Chapter 16: every tradition · Christianity
The Salvation Army
A corps of The Salvation Army, which calls itself an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church, holding to the Eleven Doctrines in the Wesleyan holiness tradition; its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination. Sunday's holiness meeting is led by uniformed officers, with the band and songsters, a message, and an appeal to kneel at the mercy seat. The Army has kept no sacraments since 1883, teaching that no outward observance is necessary to inward grace: soldiers are enrolled under the Army flag after signing the Soldier's Covenant, which includes abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and gambling, and children are dedicated under the flag. Its officers are commissioned and ordained ministers, usually married couples who serve and hold rank together, appointed by divisional and territorial headquarters and moved by farewell orders, commonly every two to five years (three in the game). The territory owns the corps building and funds the corps' budget, and the corps is also a social-service centre, with caseworkers, a food pantry, Christmas help, and the Red Kettle appeal from mid-November to Christmas Eve.
All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it; How people feel, what every factor is.
At a glance
| Faith | Christianity |
|---|---|
| Its words | corps, corps community center, chapel; the corps officer leads the meeting; the message; Sunday; the Bible |
| Worship | word focus, responsive, moderate formality (0.67 of 1); seated on chairs |
| Music | brass expected; chant discouraged |
| The room's sound | no strong preference |
| Its year | western, salvation army; major observance; fasts none |
| Leans | conservative on moral questions, neutral on economic ones |
| Polity | command; leaders come by itinerant; property denomination |
| Leaders | one leader, full time, trained by in house; marriage within order |
| Belonging | high commitment, pastoral discipline, admitted by board |
| Giving | tithing taught; collected by plate, online; also public appeal, contracts |
| Way of life | alcohol abstinence, dress uniform, sabbath relaxed |
The week's services
| Day | Time | Service | Led by | People look for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 11:00 am | Holiness meeting | the corps officer | expected |
| Wednesday | 7:00 pm | Prayer meeting and Bible study | the corps officer | optional |
- Leader: a corps officer. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the services are still held, but each costs everyone at it 0.10; on sabbatical a supply corps officer stands in ($800 a month) for a little less.
- Communion: not kept.
Rites
- Enrollment of Soldiers (quarterly, +0.03 to those there): After soldiership classes, new soldiers sign the Soldier's Covenant and are enrolled by the corps officer under the Army flag, promising to live and serve as soldiers of Christ.
- Junior Soldier Enrollment (quarterly, +0.02 to those there): Children who have finished their preparation make the Junior Soldier's Promise and are enrolled as junior soldiers under the flag.
- Recognition of Adherents (per joining, +0.015 to those there): Those who make the corps their church home without becoming soldiers are publicly welcomed as adherents and may sign a certificate of recognition.
- Child Dedication (per birth, +0.02 to those there): Parents bring their baby to the front, promise to raise the child in the faith, and the corps officer prays a blessing over the family while the corps promises to support them.
- Open-Air Meeting (monthly, +0.015 to those there): The corps holds a meeting outdoors, with singing, music, testimonies and a short message for passers-by.
- Love Feast (yearly, +0.03 to those there): A simple shared meal of fellowship, after the early church's agape: Methodists share bread and water; Moravian servers pass out sweet buns and coffee while the congregation sings; the Brethren join self-examination, feet washing, a meal and the bread and cup.
Baptism, confirmation, and joining
- No baptism: a content regular is received after about 12 weeks.
- Joining age: 14.
- Enrollment of Soldiers: from about 14, a class of 3 months (in a classroom or an office, led by the corps officer or a sunday school teacher) prepares them, and the rite makes them full members at 14 or so. It's held only when there are candidates.
- Kinds of belonging: senior soldiers (may hold office); junior soldiers; adherents; received by its board.
- What it means: being baptized, confirmed, or received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home each Christmas Eve and Easter for ten years.
Giving, and what goes up
How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.
- How it's given: the tithes and offerings, by a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
- The public appeal: each December, $40 for each active person, more the better the community thinks of it.
- Fundraisers: only the modest ones (below).
- Funded from above: each month the offerings go up to the Division, and a budget comes back, $25 for each active person and the building's costs; its clergy are paid from above.
The corps officer, the staff, and who decides
- How the corps officer comes: sent by the Division, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
- Paid: full time, at the wider body's scale; housed by the congregation.
- Who they are: trained in-house (they ask 90%); women among them (about a third); nearly all married; always a couple, who care for 75 more together; a spouse who leads alongside cares for 75 more.
- Tenure: a term of 3 years.
- Ranks: Lieutenant, Captain, Major; a candidate holds one by skill, and rises with the years.
- Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational corps officer ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Corps officer ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate corps officer ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Corps Sergeant-Major (unpaid; from the members; cares for 30 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Corps secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Its boards: the corps council (advising, over calls and the spiritual life); the advisory board (advising, over the building).
- Renovations: The Division decides.
- New construction: The Division decides.
- Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.
Life together
What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.
- Ministries of its own: Choir, Social services.
- Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
- Fundraisers of its own: Soup supper.
- Shared fundraisers it may hold (only the modest ones): Bake sale, Car wash, Rummage sale.
- Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, Another congregation, Dance classes, Parties and receptions.
- Auxiliaries: Home League.
- Outreach: invitation Sunday, an open-air meeting (Community → Evangelism).
- Places beyond the congregation: the divisional camp.
- Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A petition for cushions, The bells, again.
- Dilemmas its code of life brings: A raffle for the roof, A recruiter asks for the hall, Champagne at the reception.
What the building needs
- required PulpitPreaching is the center of worship, so the pulpit stands at the center of the platform.
- required social-service officeThe Salvation Army asks every corps for one.
- expected Brass band standsA brass band leads the singing.
- expected Flag of the churchSoldiers are sworn in under the Army flag. Junior soldiers are enrolled under the Army flag. The church's own flag stands on the platform.
- expected Mercy seatEvery service ends with an invitation to come forward and kneel at the mercy seat, the mourner's bench, or the altar rail.
- expected fellowship hallTables are set for the meal in the fellowship hall.
- expected kitchenThe food and coffee are prepared in the kitchen.
- discouraged CrucifixThis tradition uses an empty cross, proclaiming the risen Christ, rather than a crucifix.
- discouraged Flaming chaliceThe flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
- discouraged IconIcons are not part of this tradition's worship.
- discouraged StatueStatues are not part of this tradition's worship space.
What people here feel
- Architectural style: Colonial brick +0.028; Modern synagogue +0.046; Gurdwara +0.052; Japanese temple +0.056; Islamic +0.05; Shinto shrine +0.05; Chinese temple +0.044; Dravidian temple +0.038; Nagara temple +0.038; Thai temple +0.038; Jain marble +0.032; Gothic +0.026.
- Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
- Acoustics: it wants a room between ringing and dry, about 2.2 seconds of reverberation: neither bare stone nor a carpeted low room. Up to ±0.05.
- Seasonal decor: it keeps the church year: paraments and the season's decor are worth up to ±0.027.
- The message lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the corps officer's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
How each message lands
The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.
- Fire & Brimstone+0.08
- Marriage as God Designed+0.06
- Sanctity of Life+0.06
- The Last Days+0.06
- Faith & Family+0.04
- Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
- Obedience & Discipline+0.04
- Personal Holiness+0.04
- Resisting Temptation+0.04
- Spiritual Warfare+0.04
- The Authority of Scripture+0.04
- The Great Commission+0.04
- Biblical Stories+0.015
- Blessed Are the Peacemakers+0.015
- Called by Name+0.015
- Doubt & Faith+0.015
- Eternal Life & Resurrection+0.015
- Grace & Forgiveness+0.015
- Gratitude+0.015
- Hope & Comfort+0.015
- Joy in All Things+0.015
- Love One Another+0.015
- Sabbath Rest+0.015
- Saints & Witnesses+0.015
- Servant Leadership+0.015
- Songs of the Psalms+0.015
- Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
- The Church Year+0.015
- The Life of Prayer+0.015
- The Parables of Jesus+0.015
- Care for Creation-0.02
- Healing for All-0.02
- Wealth & Poverty-0.02
- Welcome the Stranger-0.02
- Social Justice Call-0.03
- Interfaith Understanding-0.05
- Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
- Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
- The Prophets' Call-0.05
- Women Who Led-0.05
- Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
- Radical Inclusion-0.075
Every item, for this tradition
Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.
Variants
Chosen when you found the corps:
- Praise band: its own music
Sources
- Doctrines of The Salvation Army (USA Eastern Territory) (link)
- International Spiritual Life Commission Report (Caring Magazine) (link)
- Deeper Doctrine: Sacraments (SA Connects, USA Eastern, 2023) (link)
- Membership (Wilkes-Barre corps; Salvationist.ca) (link)
- Doctrines and Soldier's Covenant (Salvation Army Australia) (link)
- What does The Salvation Army's corporate structure look like? (Caring Magazine, 2019) (link)
- Terminology (Salvation Army Australia) (link)
- Officer (The Salvation Army) (Wikipedia) (link)
- The story of the red kettle (Caring Magazine) (link)
- International Positional Statements (The Salvation Army International) (link)
- The Song Book of The Salvation Army, 2015 edition (Salvationist.ca) (link)
- The Salvation Army (Wikipedia) (link)