An interesting commentary by Major David Cavanagh, a major post holder in The Salvation Army. I concur with the thrust of his comment.
'According to Alan Hirsch, Howard Snyder identifies “ministry to the poor” as a characteristic of apostolic movements, and cites The Salvation Army as an example of this. He further comments that movements almost always “involve” people at the grassroots level and actively “involve” the masses.
It seems to me that this conflates two rather different things. While The Salvation Army has always had a bias to the poor (ministry to/for the poor), in the early days this was carried out to some extent, by converts who witnessed to their peers. Today, in many settings, it is middle-class Salvationists who minister “to” the poor and deprived, who are passive recipients of these ministries, rather than being actively involved in them and caught up in the redeeming dynamic of personal transformation offers by the gospel…..if truth be told, these ministries are often directed by middle-class Salvationists and largely carried out by men and women of good will whose only connection to The Salvation Army and the gospel is through their volunteering.'
The commentary reflects my personal experience of a number of corps. Whilst one may quibble over what it means to be middle-class it is the case that many Salvationists have a much more comfortable lifestyle than the poor. It is 'ambulance work': givers and recipients. However, we must be mindful of the caveats articulated in the commentary. The general thrust of the argument does not apply in all settings and there are examples of involvement and direction from within the community of the 'poor'. That said there is a disconnect that the Army must strive to overcome if it is to rediscover its passion and motivation to bring the love of Jesus, spiritual and material, to those it seeks to serve. The Salvation Army must be perceived to be of, with and for the communities it serves or wishes to serve.
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