Media Day at The Salvation Army Kettering

On Saturday May 8th I’ll be exploring & speaking about how we can use Twitter, blogging & other Social Media stuff in ministry at a media day held The Salvation Army in Kettering, England.

Other folks will be talking about sound engineering, presentation software, the use of video etc, whereas I’ll be concentrating a little more on community, tribes and connections...and stepping outside of the Church bubble.

The organisers are also hoping to arrange a video link up with the guys from the US to talk about MediaShout.

There’s no website per se for the event, but there is a registration place here, if you want to check it out.

NYCLU vs The Salvation Army

I stumbled across a few interesting, but slightly fuzzy news pieces via Twitter this evening regarding an announcement from the New York Civil Liberties Union regarding The Salvation Army:

Here, here and here

The NYCLU’s statement includes this staggering couple of sentences, which I would guess would fill most Salvationists with incredulity.

“Though The Salvation Army is a church, a firewall for years existed between its religious arm and its social service arm. This allowed The Salvation Army to perform its responsibilities as a government-funded social services agency in the New York metropolitan area diligently and without injecting religion into its provision of social services”

??

I’m still trying to take the whole issue on board, because sitting here in the UK the story is so imbibed with a US world view and political perspective that I might be missing a trick, but the notion that we as The Salvation Army would be doing the things without Jesus being at the centre....or center...seems to be misunderstanding what we are about.

Would love to hear what you think

There are a few similar ramblings rolling around the same subject:

• Sally Bash
• Salvation Army on NPR – Some thoughts
• Good Old Army

HT to Rob Noland at Revolution Hawaii for the image

Edify

This video from The Salvation Army’s Edify program in Oz is just amazing....a great work

Commissioner Joe Noland

I once - a couple of years back - flagged Joe Noland as one of the few senior Salvation Army leaders to be actively engaged in blogging.

Two years on, nothing much has changed, but Joe continues to churn out some really thought provoking stuff.

His latest post on uniform wearing (he says he has a love/hate relationship with it) & Salvationism has a real resonance with the way I see things – even though I don’t always feel the necessity to make mention of the liberal and conservative worldviews. As a Brit – even one who almost reluctantly accepts that label – I don’t quite connect with that requirement to show we are bipartisan, or more accurately not aligned to any number of political mindsets as a movement.

Here are a few selected highlights:

Salvationism is a two part word: Salvation + ism. The salvation part is never changing – the same, yesterday, today, forever (The conservative part). Ism, by its proper definition is “a movement” – always changing: “Mobile, fluid, robust, pulsating, progressive, maturing – Genesis in motion.”

In other words, our methodology needs to stay relevant, inclusive and flexible in order to reach the last, the lost and least (The liberal part).
you will find that good, calculated, risk-taking begins to dissipate as mission metamorphosis into institutionalism. Early day Salvationists were risk-takers for the right reasons. Let’s take this primitive concept and make it contemporary, sans the traditional, institutional regulations and regalia. For many that’s too scary (risky) to even think about.

I also like the quote he includes from Commissioner Harry Read:

"Salvationism is an engine-room kind of word, for within its robust, energy-exuding frame pulsates the heart of the Army. Here, the essential beliefs of the Movement, its active, maturing and progressive concepts, its love and service-centred ministries, all reside in a living, quick-to-respond balance for the benefit of mankind."

HT to Joe Noland for the wonderful pic
Follow Joe on Twitter

Salvation Army Tee for Haiti

...loving this fabulous Salvation Army inspired tee from Orlando based designer Hydro74.

The best part is that profits from sale of the product will go to support The Salvation Army's ongoing relief work in Haiti.

Thanks to the guys at WARdrobe for bringing this good lookin' tee to my attention, and HT to Hydro74 for the pic.