SSO What's the next step?

                                                                            

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The Salvation Army officer’s spouse is the only person I know

who is asked to assist and support their officer spouse full time 

without pay in a support role no one has yet defined.

In a poll conducted in December, 2011, among non-officer spouses in five territories where the Single Spouse Officership provision is in place, less than 10% of the respondents felt they had been provided sufficient training for their role (call). And most shared that it was a learning-on-the-job through onsite experience and almost solely from the insight provided by the officer spouse. 

In some ways there are times when it would appear that the officer spouse has their own confidant, counselor, prayer partner, supporter and much, much more living under the same roof. However, most non-officer spouses felt totally unprepared to assist in the ministry. The Officer spouse had received extensive training on how to be a SA officer. There is no credible training provided to the support spouse. The SA is not alone in having this indictment hurled at them.

In a random survey across Protestant denominational lines it was discovered that 85 percent of pastors’ spouses feel unprepared for the ministry lifestyle. Another, by the Global Pastors Wives Network, found that “eight in ten pastors’ wives say they feel unappreciated or unaccepted by their husband’s congregations.” Most shocking was their discovery that pastors’ wives’ issues are the number one reason pastors leave their ministries.

A friend, the daughter of SA UKT officers, married an American Seventh Day Adventist pastor and shared with me that; “Pastor’s wives receive no training and minimal contact with other Shepherdesses unless one attends the annual ministerial meetings or camp meeting in June. It's a Pastors retreat. However, on a positive note, we even have our own web page and which can only be accessed by a pass code.  The site keeps spouses connected providing denominational updates, meditative thoughts (many of us have a spiritual leadership role in the church; not necessarily a paid position), spiritual and psychological support.”

In another survey conducted among evangelical church leaders it was learned that the most important joys that non-pastor spouses experienced was sharing ministry that revolved around friendships with people, seeing persons come to Christ, nurturing the spiritual and personal growth of others, and working as team members with their spouse. At the present time the majority of non-officer spouses are not sufficiently trained for this type of ministry support role.

This will call for a rethinking emphasis on the pre-acceptance and in-service education of the non-officer spouse for their vital role of ministry. Of course, each person is an individual coming into the non-officer role with very different gifts, education and experience and no spouse should be forced to take this training. Nevertheless the opportunity should be provided and presented logically, systematically and in a compelling philosophical style.

While a grad student in New York’s  Jesuit Fordham University we were often privileged to have world-class guest lecturers. One of those lecturers was the Brazilian Paulo Freire who was particularly popular with informal educators with his focus and expertise in adult education with his emphasis on dialogue, moving away from and beyond banked learning, Freire provides a rationale for a pedagogy of the “outsider or newcomer” and introduced the highly influential notion of banking education and highlights the contrasts between education forms that treat people as objects rather than subjects; and explores education as cultural action for adults.

It’s this pegagogy form to which adults most easily adapt; exploring a compelling subject to which they can bring their own experience and help form the group’s outcome and direction. This can be achieved through meeting together regionally and nationally and also through webcasts.

The pre-acceptance and in-service education of the non-officer spouse could also be in the form of cultural action for adults explored and enacted online. Prior to the advent of the WWW, pastor’s spouses had little opportunity to connect, commune, and explore. A large percentage of non-officer spouses work outside  the SA campus or their quarters, many in professional jobs, and the convenience of teaching/sharing on PCs, IPHONES, IPADS ought to be capitalized upon. And there is every reason to establish a dedicated and private chat site.

THE WWW

Eight in 10 pastors' wives say they feel unappreciated or unaccepted by their husbands' congregations, according to surveys by the Global Pastors Wives Network (GPWN); the same number wish their husbands would choose another profession. "Wives' issues" is the No. 1 reason pastors leave their ministries.

In recent years, pastors' wives have found a place to vent… websites like PastorsWives.org SarahsTent.com and GPWN. The Web offers more immediate and constant support.

When I formed the FSAOF 4 ½ years ago I recognized, following communication with scores of former officers, that our issues in many instances were very similar yet so private--issues that as Christian men and women we might have wanted to discuss with others, but yet they weren’t in that place we were. No one could have been more surprised than I as our fellowship passed the 100 mark, then 200, 300, 400… We have exchanged views on hundreds of subjects special only to ourselves- each week there are comments of gratitude for shared advice, some requested prayer support when a loved one is ill, or a spouse or family member PTG, and just this week, three members going out to interview for job openings.

Ours is like a ‘closed’ order of 400 sharing about what for some matters most, life after officership-  some are in ministry elsewhere, some serve as SA soldiers, others as Methodists, Baptists, CoE, etc. The FSAOF support group’s focus is on how to remain and to be involved in a committed ministry, And to explore what it is the former officer feels God calling them; for many, it’s a return to full time SA service as officers.

There is no doubt in my mind that a SSO fellowship could benefit a great many people by being part of a similar private internet-community. Why does TSA not provide a similar, very basic support structure?

Cadets usually undertake a two-year course: year one at certificate level, year two at diploma level. The course is divided into four 'fields' of work and is subject to continuous assessment rather than formal examinations. The four fields are:

Personal Growth and Spiritual Development Biblical Studies, including biblical interpretation and Old and New Testament studies Ministry and Mission, including pastoral ministry, management and communication skills, mission studies,

Faith and Practice, including Salvationist doctrine, Church and Salvation Army history, and contemporary society and Christian ethics.

Is it not possible to establish some type non-officer spouse fellowship on campus? It need not be a formal curriculum, but rather a discussion fellowship meeting weekly at a time convenient to all. The focus would be to discuss those topics that would most benefit them once in the field; SA history, Doctrines, life style, SA structure, theology and even how to lessen the tensions that are certain to be a part of their “new life.”

The non-officer spouses will include corporate types, those coming with education and nursing backgrounds, store clerks and skilled labourers, persons skilled in many fields but who choose to work ‘for the Army’ in support of their spouse’s calling. Their contributions could greatly boost TSA’s capacity to reach society, corps and social services with the army’s mission believing that they too have a role and can contribute to the spouse’s ministry.

Sometimes, perhaps too often, SA leaders think corporately, thinking ‘the organization’, wanting and wishing peak performance. Yes, the army is corporate, but it’s not a corporation. Of course there are instances when leaders must focus on the entire body of believers, diagnosing malformations and prescribe remedies, eg. SSO. However when the word spiritual formation is heard on campus or the army hall we think of individual lives. Is the non-officer spouse, the college’s waitress and corps custodian not all persons TSA must labor and struggle with and ‘to present everyone mature in Christ’.

SA EXCLUSION!


Finally, is it really out of the question for non-officer spouses to attend ‘In-Sunday meetings, Spiritual Days, and following Commissioning, Councils and retreats? Is it really so daft (a term learned this week!) for the Army to offer the hand of fellowship and ministry to our partners as a thank you for their support? While we are in councils or retreat could something not be offered to the non-Officer partner in the same venue that could help feed them spiritually, bring them together so they too could meet with other like-minded people and share fellowship with the Officer fraternity?

A dilemma for many is whether a calling to ministry is defined as being for a specific place, a distinct role, or to an itinerant denomination where others define that role? This dilemma is one where the non-officer spouse is perhaps the most confused and least supportive. If there was a set pattern of instruction, a clearer role for the 'spouse', perhaps this can be prevented.

The truth is, the Bible has no office or job description called “officer’s spouse.” This is because the spouse is simply expected to be a Christian church member like everyone else. And truth be told, there is no experience to guide us; we had to create everything from scratch. At the beginning, a lot of effort went into establishing the values that would set a framework for the non-officer applicant; what it was going to take to sustain both the organization’s reputation and soul saving mission. How can the support system be strengthened?

Dr. Sven Ljungholm
Liverpool Birkenhead Corps   
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