'To grow saints' and 'To serve suffering humanity'.A TRANSFORMATIVE GOSPEL
The message of the Army wherever it is preached is grounded firmly in Biblical truth and evangelical faith. It is spoken and sung in 175 languages by Salvationists. The modes and metaphors of expression and the idioms and instruments of Army music-making are delightfully diverse, but the message is the same. It is a positive Gospel of possibility, of purity, and power. It is a transformational Gospel grounded in the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross, the reality of the Resurrection and the promised presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We believe in a salvation from sin and from sinning. We believe in a Gospel that can open blinded eyes and turn the most desperate soul from 'darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Christ Jesus]' (Acts 26:17-18 TNIV).
Given the founders early immersion in Wesleyan theology, it is not surprising that Army doctrine is Wesleyan in orientation ['There is one God and John Wesley is his prophet!']. A brief statement of eleven salient points was formulated to under gird the evangelical mission of the Army. The 'doctrines' were not intended to be comprehensive.
They have been explicated and expanded in subsequent versions of the Army's Handbook of Doctrine, the most recent of which was published in 1998 with the title, Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine. The current Handbook includes the classical creeds: the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. It is not a weighty theological tome, but offers a clear and concise guide for an Army on the march, capable of translation into languages around the world. Brief in compass it reflects extensive theological reflection and broad biblical understanding. Commissioner Gudrun Lydholm, M.Th., served with distinction on the International Doctrine Council which produced the fresh rewriting of the Handbook. In 2005 she published a review of the development of the new Handbook in Word & Deed, A Journal of Salvation Army Theology and Ministry. Particularly helpful is her comparison of the 11 doctrines with fresh summaries and rewordings which appeared at the end of each chapter in Salvation Story. These supplied additional emphases that had not been referenced in the traditional doctrines, probably being assumed by the early Army missioners. They included references to the birth and resurrection of Jesus and his return in glory and a separate reference to the person and work of the Holy Spirit. At the heart of the Army's mission is the firm confidence that the Gospel of Christ is still "the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16 TNIV).CULTURAL ADAPTATION
Cultural adaptation has been a hallmark of the Army from the first. In a remarkable document addressed to his growing force of missioners in India dated 27 August 1886, William Booth urged Tucker's cadre to explore every reasonable means for relating to the culture and communicating the essentials of their message.
You are not bound by any stereotyped or antiquated notions. What is being done in Europe or America, or what has been done in India in the past, or what is being done in the present, need not be any rule to you, unless you can see it is calculated to gain the end you have in view. Go, my comrades, and pray and look about you, and thus acquaint yourselves with Indian modes of thought and feeling and action, and then adapt yourselves to them, so far as such adaptation shall be consistent with the doctrines of the Bible and the principles of the Army (Quoted in Booth-Tucker 1924:xix).
In fairness it must be said that there has always been a tension between the desire to adapt to the uniqueness of a given cultural context and the requirement of loyalty to what Edward Higgins, then Chief of the Staff, called the Army's 'distinctive features of service and method.' Acknowledging that some cultures proved less than receptive of the Army's style of ministry, he took comfort in reporting, "Our pioneer officers have fearlessly and confidently pressed upon the people the Army's aims, principles, and methods, and invariably -- sometimes in a less and sometimes a greater degree -- there has been a most striking response" (1929). That tension is still significant in seeking to relate to changing cultural realities within cultures, in the West as much as other parts of the world. Believing that the Army's identity and principles are transferable to other cultural settings Salvationists seek to maintain what might be regarded as the essentials of Salvationism that have sustained its mission across time and cultures. The task is to discern what those essentials are! To some degree virtually every denomination struggles with these issues. The tension is exacerbated by one of the Army's most highly valued distinctives: its commitment to internationalism.
INTERNATIONALISM
Every expression of the Army in all of the 117 countries where the Army has a legal presence is bound to the international movement and subject to the direction of International Headquarters under the authority of the General. The connection is organic, structural, administrative, cultural, legal, and most importantly, covenantal. Booth called for 'one Salvation Army' -- "one body with the same head, the same government, the same laws, and substantially the same usages and methods . . . . There will not only be the liberty, but the necessity, to adapt its methods, so far as is consistent with truth and righteousness, to the character and habits of the people, the Salvation of whom it is there to bring about (1887:51).
The structural unity of the Army internationally has made it an anomaly to ecumenical bodies. It doesn't fit the model. Membership is usually limited to national church bodies. In the end, the Army has assumed an observer status in the World Council of Churches along with the Roman Catholic observers. However, the Army in certain countries, has maintained membership in national Christian Councils, even though it is not appropriate to regard The Salvation Army functioning in any nation as an autonomous national body, as, for example, the Korean Presbyterian Church. This applies whether or not the Army in that nation is financially independent or has no western international reinforcement officers serving within the 'territory.' India, Korea, Japan and Indonesia, for example, currently have no western expatriate officers resident in these countries. The work is entirely indigenous. Indeed, these territories and others are contributing officer personnel to other parts of the Army world. The exchange of officer and professional personnel between countries East to West, South to North as well as West to East and North to South has greatly strengthened the unity and effective internationalism of the movement. More than ever before, the Army world is 'flat' (Tom Friedman).
Paul Rader, General (R)Born in 1934, the 15th General was the first American General. Rader's studies at Asbury College, Asbury Theological Seminary and Southern Baptist Seminary resulted in BA, BD and MTh degrees. He later received a Doctor of Missiology degree from Fuller Theological Seminary School of World Mission. He served variously in pastoral, missionary, training and administrative positions in the United States and Korea.
Rader was the first General elected by a unanimous vote !
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