Local mindset

major issue | lack of credible local witness

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or the majority of Jesus’ life, he lived in a small village called Nazareth. Other than an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover festival, the likelihood is that he would have not ventured many miles from his home. He lived, worked, worshipped and socialised in Nazareth. It was only when he started his itinerant ministry that he started to travel about a lot, and even then the geographical area he kept to was relatively small.

Today, many of us commute. We get in our cars or onto buses or trains and travel quite a distance to work, school, college, and of course to shop. It’s a reality in this modern world of ours. But at least we worship locally! Or do we? How many of us actually attend the Salvation Army corps nearest to us?

Let me be the first to admit my guilt here: For at least 13 years, I did not attend the corps that was nearest to where I lived, and for about two-and-a-half of those years I bypassed several corps to get to the one I did attend at that time. As for the number of churches I passed, I wouldn’t even like to guess! The reasons I did this - and why others still do - are varied and seemed entirely justifiable, but now I realise they aren’t.

“The Word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood.”
(John 1:14, The Message)

You see, I’m increasingly convinced that one of the major issues facing the Church today (and therefore by default one of the reasons so many of our corps are declining) is a lack of credible local witness.

Next time you go to your corps, have a look around your congregation and ask yourself how many of those people live within easy walking distance of the hall. How many have to catch a bus or drive to the corps?

We’re often great at offering services to the communities around our halls, but how effective are we at the day-to-day witness of simply being salt and light in those same communities? What sort of message does it send out when the majority of people attending our corps on a Sunday are not seen at any other point in the week? In fact, come to think of it, how many of us know the names of the kids who hang around outside causing trouble?

Too many of us spend too much time travelling too long a distance to our corps, and it’s normally for reasons that are about ourselves rather than others. Should we all then move house to be more local? It’s probably not realistic to expect that, although for some it might be what’s needed. Should we attempt to stop bypassing other corps when we go to worship our Lord? Quite possibly!

But of more importance than this is that we become visible in some way in our communities. If we want to reach out to the communities that surround our corps buildings, then at the very least we should be finding ways to involve ourselves personally in their lives. If it’s too difficult because of distance, then maybe we should be seeking ways to become more visible in the community in which we live.

I believe that when we get involved locally, both as individuals and as fellowships which are led by the Spirit, then we will start to see God at work in the things we do. When we start to worship where we live, or live where we worship, then we cannot fail to see God at work. When we serve the communities in which we live as a fellowship of God’s people, then God’s light will be evident to those around us. You see, how will people see the light of God in their communities if the Christ-appointed “lights of the world” aren’t there to turn the lights on 24/7? Some might say that it is enough for us to pray for that, but surely only the permanent presence of Christians living as salt and light will really flick the switch and keep it on.

After all, Jesus came to earth and moved into his neighbourhood of Nazareth. Shouldn’t we move into ours too?

Writer: After six years lay ministry in Latvia, Graeme Smith now finds himself as an Envoy running a corps in the UK. He’s married to Zoe and they have two wonderful daughters, Sian (3) and Abigail (1). Passionate about mission and discipleship, he is aiming to enter training in 2008.

14 Comments to Local mindset

1. Couldn’t agree more with this. Was thinking about almost this very matter earlier after reading again Matthew 5:14-16 which (in the CEV) finishes with, “Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.”
Mark on April 10th, 2008

2. I agree wholeheartedly. Our whole congregation lives within walking distance of each other, and I actually now could not imagine it being different. When we walk on our streets, we know nearly everyone, and they know us. We don’t parachute in.

   I think this principle should apply to Corps work and social work (but then I also think the two should be inseparable, so there you go).

   Grace,

   Aaron
aaron on April 10th, 2008

3. You ask about community involvement and travelling to a corps, but I can’t for the life of me understand what difference it makes, as there is from what I’ve seen no fundamental connection between the Salvation Army corps, and the ministry/mission of soldiers? (Accepting here that we have gone way past the point where attempting ‘drag em in’ church works in the UK, and the last generation of churched or semi-churched are passing on.)

   There will be a few lay leaders involved in the maintenance activities of the corps, but otherwise TSA is structured, like any inherited church, in such a way that while most certainly soldiers can go out and pioneer in some way, the army has nothing to do with it - they don’t train up, mentor, engage, or faciliate soldiers in living out their faithful lives of service, they don’t help them learn teamwork, fundraising for community projects, communication or anything else. While the army doesn’t need to provide trainings provided elsewhere, they are unlikely to ask a soldier what they are engaged in learning outside TSA (and more likely to feel threatened by it). If the army delivers a meeting on Sundays, perhaps a midweek event, why not travel to it? It has little or no connection to its neighbourhood in the UK context? This isn’t meant judgementally - as a church that follows inherited church pattern the army does no better or worse than any other denomination. But if you want people to serve as salvationists, then surely they need to be trained and equipped and sent out to do that by the army? We know this isn’t going to happen, it would require a complete meltdown in church culture. So why not find an entirely different way in which to connect the army with soldiers serving out in their communities, despite local congregations that are either missionally passive, impassed through intractable problems or headed to closure? Commuting isn’t the problem here, church culture and inherited church structures are the problem.
   Blessings
Eleanor Burne-Jones on April 10th, 2008

4. Eleanor, is your suggestion therefore that we simply disband everything and give up?

   Aaron, your congregation is one of the ones that proves the point that I’m trying to make. By being so visible in the community that you are based there is a possibility for local people to see that those who call themselves Christians are both different and live lives that are attractive to others. Thanks for the encouragement!
Graeme Smith on April 10th, 2008

5. Eleanor,

   I quote what I saw on this site:

   You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
   (R. Buckminster Fuller)

   If we think this kind of community is right, and the way forward for the Salvation Army (not to mention the Body of Christ), then by all means let’s do it. Perhaps we don’t have to so much fight what is, but rather show what can be.

   Grace,

   Aaron
aaron on April 10th, 2008

6. I had a funny thought. You say that we commute everywhere, and that there is a problem where all the corps people parachute in from elsewhere, and then they aren’t in the same community for the rest of the week being salt and light. Which I am fine with, couldn’t agree more.

   Funny thought - we are always parachuting everywhere - to church, but also to work etc: what makes us think that the rest of the neighbourhood is any different? I know that in my middle class suburbian neighbourhood, NOONE is present in our neighbourhood until they get back from work etc at night. Even shopping etc, half the time the closest shopping centre is not the one we use, cos have to go to the shops near work (before they shut). And then on weekends, pretty much everyone is away at the large shopping precinct half an hour away. I think in some cases, being present in a “community” may involve a larger/different geographical area than just the local ‘hood or where our house is. Especially in Australia - our cities are very suburban, and very spread out compared to cities elsewhere that I’ve seen.

   What to do - forbid the people we’re trying to reach from travelling more than 10 minutes away from home, so that we can get to know them and build a community with them? lol
Stephanie on April 10th, 2008

7. Good heavens no, would I stay if I thought that? I don’t think we HELP ourselves by talking about how it is fine in Corps X and Corps Y and therefore the problem doesn’t exist, ignoring the complete picture of our churches.

   Nobody I’ve come across has argued that inherited forms of church can’t connect with their communities anywhere, ever. Occasionally, with a good leader, they do. They may then, if sustained over long enough with really effective discipleship happening, build up a church culture over time where everyone is expected to get involved, and it becomes basically a blend of a gathering in form of church and a sending out form of church. I’ve got to admit I’ve never encountered one of these but people tell me they exist, so I’m happy to accept that. I do hear about them now and again - I remember you told me of one, Graeme?

   The difficulty is the almost inexorable force of inherited church ingrained way of doing things that pulls most churches into passivity, or frantically energetic activity that doesn’t actually reach anyone unchurched. At the very heart of it lie a nest of problems. Officer-centred thinking by the army, rather than soldier-centred thinking. Officers having training but being either too busy or unable to pass it on, while in fact it’s the soldiers who need to engage in the mission. Do you remember that little snippet of research that found that that it is new converts who are the most effective at spreading the gospel?

   Inherited forms of church making heavy demands financially and in terms of time and energy on everyone simply to maintain things as they are. The army’s nervousness about its good name means it has to be very cautious about giving its blessing, never mind any actual encouragement, to soldiers initiatives - after all, if you haven’t trained the soldier, how can you predict what they will do and anticipate how it will turn out?

   The army desperately needs to identify where the missing link is between officers doing whatever it is they do (never worked that one out) and soldiers being discipled, formed, trained, equipped, mentored, encouraged, affirmed, validated, developed and sent out. There is a massive gap between theory and reality, and faithfulness to Christ demands the army find a way to make the connection between members and mission for which your post expresses a yearning.
Eleanor Burne-Jones on April 11th, 2008

8. Toenote: So my practical suggestion is to look, for example, at the C of E’s BMO (google BMO fresh expressions) for an example of how to engage people in pioneering mission bypassing a local congregation and it’s leader, which may be moribund or impassed or just too elderly to change or actively engage, but also retaining some accountability to the church, which is important for church governance. (Plants being susceptible to wanting to learn the hard way!)
Eleanor Burne-Jones on April 11th, 2008

9. Graeme

   I agree wholeheartedly. I never really appreciated the value of worshipping where you live before I went into Training College. Since coming to my present appointment, all but one person in the corps lives in the same small town that the corps is in. And just last year the one other couple who did live 15 miles away bought a house back in the town so that they could be salt and light within the community that their church is in.

   Eleanor:

   Hope that this might encourage you. Just last week my Divisional Commander here in the UK has issued a challenge that every member of the corps in our division be ‘trained up’ to be able to share their faith with others by the spring of next year. The DHQ is very geared towards doing whatever it can to help corps in the areas particularly of evangelism and discipleship.
Paul Wood on April 11th, 2008

10. Praise God, Paul, but I suspect that will meet the same fate as our TC’s intention that every soldier in the UK would have an opportunity to give feedback to the army about how the army helps and hinders them in engaging in mission, and what can be improved. I’ve not so far found a soldier who was contacted. OK fair enough most of them know that any ideas or feedback sent up the line will be held under the water until it stops struggling, but allowing soldiers to at least give feedback might have indicated a step in the right direction.

    Has the DC a plan for how it will be implemented and a way you will give feedback? The difficulty is usually that a church leader makes a structural decision (people will do X by date Y) but church culture neatly trips it up - the sabotage can be gross and/or ingenious, but it happens reliably. In a straight fist fight between a church structural dynamics and church cultural dynamics, culture delivers a knock out virtually every time.

    It would be a lovely idea though to see every soldier training to share their faith effectively. I guess we can dream -
Eleanor Burne-Jones on April 11th, 2008

11. Since the conversation has turned to organizational culture, I’ll throw in my two cents, since that’s what I’ve been studying and working on for the past couple of years. The observation that organizational culture may lie at the root of some of the concerns mentioned here is one I’d affirm. Organizational health is most definitely reflected in organizational culture.

    And, Eleanor & Paul, there actually are some proven feedback and measurement tools that exist. Our centre (The Salvation Army Ethics Centre, Winnipeg, Canada) did a cross-territory survey last year for the territorial social services department measuring the perceived relevance and integration of articulated core values in social services units. And since then, we’ve been trained to deliver a really cool tool that measures personal values, current culture values, and desired culture values. One of the organizations that uses this tool and that has committed to ‘living their values’ and healthy organizational culture is the Methodist Hospital System in Houston, Texas. They have been ranked in the top 10 in Fortune magazine’s “Top 100 Companies to Work For” for the last 2 years - an awesome achievement for any health care organization. Methodist Health surveys every single one of its employees every year. It’s non-mandatory participation, but if I remember correctly, their response rate has risen from the 30-40% range in the first years of surveying to the 70-80% range now. They take their results seriously, and drill down to the individual unit level (e.g. operating room teams, nursing units, IT teams) to find out where there is a lack of congruence and to equip those managers and teams to function more effectively. It’s very cool stuff!

    It can be done - I believe it with all my heart. But we have to have willing leadership to commit to the examination and process. Starting the conversation is a good first step. Thank you!
Sharon on April 11th, 2008

12. Eleanor,

    We are fortunate to have one of the most mission minded officers I have ever met as our DC and in turn a very mission focused DHQ. There is a plan in place to regarding evangelism and discipleship some of which involves workshop, training up officers/local people at corps level who will then train others to help run the courses on sharing our faith.

    Every corps is to have an established discipleship programme some of which will include training days, resources, promotion of small groups etc. There will also be ‘health clinics’ held which are corps reviews. We had one at our corps last year and this was a great feedback process and accountability tool as DHQ come back and check the progress as well.

    I do recognize that not everybody will readily embrace this but this is certainly a positive and proactive move by our DHQ to empower and equip corps folk at the local level.

    Sharon,

    You’re absolutely right about having a willing leadership committed to the process which I believe we are blessed with our DHQ team because it makes such a big difference. From having a health clinic/corps review, our members saw how much they mattered to DHQ. As a result, when I mentioned the plan of our DHQ to four of our corps folk last night, all four people said straight away that they were willing to do the course on sharing our faith!

    I’d like to think this dream will become a reality for many people within our division!
Paul Wood on April 11th, 2008

13. Thank you Sharon and Paul for that encouragement. Sharon, My impression of social services run by the army is that it aims to deliver the highest professional standard, and it would not surprise me at all to hear they ask for feedback from service users. I do see a reluctance though in transferring that positive valuing of feedback to church congregations, where they often fall well below the kind of standards of training, mentoring and developing people, and communicating how they are valued, that might be found in say a voluntary organisation in the secular arena. I am surprised by this, because it seems to convey a message that ‘amateur is ok’ when it comes to church. In fact, to be able to communicate the gospel, and to be able to engage in sharing the love of God with a neighbourhood via community projects or social outreach requires a high level of skills in everything from teamwork to fundraising, group faciliation to research. But churches tend to stick with a basic Christianity course such as Alpha for members, and expect the rest of the development of members to just happen be picked up as one goes along. Sadly that doesn’t cut it in today’s context.

    Paul, I look forward to hearing how it goes in your division, and hope the learnings from the division’s experience are shared widely. It sounds very encouraging, and I pray God’s blessing on the endeavour. Many thanks for the encouragement. :0)
Eleanor Burne-Jones on April 11th, 2008

14. Eleanor,

    The beauty of this values assessment tool that I mention is that it can work just as effectively in a church/corps setting as in a social services setting. It is, of course, only a tool, and doesn’t teach people skills, but it certainly opens the door to observe what are the living values in an organization (which are not always those that are articulated). And places like the Methodist Hospital in Houston have used that door to begin the discussion and frame the teaching of skills to create an organizational culture that lives their core values. At the Ethics Centre we hope that we’re helping to commence that conversation in our territory.

    Blessings.
Sharon on April 14th, 2008

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