Row, Grow a Row

only registered food bank in Chilliwack and it is one of the five largest in British Columbia. It has been offering fresh food since it opened 26 years ago. When produce is donated, it goes to the soup kitchen first, and then to the food bank for distribution through food hampers.

Any leftover produce is then placed in the Care and Share Centre’s bread room.

By offering a soup kitchen, food bank and bread room, the centre is able to assist a wide range of people.

The soup kitchen is open for lunch Monday to Friday, and serves 125-200 adults a healthy, free meal every day.

Of this number, there is a core group of about 60 people who eat at the soup kitchen every day.

“They come partly for the fellowship, but many of them do not have access to kitchen facilities and some do not know how to cook,” says Armstrong, adding that many soup kitchen clients are struggling with addictions or mental illness. Usually, clients are middle-aged, though Armstrong says she has seen a recent increase in the number of younger people.

Many soup kitchen clients also make use of the bread room, which is open three times a day and does not require clients to make an appointment to receive food.

The soup kitchen and

This summer and fall, the Care and Share Centre’s food services will receive a produce boost thanks to the Plant a Row, Grow a Row (PARGAR) program. PARGAR is a national campaign that encourages gardeners to plant an extra row of vegetables and then donate the harvest to local food banks and soup kitchens.

In 2011, Food Matters Chilliwack—which co-ordinates PARGAR in the community—donated 572 kilograms of fresh produce to The Salvation Army. Organizers hope to exceed that total in 2012.

This year, food was donated in July, August and September. The final food drop-off will take place on October 13.

Volunteer Cleon Sawyer prepares food hampers at the Chilliwack Care and Share food bank

Patsy Parlee, Vanessa Parlee and Amy Parlee make pizza dough at Sally’s Kitchen

bread room are complemented by the food bank, which primarily ser ves families. During an average month, the food bank distributes more than 500 food hampers to households ranging in size from one person to 10 people. Households can receive a hamper nine times per year (plus a Christmas hamper), but the food bank treats every case individually and will accommodate special circumstances.

Understanding a client’s needs is important to providing the best assistance, says Armstrong, and that is why The Salvation Army makes appointments with each client.

“I really have an issue w ith the ‘cattle lineup’ approach, where everybody stands in line and they get a bag, but you never get to meet anybody,” Armstrong says. “Our clients sit down with one of our intake workers and we find out what their

needs are.”

These appointments often result in referrals to other services, both at The Salvation Army and in the community, and they give intake workers an opportunity to offer nutritional advice and recipes to go with the food in the hampers.

By connecting with clients on an individual basis, Armstrong believes that The Salvation Army is also better able to serve them spiritually.

“We make sure they know that if they ever need to talk about their spiritual life, then there are people at the centre who are more than happy to listen and be a part of that,” she says.

“We need to show people how much God loves them, and one of the ways that we can do that is by meeting their physical needs,” Armstrong adds. “It has been really exciting to see how God uses the food bank and the soup kitchen to remind people of his great love.”

Salvationist I October 2012 I 13

POINT COUNTERPOINT

Where’s the Salvation?

Is the Army still an effective evangelistic movement?

Yes. Given the covenants of its officers and soldiers, The Salvation Army remains committed to saving souls and takes advantage of every opportunity to do so.

BY CAPTAIN MICHAEL RAMSAY CHRISTIANITY IS STILL the quickest growing faith in the world, but not in the West. North American churches seem to be retreating from their God-given commission to share the good news of salvation. Some prominent church leaders have misinterpreted or disregarded Scripture, reason, tradition and even their own experiences around salvation in recent years, which is distressing. Many Western churches seem to be marching away from the authority of Scripture and, in so doing, they seem to reflect more the heresies of the culture around us. A prominent church leader has recently stated that there is no hell. I have read a number of so-called “Christian” teachers who write that all paths lead to God. I have spoken to ministers in local churches who have told me that they do not believe in the divinity of Jesus. People have explained to me that they are too embarrassed to tell others about salvation.

I have heard it said that a loving God wouldn’t let anyone go to hell. As the Enemy infiltrates the churches in our culture in this way, it is great to be a part of The Salvation Army.

Surely, as an army for Salvation, we were raised up for a time such as this.

In the Army we should not easily fall prey to the mythology that eternal salvation isn’t real or that all paths lead to salvation because we hold as our primary doctrine the belief that “the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God; and that they only constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice.” Seeking out as many opportunities as possible to read, study and meditate on the Word of God can help us resist many of society’s heresies.

I can’t comment on the Army’s evangelistic efforts from coast to coast, but I can comment on my experiences serving God and the Army in various contexts in Western Canada. I have seen Salvationists faithfully using the valuable tools that God has provided for us to fulfil our holy covenant with him.

First and most noticeably, we have our uniforms. As our soldiers walk down the streets, people often engage us in conversation and sometimes even conclude with a confession of faith. This is exciting. I have seen new soldiers eagerly don their uniforms expecting opportunities to witness to the community and I have seen God faithfully bless those efforts. I have even heard ministers from other evangelical denominations lament that they do not have a uniform to wear.

14 I October 2012 I Salvationist

God has also equipped his Salvation Army with a great social services ministry. We do a lot. In the city where I am currently serving, our soldiers and employees sit with people in the courtrooms and ask them if they would like us to pray for them. We provide spiritual care for the RCMP and other agencies in town. We spearheaded the first ever chaplaincy program in our hospital. We have so many opportunities to share the gospel.

The Army also has a great public relations ministry.

Especially at Christmastime, we are often on the radio, TV and in the local newspapers. I have seen many Salvationists use this to remind the public that we are a Christian ministry. I personally point people to our mission statement and frequently share the parable of the sheep and the goats whenever I am invited to speak in the community about the services that we offer.

In addition, at our food bank ministry our soldiers and volunteers offer to pray for people. As people explain the problems that have caused them to seek assistance, I have seen our workers share their faith, invite people to Sunday meetings and lead clients in prayers of confession. People have come to know the Lord in their time of need.

Where I have served God through the Army, it has been emphasized that we are an Army of Salvation. At my ministry unit, we meet weekly with our department heads and open each meeting with a devotional thought that often encour-

POINT COUNTERPOINT ages us to share the gospel. Our employees have monthly staff meetings that also begin with this same encouragement.

As do all Salvation Army officers, I entered into a covenant that states that I am “called by God to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” and that I will “live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life.”

The Soldier’s Covenant, which every soldier (including officers) in The Salvation Army has signed before God, promises that we “will be faithful to the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to him.” God promises that even if we are unfaithful, he is faithful and he will be true to his covenants (see Romans 3:3-4, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5). Covenants made with and before the Lord are holy and they will not fail. We made this covenant and God will hold us to it. He will continue to use us for his salvific purposes.

I have faith that Salvationists will live up to what we have already obtained through this covenant with God, but we should not be blinded to the Enemy’s tricks to tempt us away from our sacred commitment to the salvation of souls.

I have served alongside some wonderful Salvationists who have a passion for souls that shines through in their lives. In a time when society seems to be retreating from God, I am so thankful that I am a part of his Salvation Army.

Captain Michael Ramsay is the corps officer at Swift Current Community Church, Sask.

No. The Salvation Army is no longer an effective evangelistic movement. In order to reach the lost, we need to change the way we connect with society.

BY LIEUTENANT PETER ROBINSON EVANGELISM IS AN interesting term. I think it is much like rocket science. The majority of us have a general idea of what it is, but when push comes to shove, we are forced to admit that we really have no idea how to do it—or at least not effectively and efficiently. If any church should be able to excel at evangelism it should be The Salvation Army. After all, it’s in our name. As The Salvation Army, we strive to be the vehicle or the catalyst that brings people to the feet of Jesus, where they are able to seek and receive the salvation that comes from Christ. We are an Army fighting for the salvation of those around us—the true definition of an evangelistic movement.

At least that is what we were at one time. I would venture to say that the majority of readers came to know Jesus through The Salvation Army. However, we have lost much of our evangelistic momentum. While those of us who serve in The Salvation Army continue to have a burning desire to see souls saved (and view this as our primary purpose), over the past 10-20 years we have become less effective at evangelism.

If you are like me you will find it difficult to remember the

last time that you saw someone come to know the Lord for the first time. I don’t mean making a re-commitment to God or returning to serving Jesus after walking without him, but having their soul saved for the first time. I am not saying that this is not happening in The Salvation Army, but to think of ourselves as an evangelistic movement and yet having people come to know the Lord be the exception instead of the rule is contradictory. Of course, there are glimmers of hope. There are surges of salvation at youth councils and other rally type of events, but these are not happening all the time and certainly are not the norm.

As The Salvation Army, we are fighting as hard as we can but our weapons are becoming antiquated and are no longer as effective for combating the enemy we are facing. The enemy has evolved and, in order to fight well and effectively, we must also adapt. What we are fighting for has not changed and will not change, but the methods we are using must. At our very core we desire to help people come to know the Lord, but simply desiring to do it is not enough. We must equip ourselves with the necessary skills and tools.

We can regain our evangelistic momentum, but not if we carry on in the same manner as we always have. Society around us is changing and the evangelism tools and strategies that we used in the past are simply no longer relevant or effective. We must become aware of how our world today communicates and interacts, as well as where people place their priorities.

Our message is a one-of-a-kind lifesaving message, but unless people are listening, no one will hear it. I long to see The Salvation Army be an unstoppable evangelistic movement, but if we keep doing as we have always done, we will continue to see our numbers dwindle and the salvation of souls be an anomaly instead of the standard.

Lieutenant Peter Robinson is the corps officer at Portage La Prairie, Man.

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MINISTRY IN ACTION

Something to Offer

For hundreds of people, The Salvation Army’s correctional and justice services are making a difference

BY KEN RAMSTEAD, EDITOR, FAITH & FRIENDS AND FOI & VIE

T

he history of The Salvation Army’s correctional and justice services is almost as old as that of the Army in Canada itself,” says Hugh Osler, executive director of Toronto’s correctional and justice services, Ontario CentralEast Division.

From their office on River Street in Toronto, Osler and his staff oversee programs in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as the surrounding Peel, York and Durham Regions.

The first record of Army correctional work dates back to the 1880s and early involvement included a halfway house for people released from prison in Toronto. Canada’s first dominion parole officer was Salvationist W.P. Archibald, in the early 1900s.

“Our commitment to the justice system is a proud one,” says Osler.

A Listening Ear At the core of the Army’s correctional and justice services are the prison chaplains serving in a dozen locations across Ontario.

A mix of active and retired officers as well as lay people, the role of prison chaplain does not have quite the visibility within Salvationist ranks as it deserves, says Osler. “Prison and court chaplains present a very public face of the Army. They’re well respected and open a lot of doors.”

“I hadn’t planned on becoming a prison chaplain,” smiles Major Gerald Cory, director of correctional and justice services chaplaincies in Toronto.

“But working with inmates is fulfilling, whether it’s helping them find a new set of clothes when they are released or providing an inmate in a holding cell with a Bible and someone to listen to them. I found a place where God could use me. It’s been the most overwhelming experience I have ever had.”

Course of Action Rather than go through a formal trial process, relatively minor offenders are 16 I October 2012 I Salvationist

Mjr Gerald Cory visits a local jail

“Prison and court chaplains present a very public face of the Army.

They’re well respected and open a lot of doors” diverted to programming. More than 500 people a year complete one-day programs through Toronto’s correctional and justice services, with people attending from as far afield as Newmarket and Hamilton, Ont. Community programs include theft intervention, anger management, and alcohol and drug awareness.

“We’ve gotten terrific feedback from these courses,” reports Osler. “Many people react to relationships and events in the same way over and over again. By sitting down in a group setting, sharing their experiences and listening to others share theirs, they gain insight into why they do what they do. That’s where the skill of our facilitators comes in.”

Mission and Monitoring Toronto correctional and justice services also co-ordinates an Ontario-wide supervision program, which involves the installation of electronic ankle bracelets as a condition of release from prison.

This conditional sentencing is overseen by the province’s 24-hour monitoring centre, but trained Army personnel are dispatched to conduct the actual installation procedure. About 150 visits a month are conducted, with 350 people

An Olympic Mission Salvationists engage in outreach opportunities during the London Games

BY PAMELA RICHARDSON, NEWS EDITOR Installation packet used to activate ankle bracelets

under house arrest in the province at any one time.

“It’s a natural fit for us because the people we are dealing with have usually already encountered our chaplains in the courts or in the jails,” explains Osler, “so they are already accustomed to seeing us.

“And because we’re spending at least a half hour to 45 minutes in a residence, it’s an opportunity to have a conversation. Sometimes they just want to vent but it is often more than that. We can pray with them if they are receptive or link them with a local corps or Army food bank. There’s definitely a mission there for us.”

Harnessing Skills Another service provided by Toronto correctional and justice services is the co-ordination of community service as a condition of probation.

Case workers find placements with community-based organizations such as Salvation Army facilities, churches or community centres, with as many as 450 clients at work at any one time.

“It’s a lot of back-and-forth, communicating with agencies and probation officers, finding placements, maintaining placements, but it’s all part of the job,” says Osler.

While much of the work involves activities such as kitchen or maintenance work, attempts are made during the intake process to harness existing skills and interests. For example, artwork created by clients is often used at fundraising events.

“Unlike most programs the Army offers, people come to us because they’re told to,” concludes Osler, “and they come to us with some resistance because they don’t want to be here. Our mission is to persuade them that we actually have something positive to offer. And we have been successful in doing just that. We offer a helping hand.”

The Canada and Bermuda Tty’s Olympic mission team

A

s the world reflects on the L ondon 2012 Oly mpic Games, Salvationists are remembering the part they played in a global mission opportunity on the streets of the city where The Salvation Army was born. Throughout the Games, Christians of all denominations, under the banner of More Than Gold, undertook a variety of outreach, hospitality and service activities including sports events, community festivals, water distribution, creative arts and prayer. And the Army was actively engaged in it all.

Joining in the More Than Gold campaign was a 20-member mission team from the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

Six members of the team participated in a Stop the Traffik campaign to raise awareness of human trafficking (see stopthetraffik.org).

As part of the campaign, the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking placed large boxes, beautifully decorated as presents, around the city. Large enough for people to go inside, the boxes were lined with stories of those who had been trafficked.

“Our mission was to engage in con-

versations with people on the streets,” says Colonel Tracey Tidd, territorial secretary for women’s ministries and team member. “We heard many stories from people who are facing difficult situations and were able to pray with them and give them some encouraging words.”

Fourteen team members ministered at the Army’s Regent Hall Corps, located on Oxford Street in the heart of the shopping district, engaging with the crowds that flocked to the city and taking the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.

“Members of the team stood on the street and provided music, offered free bottles of water and Olympic pins, face painting, Christian literature and much more,” says Graham Moore, territorial public relations and development secretary and team member. “We also participated in corps events, community concerts, Sunday worship and interacted with clients at Number 10, the corps’ day centre for the homeless.”

Throughout the Olympic Games, Salvationists from a variety of countries, including Canada, Bermuda, South Korea, the United States, Brazil and Australia, distributed approximately 450,000 bottles of water.

Salvationist I October 2012 I 17

Spiritual Wake Up Call When we seek renewal, we tune our hearts to the heart of God

BY JOHN McALISTER, FEATURES EDITOR

W

First in a series on the territorial priorities for One Army, One Mission, One Message

hen we get excited about what God is doing in our own hearts and see him moving in our ministries, then it becomes a natural attraction to other people,” says Major Toni Cartmell, corps officer at Kelowna Community Church, B.C. “People want to be part of something that has power and excitement and that is impacting lives.”

It comes down to spiritual renewal, both in our individual lives and corporately as members of The Salvation Army. Spiritual renewal is an essential component of the Army’s international vision, which was launched by General Linda Bond earlier this year (see salvationist.ca/international-vision).

When our territorial leaders prayerfully considered the 12 actions outlined in the international vision, seven things clearly emerged as priorities for the Canada and Bermuda Territory (see sidebar).

“The seven priorities that we’ve chosen are our declaration that we need to take careful attention to each,” says Commissioner Brian Peddle, territorial commander. “Putting them into ‘We will’ statements signals our responsibility to come up with actions that will bring those priorities to the forefront of Army mission and ministry.”

Not by accident, the first of the seven territorial priorities listed is spiritual renewal.

“Spiritual renewal will guard the mission as it will keep us from playing church, being insular and making administrative and missional decisions that are only to our own benefit,” says Major Fred Waters, corps ministries secretary, THQ. “Spiritual renewal is individual,” says Major Cartmell. “But when individuals become renewed, it impacts the organization. It’s all about tuning our hearts to the heart of God. We can go about doing the right actions but missing God’s pri18 I October 2012 I Salvationist

orities and agenda altogether. Spiritual renewal puts us into the flow of God’s plan. Everything we do then takes on a vibrancy and power that goes beyond what we’re contributing because God has already gone ahead and tilled the soil.”

If we believe that this is God’s Army, then there has to be a vital link between our existence (what we do) and the infusion of the Holy Spirit (God’s activity within the Army).

“That can only happen if we are spiritually open and available,” says Commissioner Peddle. “I think renewal has to be a fresh, ongoing reality for the Army—it should always be a priority for us.”

“It’s the very essence of who we are,” suggests Colonel Floyd Tidd, chief secretary. “We are a spiritual movement.

As such, we as individuals need to be a spiritual people. It’s not that we’re dead inside, but there is an ongoing need for renewing and refocusing so that we can live out vibrant spiritual lives, and by extension, vibrant expressions of mission and ministry.”

So how do we experience this?

Emphasis on Prayer “Spiritual renewal and prayer go handin-hand,” says Major Waters. “One leads to the other.”

As an Army, we rely on God’s strength and guidance to enable us to carry out his mission in the world. This comes through prayer. And while leadership is important, we will only be as strong as the people carrying out the work on the frontlines. This requires all Salvationists to make prayer a priority, no matter their role within the movement.

“Part of the difficulty is that many of our people are illiterate in terms of their own prayer life,” challenges Major Cartmell. “Within evangelical circles, we have made prayer formulaic, so we’re not always sure how to pray in all situations.

We need to help people find their own

prayer rhythms. Prayer needs to come to life in individuals.”

Richard Foster writes that the desire to pray is prayer. The key for the Army is to encourage Salvationists to acknowledge the hunger they already have to communicate with God and to give them the tools to express this more fully in every aspect of their lives.

As a corporate body, Salvationists

are encouraged to participate in the weekly worldwide prayer meeting that was launched by General Bond (see salvationist.ca/worldwideprayer). Held each Thursday, the 30-minute prayer time offers Salvationists the opportunity to pray for the mission of the Army internationally.

In addition, there will be territorial prayer initiatives (such as the recent Weekend of Prayer for Human Trafficking or the quarterly children’s prayer weekends) and resources provided through territorial departments and websites.

Each ministry unit is also encouraged to place a greater emphasis on prayer and look at their own local initiatives. This could include an educational component, such as inviting people to attend prayer seminars or retreats.

“We want to see every ministry bathing everything they do in vibrant prayer,” says Colonel Tidd. “This will enable them to respond locally to whatever needs exist in their communities.”

Sacramental Living As Salvationists, we are called to sacramental living. While we acknowledge the opportunities for grace found in the traditional sacraments practiced in the church universal, we embrace the fact that God’s grace is not limited to these and can be found in all areas of life. As such, our church celebrates the unlimited signs and means of grace found in the world.

“We are a sacramental people,” says Major Cartmell. “Even our uniform and flag are sacraments. We need metaphors in our lives for different internal spiritual experiences. They help people connect.

We have to be more integrated with the body, soul and spirit. God is working out his salvation in all of those areas of us.

So whether it’s putting on the uniform with intentionality or eating a meal with intentionality, it’s all in how we do it that makes it sacramental. It’s not what we do, but how we do it.”

“It’s living our lives as a sacrament of offering to Christ,” says Colonel Tidd.

“In view of all of God’s mercy toward me, and the relationship that I have with him, I seek to live to be a blessing and offer my life as a holy and acceptable offering to him.”

The world should be able to look at Salvationists and see Christ in us. The sacraments can be the presence of Christ here on earth lived out in individuals.

Covenant Lifestyle We’re also a covenanted people.

Covenant in the context of Scripture is a relationship between God and his creation. As Salvationists, we are governed by many personal covenants, such as our soldier’s covenant, our marriage vows or our commitment to raise our children well.

“It’s about our personal relationship with the Lord,” says Commissioner Peddle, “which is worked through an obedient faith that says, ‘I am totally committed to his will and way for my life.’ In other words, he is first. And understanding that with that comes his incredible ability to provide us with everything that we need. It’s a reciprocal relationship.”

Salvation Army soldiers (and officers) enter into sacred covenants in which they make specific promises (see salvationist.ca/covenant). At times, these covenants can be forgotten or ignored, as the promises may have been made years ago or at an early age. A covenant lifestyle, however, is one that is framed in the context of these sacred promises.

In order for true spiritual renewal to happen in this territory, it is essential that every soldier and officer take the time to revisit the promises they have made. This isn’t a negative experience, but rather an opportunity to make covenants a priority in their lives.

“If people believe in what you’re selling, they will buy it no matter what the cost,” says Major Cartmell. “I don’t think covenant is an issue for people, but we need to have the power and the impetus to make people want to take it on. Our covenant has to mean something, and I think that’s where we’ve run amok in the Army. If we don’t hold people accountable to it, then we diminish the covenant for the ones who would give it meaning.”

Holy Living When we seek spiritual renewal in our lives and ministries, we make holy living a priority. Are we willing to cast aside our own needs and wants and pursue the things that God wants for us? Are we self willing to put to death our former self and be reborn?

“Holy living is the result of turning our hearts toward God,” says Major Cartmell. “We wouldn’t have to stress about this if we were already taking people to that place of passion.”

At its core, holiness is about pur-

ity of heart. It’s not about doing holy things, but about feeling and thinking with hearts and minds shaped by God so that everything we do is an expression of God’s holy will.

“Holy living is not just what God wants from us,” says Major Waters, “he wants it for us. It guards our lives, families and ministries. It makes us a more attractive witness.”

This may mean renewal or in some cases complete revival. As Ephesians 5:14 tells us, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Perhaps it’s time for our Army to experience a new and holy resurgence.

“Living a life of holiness depends upon obedient faith and the lifeblood that comes into our spiritual living that makes covenant and sacramental living possible,” says Commissioner Peddle.

“Salvationists are called, we believe, in the privilege of all believers, to be wholly sanctified. And from that flows the rich and incomparable spiritual renewal that God offers to us.”

TERRITORIAL PRIORITIES ONE ARMY We will focus on …

• spiritual renewal › prayer initiatives/emphasis › sacramental living › covenant lifestyle › holy living • leadership development › strategy for candidate recruitment › employee recruitment and development › officer and lay leadership › make succession planning a cultural norm › utilization of all resources in increasing our capacity to serve One Mission We will focus on …

• social justice • children and youth • integrated mission and ministry (through our corps and social services) One Message We will focus on …

• the gospel and transformation • discipleship Salvationist I October 2012 I 19

CHIEF PRIORITIES

Risky Business

Embracing the future requires a shift from averting risk to seeking adventure

BY COLONEL FLOYD TIDD

Photo: iStockphoto.com/Toltek

“It’s the nature of the beast and a seemingly inevitable movement, especially as we get tied up with job security, consistent polices for everything and public image and identity.

As soon as you get employment norms and professional people whose job depends on status, security and dependability, it’s very hard to take risks for God or for the values of the gospel. Eventually this monument, its maintenance and selfpreservation become ends in themselves.” (Richard Rohr, Hope Against Darkness) “If we can embrace the adventure and risk and equip our churches to lay down their lives and abandon their inherent loss-aversion, who knows what innovation, what freshness, what new insights from the Spirit will emerge. If only we would take the risk!” (Alan Hirsch, The Faith of Leap)

A

t an amusement park this summer, I noticed that the higher the roller coaster, the younger the people in the lineups. As we get older, does our appetite for adventure lessen? Do maturity and experience necessarily dampen our willingness to take risks?

Casting it in missional terms, as followers of Jesus and members of The Salvation Army, how big is our appetite for risk? Or, how small is our tolerance?

Christianity was birthed by men and women with an appetite for risk and a daring belief in the supreme adventure of Christian mission. The early Salvationists embodied that same spirit and embraced a Saviour who invited them to lose their lives for his sake (see Matthew 16:25). But is it possible that over the past 2,000 years, the risky renegades of the early church have settled down and become religious conformists?

And what about the pioneering spirit of Salvationism? Is that now lessened, replaced by careful moderation and respectable restraint?

The mission of God is a sending mission, much like a relay race. As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sends us, with the command to Go! And that sending has always been full of uncertainty and risk, no less in Jesus’ day, William Booth’s or ours. In the Army’s international vision, General Linda Bond calls us to “a God-raised, Spirit-filled Army for the 21st century, convinced of our calling, moving forward together.”

We recognize that the 21st century is a different time and place than when the Army was founded in Victorian England, but do we also comprehend how different it is from 20thcentury Canada and Bermuda? The challenges we face today are different and the opportunities before us unique. But the direction of the journey must remain the same—forward.

The way ahead may remain uncertain, but what is certain is that we can’t go back.

Speaking through Isaiah, God declares: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19). New ventures and fresh initiatives are an appropriate 20 I October 2012 I Salvationist

response to God’s invitation to join him in what he’s doing today. The calculations of the past are little use for the new equations of the current reality. A new math is required, one developed by revisiting and even revising our own theology of risk and faith.

Alan Hirsch, in The Faith of Leap, suggests that “risk aversion is perhaps one of the major killers of adventurous discipleship and mission in the life of the church.” All of us have some aversion to loss, but Jesus understood that if his followers could be freed from this, their outlook on risk would change.

In all of the four gospels, he instructs his followers to lose their lives in order to find them. This “losing” is not a choice made once for all time, but rather a regular discipline, a decision made daily, a continual giving up of our own self-interest for the interests of the kingdom. And a life surrendered more readily embraces risk.

Incorporating this teaching of Jesus into our lives will transform our theology of risk, our understanding of the will of God and therefore our relationship with Christ.

In The Barbarian Way, Erwin McManus reminds us that “God’s will is less about our comfort than it is about our contribution. God would never choose our safety over our opportunity for significance. God created us so our lives would count, not so that you could count the days of your life.”

Colonel Floyd Tidd is the chief secretary of the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

Questions for Reflection

1. Have we domesticated our faith experience to the point where faith is no longer required?

2. How much of what we do as individuals or The Salvation Army requires actual dependence on God? 3. What was the last risk your faith led you to embrace? What is the next risk your faith is leading you to?

NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

Inside and Out

Salvationist and National Advisory Board member Bruce Walter offers his perspective as a business leader and church member The chairman of WW Mines Inc., and vice chair of Centerra Gold Inc., Bruce Walter is a member of the Army’s National Advisory Board (NAB). A fourth-generation Salvationist, he and his family attend Toronto’s Scarborough Citadel. Walter speaks with John McAlister, features editor.

How has your faith shaped your professional life?

I’ve always taken the view that business is a game—it gets measured in money, but the worst mistake that you can ever make is thinking that it’s real life. So, faith and family are the core principles that influence everything I do from a business perspective.

What are the difficulties of being a Christian in the world of business?

I don’t think there are any. What I would view as being core Christian values that are most relevant to business really are no different than the standards of ethics that people expect you to live by and work to. I don’t see there being anything unique or special about having a Christian faith and operating in a business environment than if I was a teacher in a school or a fashion photographer or whatever. The same kinds of pressures face all of us, no matter our vocation.

What do you view as some of the Army’s strengths?

When the Army began, William Booth distilled all of the doctrine and the other things flowing around him from various churches to get to the core of what was essential. The Army’s core beliefs are very focused, so we don’t spend much time getting sidetracked on lesser issues that often tie people up. That is probably the key strength of the Army. The more we get caught up in the bureaucratic wrangling that happens in any large organization, the more we will get away from core principles. That’s been an interesting exercise with the NAB, as we spend time talking about the Army as a church and a social organization and how the two interact.

Where do you see room for improvement in the Army?

I think it’s a huge challenge to continue to recruit new officers and maintain the officer strength. At the same time, I have been concerned that there’s been a drift away from educational standards.

I believe that a rigorous education is essential in order to lead people and appropriately represent the organization.

How can we best integrate our social outreach and our corps ministries?

I think part of that answer lies in what’s being done now, which is that our social ministry should continue serving as Christ would to those populations that need help most. We should be constantly looking for places where people are unserved, unliked and unwanted. At the same time, we can’t have as our objective to be the biggest housing provider or the biggest hospital provider. It’s always got to be in a context of an outreach from our church home. It’s a natural tension, and you see that with the NAB. Much of the focus of the board is on our social ministry because that’s where all the dollars are and where many of the complex organizational issues reside.

As well, when it comes to matters of theology and church, it’s not a natural place for the NAB to get involved. But I think that working on maintaining thriving corps is an essential piece. The biggest resource allocation question for the Army is going to be what to do with a shrinking pool of officers.

What do you think the future holds for faith-based charities?

It’s going to be a challenge. However, the more the Army sticks to the principle of saying, “We’re not asking you about your faith—if you have a need, we’ll help you,” then I think it will continue to be recognized as an important and essential part of society.

After a couple of years with the NAB, how have you seen the Army benefit?

I think it’s still very much an evolving

Dr. Bruce Walter

relationship. Any organization, particularly a charitable organization, can benefit from the time and efforts that people with other skills can bring to the table.

A lot of the tangible results have come when Army leaders have outlined the issues or problems they’re facing and asked for advice on how to address them.

For example, we’ve got some top human resources executives working with the Army’s personnel department, helping to develop programs to recruit, train and maintain officers. We’ve had a task force looking at what the Army is doing in the area of government relations. We’ve had reviews of the thrift stores nationwide.

The very process of asking questions and looking at the answers has led to some new thinking that will be tremendously beneficial.

What can the church learn from the business world?

In business, you are constantly pushed to ask what the real priorities are and to allocate resources in areas that get the greatest result. If you’re not generating a bottom line you’re out of business. The church, on the other hand, has a more eternal mandate, but that sometimes gets expressed as a lethargic approach to changes that don’t necessarily result in the most effective delivery and management of services. However, if our churches don’t produce results, they will die, so we need to pursue best practices as well.

Salvationist I October 2012 I 21

MEDIA REVIEWS

A Pilgrim’s Song

The Autobiography of General Walström Jarl Walström A Pilgrim’s Song is the English language edition of the autobiography of Jarl Walström, the 12th General of The Salvation Army and the first Finnish officer to be elected to that role. The author describes in detail how, as one of God’s pilgrims, he was uniquely privileged to witness the Army’s work in some of the remotest parts of the world. Walström served as General from 1981 to 1986, and throughout this book the reader will sense how the writer thanks God for his pilgrimage and the hope of an eternal goal.

S

ISION

E DIV

BY TH T LAKES EA ENTED PRES AST & GR AL E ENTR

RIO C

ONTA

The 180º Christian

Serving Jesus in a culture of excess Carter Conlon Radical problems often require radical solutions. In The 180º Christian, Carter Conlon, who pastors Times Square Church in New York City, presents a powerful answer to the current decline of the Christian faith in North America and in individual Christians. He analyzes the core spiritual problems that bog us down and shows the way out so we can return to God’s will and blessing on our lives.

with RAL DDLE GENEA BOND IE PE L A S LIND ial Leaders IAN AND RO

rritor S BR and Te ISSIONER COMM

2:30 P.M. OFFICER’S COUNCILS 7:30 P.M. SALVATIONIST'S RALLY FOR MORE INFORMATION SCAN THE CODE OR VISIT SALVATIONARMY.CA/ONTARIOCENTRALEAST/RALLY2012

Save The Date Mark your calendar for the Hope in the City Breakfast in your area.

Date: Wednesday, November 14th, 2012 Time: 7:30 - 8:45 am Location: Barrie Country Club 635 St. Vincent Street North, Barrie

Keynote Speaker:

Rex Murphy Social Commentator and Editorialist

For information visit hopeinthecityontario.ca HITC Ontario Sal-Ad half page.indd 1

22 I October 2012 I Salvationist

Date: Thursday, November 22nd, 2012 Time: 7:30 - 9:00 am Location: Ottawa Convention Centre 55 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa

Date: Friday, November 23rd, 2012 Time: 7:30 - 9:00 am Location: The Fairmont Royal York Hotel 100 Front Street West, Toronto 7/31/2012 11:50:22 AM

CROSS CULTURE

IN THE NEWS

IN REVIEW

Good Grief

Right to Pray?

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/artpipi

Ont ar io’s Grey Count y Council has a long tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer before meetings, but that practice is now under threat.

In July, Peter Ferguson of Kimberley, Ont., launched a court challenge in an effort to end this custom, which he says is illegal and violates his Charter rights to freedom of conscience and religion.

Ferguson is a director of Secular Ontario, a non-profit organization that promotes a secular society in Ontario.

He first complained about the council praying in May 2011.

Although the council’s tradition is to recite the Lord’s Prayer, their official policy invites members of various faith groups to say a prayer before meetings and councillors can observe a moment of silence if they choose. They are not required to say the Lord’s Prayer.

Grey County Warden Duncan McKinley told the Owen Sound Sun Times that the issue would be given “due consideration” by the council.

Photo: © City Caucus.com

Court challenge threatens prayer tradition in Grey County, Ont.

B.C. Premier Finds Inspiration in the Bible In a recent appearance on 100 Huntley Street, Christy Clark, premier of British Columbia, said that when faced with tough decisions, she turns to the Bible for guidance and courage.

“I think people want courage in politicians and oftentimes it means we have to do—I have to do—things that people disagree with, but I think is the right path to take for the province,” she said.

“So think that’s the hard part, because many times as with many decisions that we face—and we learn this in the Bible—it’s much easier to make a short-term decision that will make everybody happy or that will make your life a little bit easier, than it is to make a long-term decision that’s good for the future but may be tough in the short run.”

A reg ional at hei st group, the B.C. Humanist Association, took offence at Clark’s comments. In a press release, they expressed concern that “the separation of church and state may be eroded in Canada’s least religious province.”

Go On is a new sitcom about Ryan King (Matthew Perry), a sports talk radio show host who has lost his wife in a car accident. He wants to get back to work and get on with his life, but his boss insists that he join a grief support group before returning to the radio station.

Ryan attend s the support group with skepticism, which isn’t helped when he le ar n s that the therapist used to work for Weight Watchers.

Uninterested in anyone else’s problems and unable to deal with his own, Ryan treats the group as a joke. But slowly, he opens up as he realizes that he doesn’t know how to get on with his life and that he can’t do it alone.

While Go On is a comedy, the show balances jokes with real feeling, demonstrating that moving forward is difficult but possible, and sometimes can even be fun. Go On airs on Tuesdays on CTV.

COMMENT

The Gospel According to Fiction The gospel has been called the greatest story ever told, but it’s also one that’s frequently retold and even undermined by fictional re-imaginings and re-interpretations.

The popular novel The Da Vinci Code, for example, sparked controversy and was widely condemned for suggesting that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had children. The Kairos, released last year, explored the possibility that Jesus was gay.

This month marks the release of The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín. Tóibín’s novella takes place years after the death of Jesus and focuses on Mary, who lives alone in Ephesus but is looked after by Jesus’ disciples, whom she does not trust.

She does not believe that Jesus was the Son of God and she resents the disciples for thinking that his death was “worth it.” At the same time, she is angry with herself for fleeing in fear rather than staying at the foot of the cross until Jesus died.

Although books like The Testament of Mary are offensive to many Christians because they alter the gospel story, they can demonstrate that even though society is becoming more secular, the story of Jesus still features prominently in our culture. Such books are not a threat but an opportunity for Christians to engage in dialogue about the person of Jesus and what his death means for us today.

—Kristin Fryer, staff writer Salvationist I October 2012 I 23

CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

ENROLMENTS AND RECOGNITION

TRITON, N.L.—As youth director of the Triton-Brighton Corps, Heidi Adams agreed to shave her head in front of the corps’ Pioneer Club if the young people raised $2,500 for Partners in Mission.

They raised more than $3,000, including $950 in pennies.

POWELL RIVER, B.C.—Dan Kressel is Powell River’s newest adherent. Supporting him are Cpts Rick and Jennifer Robins, COs.

Accepted for Training

FREDERICTON—Five new soldiers are added to the rolls of Fredericton CC. From left, Mjr Elizabethe Janes, class instructor; Lawrence Moss; Tara Moss; Isabel Doherty; Barbara Kernighan; CSM Betty Young; Hazel McDonald; Mjrs Larry and Judy Goudie, COs.

WHITBY, ONT.—Whitby CC is pleased to enrol new soldiers. From left, CSM Jim Reid; Ashley Keets; Martin White, youth co-ordinator; Mitchell Lyons; Saada LeBreton; Winston Hunt, colour sergeant; Mjrs Helen and Max Bulmer, then COs.

BRIDGEWATER, N.S.— Inez Shupe is celebrated as a senior soldier of Bridgewater CC. Standing with her are Cpts Stephen and Karen Holland, then COs. 24 I October 2012 I Salvationist

Norman Porter Buchans, Newfoundland and Labrador Division My grandmother has always taught me to trust God, especially in times of uncertainty. Therefore, I have clung to the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT): “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” The Lord has directed my path to Salvation Army officership, a humbling calling that I share with my wife. God has blessed me with a wonderful family, my home corps of Lewisporte, N.L., and the opportunity to be the ministry leader of the corps in Buchans, N.L., for the past two years. These experiences helped to shape me and confirm my calling. God is faithful. In the strength of the Lord, I’ll fight!

Crystal Porter Buchans, Newfoundland and Labrador Division Mother Teresa said that “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” It was through people’s small gestures, showing me God’s love, that I am able to answer God’s call upon my life. As I journey with my husband to become an Army officer, I feel privileged to share God’s great love with each person I encounter. Though there will be difficult times, I can hold firm to the promise of Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he … will rejoice over you with singing.”

Mark Young Weetamah Community Church, Winnipeg, Prairie Division The Apostle Paul challenges Christians to imitate Christ (see Philippians 2:1-5).

I believe this requires a deep commitment to love one’s neighbour, even when they dislike you. It means dying to self, not allowing anything to get in the way of Christ’s will for us, for him to love all humanity through us. I want to strive to be like Christ and to imitate him all my life.

CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

Retired Army Officer Honoured

Army Band Plays at St. Joseph’s Villa, Dundas, Ont.

BURLINGTON, ONT.—At a Canada Day ceremony in Burlington, Comr Dudley Coles received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. Presenting the medal to him is Burlington MP Mike Wallace, supported by MPP Jane McKenna. The accompanying certificate contains the words, “As a member of The Salvation Army, Commissioner Coles has worked around the world helping the less fortunate.”

“I will always feel indebted to the Army for the wonderful opportunities given us for service overseas,” says Comr Coles.

DUNDAS, ONT.—In its ministry to the community, Winterberry Heights Church Band, Stoney Creek, Ont., visited St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas and engaged residents in singing songs they had learned in childhood.

Especially delighted to see them was 91-year old Salvationist, Wilf Hosken.

Hosken grew up going to Sunday school at Hamilton Temple and was a soldier at Argyle Citadel and later Winterberry Heights Church. He served as a bandsman, corps cadet guardian and a league of mercy worker for more than 30 years.

Laurie Reid Trinity Bay South, Dildo, Newfoundland and Labrador Division Growing up in a Salvation Army home, I participated in all aspects of corps life. I first felt God calling me to officership when I was 14 years old. After years of denying God’s call and pursuing things I thought would satisfy me, I surrendered my all to him. I am thankful for his persistence and I graciously accept my call to officership. I am reminded of the words of Jeremiah 29:11: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” As my family and I set out to fulfil his plans for our lives, I eagerly anticipate each opportunity to share his love with others.

Devin Reid Trinity Bay South, Dildo, New foundland and Labrador Division I attended The Salvation Army with my family in Jackson’s Point, Ont., and at age eight, I accepted Jesus as my Saviour. I first sensed the call to officership as a young teen, but didn’t pursue it. After attending Catherine Booth Bible College, I worked with the Army for 11 years and then accepted a job with a secular employer in 2008. I missed the Army ministry position and God touched my heart again, renewing his call to full-time service, to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Through faithfulness and failure over the years, God has been with me. His immeasurable love, mercy and providence have always graced my steps. I know he will be my strength as my family and I attend the College for Officer Training and on into the future years of ministry.

An Invitation Oshawa Temple would like to invite university/college students in Durham Region to join us for worship on Sundays at 11 a.m. We will be happy to offer you the opportunity to join one of our church families for lunch.

A Youth Adult Fellowship Club (ages 18+) meets Sunday evenings (bi-weekly) for Bible study and fun events.

For more information, e-mail corps@oshawa-temple.org.

Wilf Hosken with Winterberry Heights Church Band

GAZETTE

TERRITORIAL Appointments Comr Rosalie Peddle, territorial secretary for spiritual life development*, THQ; Cpt Tony Brushett, director of correctional and justice services, Ottawa Booth Centre, Ont. CE Div; Cpt Tiffany Marshall, divisional government liaison officer**, Prairie Div; Mjrs Edson/ Kathryn Chiu, High Point CC, Victoria, B.C. Div *Additional responsibility; **designation change Marriages Mjr Daniel Dearing/Mjr Renée Hopkins, July 6, Toronto Births Lts Joshua/Jennifer Ivany, daughter, Sadie Mackenzie Long service—40 years Mjrs Robert/Ruby Froude, Mjr Doris Jarvis Retirements Mjr Barbara Champ, last appointment: director of spiritual and religious care, Scarborough Hospital, Toronto Promoted to glory Mjr Joan Gage, from Regina, July 2; Mrs Mjr Hazel Briton, from Newmarket, Ont., Aug7; Mjr Rodger Hobbs, from St. John’s, N.L., Aug 8; Mjr Amelia Hobbs, from St. John’s, N.L., Aug 19

GAZETTE

Commissioners Brian and Rosalie Peddle Oct 11-15 100th anniversary, Red Deer, Alta.; Oct 17-18 Brengle Institute, JPCC; Oct 19 denominational leaders gathering, Toronto*; Oct 20-21 territorial officer information weekend, CFOT, Winnipeg; Oct 27-28 Kingston Citadel, Ont.; Oct 30-Nov 1 visit of General Linda Bond, divisional officers’ councils and public rally, St. John’s, N.L. *Commissioner Brian Peddle only Colonels Floyd and Tracey Tidd Oct 11 CFOT, Winnipeg; Oct 14 Hope Acres, Ont.; Oct 20-21 40th anniversary, Mississauga Temple; Oc t 31 visit of General Linda Bond, divisional officers’ councils and public rally, St. John’s, N.L. General and Mrs Bramwell Tillsley (Rtd) Oct 12-18 Brengle Institute, JPCC Canadian Staff Band Oct 13-14 100th anniversary, Red Deer, Alta.

Salvationist I October 2012 I 25

CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

Supporting Anti-trafficking Initiatives in Kelowna, B.C. KELOWNA, B.C.—Members of Ricky and Friends Community of Giving present a cheque for $427 to Sharon Tidd, then associate pastor in Kelowna. Ricky and Friends is a group of women and their special needs friends who get together weekly to make quilts and crafts that are sold in support of a local charity. This year they chose The Salvation Army, specifically for its anti-trafficking initiatives.

Officer Retirements Major Joe Bailey, out of Chilliwack and Kelowna, B.C., was commissioned in 1969 as a member of the Evangelist Session.

He and wife, Margaret, ministered for 30 years as corps officers from Bermuda to British Columbia, in addictions appointments and on the staff of the College for Officer Training. For the past nine years, Joe has been involved in corrections ministry to prison inmates.

“I am extremely grateful for the wonderful people who have been such a support and mentors as we served together in Christ’s name,” he says. “And the love and support of our children has been God’s great gift, which continues to encourage our hearts and mold our lives.”

Majors Max and Doreen Sturge were commissioned in St. John’s, N.L., in 1972 and married a year later. They enjoyed 27 years in corps ministry in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Ontario.

They also served on the staff of the College for Officer Training in St. John’s and at territorial headquarters in Toronto. ”I am grateful for the years as education officer at the training college,” says Max. “But nothing compares to the privilege of helping people connect with Jesus Christ and then seeing them grow in him.”

“I enjoyed the enthusiasm of cadets and team ministry at the training college, being the editor of Catherine magazine and my ministry to officers as assistant officer personnel secretary,” says Doreen. “But I feel especially privileged to have been in pastoral ministry in eight wonderful corps, preaching the Word and walking with people at significant times in their lives.” After 82 years of combined service, the Sturges are retiring in Guelph, Ont. 26 I October 2012 I Salvationist

TRIBUTES GRAND BANK, N.L.—Born in 1923, Kenneth Woodrow Bungay was the son of a fisherman-lumberjack. Ken learned the meaning of responsibility, teamwork and hardiness when he started working at the age of seven to help provide for a 13-member family. Senior soldiership quickly followed his marriage to Elsie Wells, to whom he was happily married for 66 years. They had nine children, 23 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Ken and Elsie invested their lives in the ministry of the Army. After he retired as a foreman in the fishery, they spent 23 years in community work at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. Ken is remembered for his leadership abilities and fairness with people, especially those who had fallen on difficult times. Ken sought to emulate Christ’s compassion and mercy in all relationships, especially in his marriage and family.

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L.—A lifelong Salvationist, Evelyn (Dawe) Howlett was born in 1925 in Long Pond, N.L. She and husband, Victor, raised 10 children. Through times of testing, Evelyn remained true to God, always maintaining a happy countenance. She never complained and always had something good to say about everyone.

She loved her family and friends, endeavoured to help others in any way that she could and enjoyed participating in Sunday worship. She was a life member of the home league and a senior soldier for almost 40 years. Evelyn’s smile and kind, cheerful spirit are missed by all. Left with cherished memories are daughters Donna (Derrick), Sharon; sons Patrick (Sharon), William (Louise), Junior (Kathryn), Jerry (Donna), Fred (Wanda), Edward, Tony (Cathy); 14 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; extended family members and many friends.

OSHAWA, ONT.—Judith (Judy) Dark Elliott grew up in Kingston, Ont., and participated in many of the activities of Kingston Citadel: junior band, corps cadets, songsters and youth group. After marrying Peter Elliott, she moved first to Ottawa and then spent a short time in Montreal before settling in the Greater Toronto Area. For more than 27 years, Judy had been a faithful soldier at Oshawa Temple, where she served as a Sunday school teacher and more recently as the director of pastoral care. Judy’s life can be summed up in the words of Jesus: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27). Judy is greatly missed by husband, Peter; children Brock and Ashley; parents Robert and Mae Dark; sister, Janice (Gordon); nephews Joel, Jonathan; many other family and friends.

MONTREAL—Evangeline M. MacMillan was born in Vancouver to Brigadiers Sidney and Jessie Joyce. The family moved around Western Canada to such places as Melfort, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon, Sask., Brandon, Man., Windsor, Ont., and Montreal. Eva was an active Salvationist for 66 years at Montreal Citadel, serving as Sunday school teacher and songster. Family and friends remember her as a friendly lady and a good Christian. She is sadly missed

by Murray, husband of 56 years; son, Stuart (Debra); daughter, Donna (Peter); four grandchildren.

Guidelines for Tributes Salvationist will print brief tributes, at no cost, as space permits.

They should be received within two months of the promotion to glory and include: community where the individual resided; conversion to Christ; corps involvement; Christian ministry and survivors. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Digital photos in TIFF or high resolution JPEG format are acceptable.

Clear, original photos may be submitted and will be returned.

Send to Salvationist, 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto ON M4H 1P4 or e-mail salvationist@can.salvationarmy.org.

November 30, 2012 Yonge-Dundas Square

Join us for an evening of family fun and inspiration as we gather together to launch The Salvation Army Christmas Campaign in Toronto. This event is FREE and features Toronto’s largest bell standing over three stories tall! Free jingle bells, song sheets, hot chocolate, coffee and other treats while quantities last.

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HAVANA, CUBA • SPRING 2013 Applications are now available!

Email mission_cuba@can.salvationarmy.org or visit SalvationArmy.ca for more details

Salvationist I October 2012 I 27 MC5 ad art.indd 2

7/11/2012 2:11:25 PM

LETTERS

An Outward Sign

The Real Sacrament

Much as I esteem Lt-Colonel Phil Cairns, I can’t agree with L his article (The Real Sacrament, August 2012). There are serious problems with the current attempt to recast Salvationist theology into sacramental terms: 1. It invariably tends to eclipse our traditional emphasis on holiness and undermines it. That is the case here, even though Cairns attempts to maintain the holiness emphasis because: 2. Holiness is not a “sign” of inner grace; it is the expression and outworking of inner grace. This is related to the problems with the misguided attempt to describe Jesus as the one true sacrament, which leads to thinking of Jesus as a sign of grace instead of the incarnation of grace.

3. The whole venture completely neglects the function of sacramental rites as symbolic recapitulations of the Christevent. The bread and wine explicitly recall Jesus’ death, not just a generic grace (as baptism symbolizes death/burial and resurrection) and whatever role they have in nurturing grace derives from this memorial function.

David Cavanagh Holiness is the outward sign of inner grace

BY LT-COLONEL PHILIP CAIRNS

inking holiness and sacraments would seem to be a contradiction in Salvation Army thinking and practice. The doctrine of holiness is a foundation stone of The Salvation Army’s theology. Sacramental worship, particularly the use of bread, wine and water, are rites carried out in other church traditions. Can the two be brought together in one idea?

As a young Salvationist I can remember being taught that The Salvation Army was a non-sacramental church. The emphasis was on an Army that was a practical and pragmatic holiness Movement. The life that was totally and completely committed to God was the focus of its holiness teaching. The constant encouragement to be like Jesus was parallelled with the call to duty and service. The Salvation Army was a mission that was not going to be caught up with the “trappings” of church.

Although I still agree with this emphasis, what I couldn’t see then and what I have now come to realize is that The Salvation Army has captured the essence of sacramental worship within the heart of its holiness doctrine. The call to an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ is also the call to display outwardly the love and the nature of the one who now dwells within. This is the truth that brings holiness and the sacramental life together.

The Sacramental Life The meaning behind the word sacrament as used in most church traditions is that of a rite in which the activity of God is evident and real. Participation in the Eucharist, for example, is meant to indicate the inner grace of God through the visible signs of the bread and wine.

When Jesus reclined with his disciples at the meal that is now called the Last Supper, he was meeting with friends.

Throughout the three years of being together, Jesus had dramatically affected the lives of the disciples. Now he prepares them for the future by asking them to remember him. “Remember who I am and what I have done” was the challenge of Jesus during this final meal together.

And the disciples did, not by instituting rites or rituals, but by the total commitment of the rest of their lives to Jesus. They proclaimed his gospel to the “ends of the earth” (see Acts 1:8) and all of them were to suffer as a result. But they remembered Jesus in the most profound way possible— by their lives and actions.

This whole-of-life expectation was emphasized during Peter’s encounter with Jesus in the days following his passion and Resurrection (see John 21:15-19). In the first conversation that Jesus had with Peter after Peter’s denial of his Lord (see John 18), Jesus asks, “‘Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’” Peter’s

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Symbol, ceremony and ritual have always been a part of biblical worship, going all the way back to animal sacrifice in the Tabernacle. Any Christian who feels compelled by conscience or through his or her study of Scripture to partake of the sacraments obviously should do so.

At the same time, the more I consider the question the more convinced I am that the distinction between the outward, symbolic ritual and the underlying spiritual reality is not some sort of uniquely Salvation Army perspective; it is in fact the clear and unambiguous message that runs through the Old and New Testaments. I believe the early Salvationists got it right. “Outward sign of inward grace” is not some sort of outdated Salvation Army cliché; it is a pure condensation of biblical truth.

Brian Adams I was raised in The Salvation Army and served as an officer for nine years. When I read columns like this I am concerned, because the writer appears to forget that there are many sister denominations that emphasize holiness of life and heart and fully embrace the sacraments of communion and baptism.

Cairns writes, “Instead of a symbolic ritual, Salvationists are called to be the outward sign of the inner presence of Jesus.”

The reality is that every Christian is called to be the outward sign of the inner presence of Jesus, whether we participate in communion or not. My present denomination believes in and teaches sanctification with clarity and conviction.

If The Salvation Army believes that it is called to be a witness that one can live the Christian life without the sacraments, then they should teach and celebrate this. You can do this without suggesting that Salvationists have a deeper experience of holiness because of their non-sacramental stand.

Reverend Barbara Moulton 28 I October 2012 I Salvationist

Everybody Welcome?

TALKING POINTS

Building Bridges With This article is exactly what the Gay Community I needed to hear (Building Br idge s Wit h t he Gay P Community, August 2012). I became a Salvationist when I was 17, knowing that I would need to step out of uniform one day. Why? Because I am gay.

For a long time I ignored the homophobia of the Army because I had accepted that while I believed in the Army’s values of helping others, and full and total equality, I knew they were not perfect.

Then I met Sam, and she changed my life. Also a Christian, I started to accompany her to Anglican services each week, as well as still attending the Army. It was around this time I felt I needed to step out of uniform. It wasn’t because I lost my faith, but because, while I didn’t agree with it, I was no longer holding true to the Army’s expectations of a uniformed soldier.

For a short time, attending the Army out of uniform was enough. But then one evening, Sam and I went to a special Anglican service at a different church, specifically for the LGBTI community. There was a rainbow flag on the altar, a gay pastor and most of the congregation was gay. For the first time in my life, I felt welcomed within a church rather than just tolerated. It was more than that: we were celebrated.

When I prayed, I could hold Sam’s hand and pray with her, something we had never felt comfortable enough to do in a church before, and that was a feeling I will never forget.

The day that I feel welcomed is the day that I will return to the Army.

Suzie Day The marginalization of any group of people should disturb The Salvation Army, since one of our core values is to promote the dignity of all persons

BY MAJOR JUAN BURRY

astor Charles L. Worley is a North Carolina minister who caused an uproar in May when a segment from his sermon was caught on video and posted online. Worley, infuriated by U.S. President Barack Obama’s proclamation that he supported gay marriage, called for the entire homosexual population to be gathered in an electrified enclosure until they perished from lack of reproduction.

This was a Christian pastor saying this to his 1,200-member congregation. It’s hard to fathom that the sheer contempt and genocidal intimations that spewed from his mouth occurred in North America or a Christian church.

It’s easy to distance ourselves from this preacher and pretend that because his comments do not echo the feelings of most Christians, that we have no investment in this news story. In fact, when it hit the news, I noticed that my Christian friends and colleagues (who love talking about how the media represents Christianity) were unusually silent. If this pastor had

said something similar about women or a specific ethnic group, I can guarantee you there would have been more Christians talking about it—in church, coffee shops and on Facebook. People in the church would be up in arms.

And so they should be. Murder is diametrically opposed to the kind of lifestyle that Jesus preached about. Jesus not only condemned murder, but declared that anyone who expressed hatred and anger against another person, such as Pastor Worley did, sinned against God (see Matthew 5:22). One would think that we should have pounced on this opportunity to speak about the love and kindness of

Christ and rectify any misconceptions that Pastor Worley created. From my experience, Salvationists often push to the front of the line to tell people just how friendly our churches are and how we would love to see them come visit us on Sunday. So, why didn’t we in this case?

The Salvation Army prides itself on its service to the poor and marginalized. But what does it mean to be marginalized? We see that word used in Army publications and articles, but who are we talking about when we speak of the “marginalized”? We are talking about people who have been excluded from significant participation in society and have been consigned to the cultural fringes. They are people who walk into the same places as you and me; the only distinction is that they have the nagging feeling that at least some of the people in those places don’t want them there.

In my missional context as the executive director of an addictions and rehabilitation centre, I cannot think of a people group more marginalized than those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

The marginalization of any group of people should disturb The Salvation Army, since one of our core values is to promote the dignity of

country hear on average 26 slurs each day?

Or that more than a quarter of the young people who tell their parents that they are LGBT get kicked out of their homes?

Recent studies have demonstrated that the number of youths living on the street in Victoria (where I live) is growing and a disproportionate number of them are LGBT. As the Army’s sheltering representative in this city, what do I have to say to my community about this? More importantly, what can I do? I can provide a temporary roof to put over their heads, but shouldn’t I also be concerned about attacking the fundamental causes of this marginalization and not just the symptoms?

Which brings me back to my original question after the Pastor Worley video went viral. Why don’t we react as swiftly or significantly when marginalization happens to those in the LGBT community as compared to other groups? Is it because many Christians believe, as the Army’s positional statement says, that gay marriage is not something the Bible supports and, therefore, they’re not sure how to bridge that gap? Or maybe that’s a convenient pretext and the fact is that many of us still hold prejudices towards our LGBT neighbours that we don’t want to confess exist. Or maybe I’m wrong and we really are doing our best to provide dignity to all.

But if what I am saying reflects the reality in your own corps or church, I would encourage you to start talking about it. Talk to your corps officer or leadership team. Ask them what can be done. Get the discussion started. Because if The Salvation Army doesn’t extend hope to everyone in our society, then our promises are just words.

Major Juan Burry is the executive director of Victoria’s Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre.

all persons.

Marginalizing people inevitably leads to oppression. Did you know that 30 percent of the suicides in Canada are committed by LGBT people, while most estimates figure that LGBT people make up only five percent of the total population?

Did you know that LGBT students in this

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Thank you, Major Juan Burry, for challenging us to turn our promises into actions on this controversial topic. May I offer a gentle word of advice to those corps officers or members of the leadership team when they’re asked what can be done?

Start by examining our language. For instance, what do we mean by “the LGBT community”? Does this phrase itself not create a feeling of exclusion? Are they not just ordinary people, part of the crowd of today?

Commissioner Paul du Plessis It is imperative for Christians to build bridges with the LGBT community but I am somewhat at a loss in how to do it. The problem is that we have to speak the truth in love, which means that we cannot compromise the biblical truth that homosexual activity is a sin (with heavy emphasis on the fact that it is no more or less a sin than countless other sins committed regularly by believers). The problem is that while few people disagree that adultery or selfishness or the many other things are sins, the LGBT community and increasingly large segments of society do not see same-sex sexual relationships that way. This creates a very large rift between us.

I do not want to be a negative, condemning person. I want to welcome LGBT people into my corps, but I cannot and will not do so by compromising the truth, which will inevitably mean that a huge gulf will continue to exist. If I can figure out how to bridge that gap I’ll be very glad.

Captain Royal Senter

BuSineSS adminiStration

Angela Davis, CA, CFE, BComm (Honours) MSc (Administration), Associate Professor of Business Administration after a SUcceSSfUl career in the corporate world and another decade in the academic realm, angela davis joined Booth’s faculty in 2010 to establish the school’s business administration program. angela says the move was an opportunity to apply her experience and expertise to a new program that develops business leaders who think beyond the bottom line. “it’s important to train young people to become responsible managers who care about the world around them,” she notes. “here at Booth, the urban service learning program takes students outside the classroom to experience the value of connecting with people at the community level.” one of Booth’s strengths as a business school, according to angela, is the small size of its classes. this allows professors to engage with students on a personal level. “with such a small school, there’s a built-in sense of community,” she says. “as a teacher, there’s also more flexibility to separate from the tried and true and to bring in new ideas and new ways to do things.”

Education for a better world.

TALKING POINTS

Stick to the Script

Before we speak, we should weigh the implications of our words

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/RenegadePhotos

BY MAJOR JUAN BURRY

Be careful little tongue what you say For the Father up above is looking down in love So be careful little tongue what you say.

I

remember singing that chorus in Sunday school. It was an effective little ditty. I can recall walking home from the corps building when I was a child, with my head tilted towards the sky, wondering where this ethereal parent was that was so concerned about what I was saying. It didn’t matter where he was, though. My childhood educators had drilled it into me that he was there … watching me. And he didn’t want anything coming from my mouth that was harmful, whether to me or to others.

We were taught that the tongue had the power to both hurt and heal and that we ought to always choose the latter for its use.

Songs and choruses are an effective way to reinforce biblical truths in the minds of Christians. The Apostle James also tells us that, “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or 30 I October 2012 I Salvationist

destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it” (James 3:5-6 The Message).

While most adult Christians have left behind the childishness of cursing and hurling insults, perhaps there is another level of “tongue-watching” that the Father would lovingly have us consider. Do we use our words carelessly?

Do we sometimes say things unintentionally that cause our other efforts and good works to go up in smoke?

This is a question that came to mind as I was watching CNN one evening in July. Anderson Cooper was covering the atrocious shooting massacre that occurred in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theatre. On this occasion, CNN was interviewing a young man who survived the attack. The survivor was a Christian who wanted the television audience to know that he forgave his attacker. He said that as he prayed to God in that

theatre he felt a cloud of evil depart and his life was spared. Then he made this statement: “There is no doubt in my mind that God saved me. I believe that he saved me out of that theatre so that I can just show the world that there is light.”

I certainly do not want to judge this young man, especially after the trauma he has gone through. Undoubtedly he was experiencing so many different emotions that he could have been expected to say almost anything. And I do not want to argue that he is mistaken, as who can say unequivocally what God was doing in that moment?

But therein lies my point. Most of the time, Christians are fairly conservative in their statements about God and his activity in the world. We limit our proclamations to the indisputable truths that the church throughout history has collectively gleaned from the Scriptures, such as God’s undeniable love for humanity and his incontestable plan of redemption for our lives. We’re good at sticking to the script. So much so that we regularly produce the “Seven Steps to …” this or the “ABCs of …” that. But in times when we want comfort or to provide solace to others, we are prone to start doing doctrinal improvisation.

Did God really save this man because he prayed? Did God spare him because he had a special plan for his life? While I listened, I couldn’t answer “yes” or “no.”

All I could think about was the millions of people listening to this interview who were wondering why God didn’t save the others. I can only imagine what the family of the six-year-old girl who didn’t survive thought of his logic. But we tend to do this as Christians. When someone close to us loses a loved one needlessly or tragically, we often try to comfort them by declaring that God needed that individual more than we did or that he required another angel in heaven (which is not only careless, but theologically flawed).

Perhaps we need to be careful what our little tongues say. We are ambassadors of Christ. It doesn’t help the cause if we attribute things to God that we aren’t sure about. It is even worse when what we say makes the picture of God a little fuzzier rather than a little clearer.

James was right. Our tongues can sure create a lot of smoke. When in doubt, let’s stick to the script.

Major Juan Burry is the executive director of Victoria’s Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre.

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