The church has a bright future
You might be surprised to read that amidst all the reports of doom and gloom that abound in the press and the media and even in the church itself, but it is true. God will build His kingdom, and it will never end. He will establish justice on the earth. Of that we should have no doubt.

The question is, what kind of church has a bright future?  Is the church that Britain needs the traditional model that is so evident now? Will the hymn, prayer sandwich that allows us to give God an hour, tick the box and get on with the rest of our weeks as we see fit bring about change? I don’t think so. The laissez-faire, do what you like when you like church does not have a bright future either. Churches that are isolated, hierarchial, aloof, cut off, esoteric, watered down, boring, irrelevant or condemnatory don’t have a future either – and to be frank they don’t deserve one.

Intelligent Church
Churches that are engaged, relevant, credible, servant-hearted and compassionate, however, are a different matter. They not only have a future, they are the future. A little while ago, the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity carried out a survey. The aim was to see what the church needed to do to connect with people again. One of the results reads like this:

“The UK will never be reached until we create open, authentic, praying communities that are focused on making whole-loaf disciples who take the opportunities to show and share the Gospel wherever they relate to people in their daily lives.”

That is intelligent Church!

Learning from the Army
That’s where I want to encourage the Salvation Army. 140 years ago this month, when William Booth established the East London Christian Mission, he did so because there was no church where the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the destitute could feel comfortable. There are not many more now.  The church has always suffered from what I refer to as‘redemption and lift’ syndrome. People are helped and their lives transformed by God’s grace and power. They quickly then forget where they have come from as their lives improve and they are pulled toward middle class living and comfort rather than the plight of the needy and hurting around them.

The Army has in its very DNA exactly the right ingredients to be the vehicle God uses to completely transform Britain. I’d go further – it has the DNA to completely transform the world. I am convinced that the agenda of social engagement, care, compassion and service delivered in the name of Jesus which many churches are now picking up across the UK, owes its rediscovery to the persistent work of movements like the Salvation Army, the YMCA and others.

Remember your own distinctiveness
Before Salvationists everywhere throw up their hands in victory, and thank God that they have made it, let me add a caveat, if I may. Your distinctiveness and strengths are not the outer appearance of uniforms or your national programmes. In an age of suspicion of hierarchy and reaction against militaristic language, there are many challenges that the army faces. Nor is it enough for the Army to have excellent national programmes but little engagement with local communities. If local corps are not engaged with their communities, they are not fulfilling the vision that birthed the Army.

The Salvation Army’s bedrock commitments to the poor and the excluded are vital for any church that wants to be effective to its call and relevant to its community. My prayer would be that your motto ‘Heart to God and hand to man’ would become the cry of every Christian throughout the world. It is your historic commitment to authenticity, to service and to holding proclamation and service together that are so vital.

Britain and the world needs what the Salvation Army was founded to do more than it has ever needed it. When William Booth, Bramwell Booth and George Railton met in 1878 and replaced the phrase ‘Volunteer Army’ with ‘Salvation Army’ the name of the movement was born. The belief that the Christian must give their whole life in devotion to God and service of others caused that change in name. That message needs to be heard more now than ever before.

Beyond comfort
I do not want to be part of ‘the comfortable church’. I don’t think God wants to be part of the ‘comfortable church’. He never called us to be comfortable. The call has always been to be ‘real’. At the dawn of the twentieth century General Booth was asked what he thought to be the biggest danger to the world. His reply was this:

"I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost; Christianity without Christ; forgiveness without repentance; salvation without regeneration; politics without God; and Heaven without Hell."

That is still the greatest danger facing our world. There are churches that see themselves as nothing but preaching centres. They will die. There are churches that see themselves as nothing but a social service. They will die too. The church that remembers that it is dependent upon the Spirit, centred on Christ, called to be agents of transformation at every level and able to demonstrate God’s view of people and communities will flourish. The Salvation Army can teach us much.

Moving Forward
I am grateful to God for the work I do at Faithworks. As I lead this movement forward, I count it a privilege and blessing to be allowed to serve God in this way. But I am convinced that Faithworks is only seeking to do in the 21st century what the Army was birthed to do in the 19th. As we move forward, we are privileged to have thousands of churches, organisations and supporters whose hearts echo that very same cry. We are part of a movement that is called to have its heart to God and its hand to Man. This is not an option for us. To quote the General again:

‘You must do it. You cannot hold back. You have enjoyed yourself in religion long enough. You have had pleasant feelings', pleasant songs, pleasant meetings, pleasant prospects long enough.’

I do not want to look back in fifty years and say that the task was too great, the challenge too much and the cost too dear. The spirit of grit and determination that rests in so many Salvationists is one that inspires, encourages and challenges me. It is a prophetic challenge to the whole of the Church.

We need your wisdom, your passion and your commitment. But you also need the rest of the church. The challenge is too big for one denomination, one group or one brand. But it is not too big for us all. General Larsson entitled one song in his last musical Yours is the Future. Let me borrow the phrase and amend it slightly – the world needs you to be who God birthed you to be because together ours is the future.

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‘Excerpt from an article written by Rev Malcolm Duncan, Leader of Faithworks, for Salvationist, July 2005.’

Rev Malcolm Duncan
Leader of Faithworks
1 Kennington Road
London SE1 7QP