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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Boundless is go…

Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Boundless is go…

Today marked the start of the Boundless International Congress, which is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the start of The Salvation Army. Established in London in 1865 The Salvation Army has been meeting the needs of the community ever since.

Each session at Congress will follow the theme’s that underpin General André Cox’s vision for a Christ-centred Army:

I dream of a committed, effective and joyful Army, rooted and confident in the Word of God and on its knees.

I dream of an Army that truly reflects the mind of Jesus in our commitment to the poor and the marginalised.

I dream of an Army that practices what it preaches from the top leadership down, an Army that is a visible and living example of kingdom values.

I dream of an Army that values its youth, where our young people feel that they have a voice.

I dream of an Army with strong, relevant and streamlined administrative structures and a much more effective use of our financial and material resources.

I dream of an Army where all cultures are equally accepted and celebrated through the spiritual ties that bind us all together.

I dream of an Army that shuns the dependency culture.

You can follow all the happenings here and watch videos of the main sessions.

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Boundless the Schedule

Today we picked up our registration packs, which provides all the information we need to see us through the next week while at Boundless. It contains an awesome pictorial history of The Salvation Army over the past 150 years as well as the official programme, memorabilia and samples of stuff available for purchase while we are here.

The O2 arena is a massive complex with eight main venues, five of which will house the Boundless 2015 festivities. It is expected that up to 15,000 Salvationists from all over the world will gather for the main General Sessions over the next 5 days. If you want to follow what is going on you can watch the live coverage of Boundless here.

On the Boundless site you can also see numerous tweets and images from attendees the world over. Also if you check out the link to the Information page you can gain a better understanding of what Boundless is all about, the theme, the logo and the history etc.

After we picked up our packs we headed out to do a bit more sightseeing. As part of Emily’s school work she has to do a project on one of the many sights in and around London. She really wanted to go and see the London Tower and Tower Bridge. So after braving the sweltering high temperatures and crowds she got an opportunity to check out the ‘Crown Jewels’.

We picked up some souvenirs (yes Christina & Patrick more thimbles) and a copy of the guidebook, so when Emily gets back I’m sure she can guide you all through it. After spending the majority of the afternoon looking around the many towers and rooms we headed over the River Thames via London Bridge in search of an underground station.

Tonight sees us heading to the 1st General Session entitled “A Joyful Army”.

 

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Ready for Boundless…

We arrived in the UK on Monday after spending over 24 hrs in airports and planes. Its hard to believe that its been about 12 years since Annette & I were last here with Patrick & Christina; who are now both out of school, working or in training and have their own cars; scary, doesn’t time fly!

Our youngest Emily has come with us to experience some of the sights and sounds of not only The Salvation Army but also what it’s like to be on the other side of the world.

The first day was all about familiarising ourselves with our accommodation and getting over the jet-lag. In the afternoon we went for a long stroll around Kensington Gardens along with colleagues of ours from Nelson and visited the Kensington Palace and walked past a number of embassies, many of whom had a heightened security presence.

Later that evening while Annette & Emily had a snooze in their unit (that’s a whole story in and of itself) I went for a walk around Hyde Park. We are staying at the Imperial College of London, Princes Gardens which is within walking distance to the Royal Albert Hall (pictured above) and many of the museums such as the National History Museum and the Science Museum to name just a couple. The weather is absolutely stunning (high 20’s) and in the next few days it’s only going to get warmer.

Some of the architecture is absolutely stunning and shows what was accomplished in the late 1800’s and even earlier than that in some parts. The picture to the left is one of the many buildings that line the streets in and around Kensington.

Tomorrow we will head out to the O2 Areana via the tube to pick up our tickets for Boundless and then do a bit of sightseeing as the first Session of Congress doesn’t start until 7pm on Wednesday 1st July.

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