Last Day of Congress

The Last Day of Congress culminated in a March of Witness down the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. But prior to that we had a rousing final session (Worship Service) in the morning at the O2. This final session of the 2015 International Congress focused on the fact that The Salvation Army is a holiness movement that not only preaches, but also practices personal holiness. ‘An Army of Integrity’ celebrated the culmination of the past five days shared together and the Great Commission to go forth and make disciples of Jesus.

We were reminded again by The General that we need to get out there not only doing the work of the Army in our social service settings, but preaching the ‘Good News’. After-all this should be what drives us to do what we do. It is not good enough to provide a service or programme and not speak about the One who laid down his life so that we could have life to  the full. We need to shine our lights out in the communities that we are a part of and not shy away from the Gospel message.

The challenge for all of us is to stop relying on the funding that we receive and being bound by the suggestion / perception that it is not appropriate for us to share our faith with our clients because of the secular funding we receive and start relying on God to break through in the lives of those that we reach. That entails providing opportunities for them to hear the Word and for us to share the reason why we do what we do. If we are prevented from doing this then we need to challenge why we are doing the service that we are doing, for many organisations are doing good works, but the thing that we have that makes all the difference is that we have life in Christ to overcome any and all situations.

For William Booth he did what he could to meet the needs of the people, taking money from many different sources, but never shying away from sharing his faith. May we return to his dogged determination to save the world one life at a time!

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Day 4 at Boundless

On day 4 at Boundless we headed into the O2 Arena for a seminar looking at the One Army material which has been published to date. This material can be used in small group sessions, one on one mentoring and large groups. It can also be used as a sermon series or individual messages as it gives a background to The Salvation Army, exploring such things as “What is church?”, “Who is Jesus?” etc.

This material would be extremely helpful for new Christians within the Army world as well as people who are interested in Adherancy and Soldiership. Available for both adults and youth, it doesn’t replace such things as Junior Soldiers, Corps Cadets or Soldiership Material it is a complimentary resource which has been developed to give another perspective of who we are and what we are all about. We picked up copies of the first six books to take back home with us which I’m sure will come in handy as we start to develop discipleship pathways for our people.

In the afternoon we headed out to the birthplace of The Salvation Army and took in the sights and sounds of the East End of London. We had a drink at the Blind Beggar, joined the crowds looking at the statues of William & Catherine Booth and went to the sight of the first tent meeting in Vallance Gardens, which is a disused Quaker burial ground.

We also walked past Booth House Lifehouse which is a homeless shelter for up to 150 men. Booth House was opened by Her Majesty The Queen and its primary purpose is to prepare formerly homeless men for independent living. As a ‘Lifehouse’ the service engages residents into healthcare, treatment, employment, education and employment services so that they can sustain independent living in the community.

A key part of the work of Booth house is to re-connect clients with their family. They encourage each individual to have a sense of personal dignity and for that to be recognised by others. Booth House also works to serve the local community and reach the needs of people.

In the evening we headed back to the O2 for a session looking at ‘A Youthful Army’ – which featured young people from around the Army world, highlighting their passion, commitment, and incredible talent. I was certainly impressed by the testimony of one young girl who had overcome numerous treatments for leukemia. The message by Captain Marion Platt was also very inspiring. All in all it showed the level of dedication that our young people have and as the General reiterated the children and youth of the Army are not our future they are needed now, and shame on those Corps that do not have young people in them. They need to reach out, doing all they can to attract young people.

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