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Salvation Army focuses on service

Salvation Army may be one of the world’s most familiar institutions. Yet when we hear the name, it probably brings up different impressions for different people. The Christmas kettle campaigns outside shopping malls. Thrift stores. Homeless shelters.
Salvation Army’s Deb Lowell
The Salvation Army’s Deb Lowell says people are drawn to the organization because of its focus on serving community. photo Dan Toulgoet

Salvation Army may be one of the world’s most familiar institutions. Yet when we hear the name, it probably brings up different impressions for different people. The Christmas kettle campaigns outside shopping malls. Thrift stores. Homeless shelters. For some in the LGBTQ community, it conjures a history of discrimination. The fact that the Sally Ann, as it is familiarly known, is different things to different people makes perfect sense. It is a sprawling international organization with agencies addressing a huge variety of spiritual and corporeal concerns.

“We believe that it’s heart to God and hand to man,” says Deb Lowell, a divisional director of the Salvation Army in B.C.

Salvationists, as they are known, are driven by a theological zeal, but their Christian beliefs manifest in actions more than words.

Some may forget that, while the Salvation Army logo is associated with addiction treatment facilities, food banks and meal services, rehabilitation, after-school programs, emergency housing, clothing recycling and ending human trafficking — it’s the second largest social service provider in Canada after the government, in fact — it is, at root, a Christian church.

As I said to Lowell, though, it is clearly not a church for the Sunday morning-only crowd.

“People who are drawn to the Salvation Army and our work are typically not somebody who wants to just come out on Sundays,” she agrees. “They’re probably very involved already. That may be even why they choose to come to the Salvation Army, because they know we are very mission-focused and service is high on our agenda. Certainly there is lots of opportunity to be involved in hands-on service.”

For about a century, Salvationists have been active in Vancouver.

In the Downtown Eastside since the early 1950s, Vancouver Harbour Light has been providing food and shelter, detox, soup and coffee, work experience training, a drop-in centre where people can be connected with help and resources, counselling and short- and long-term housing.

Grace Mansion, further up East Hastings, is a transitional home for up to 85 people who have completed rehabilitation from drug or alcohol dependence as they adapt to independent living.

On Homer Street, the Salvation Army’s Belkin House is dedicated to “breaking the cycle of homelessness,” providing shelter for men, women, children and federal offenders re-entering society.

Southview Terrace and Heights, near Champlain Mall in southeast Vancouver, is a complex of apartments for independent seniors with the option of additional levels of care.

The War College, at Main and Hastings, is a group of young people who live in the area’s hotels and work with residents in the neighbourhood.

This last project raises the question… what’s with the militaristic motif?

“Very early on, that framework was established at the time because of its familiarity,” says Lowell. “We are celebrating our 150th anniversary worldwide and so it was a known culture, I guess.”

Military rank is used by the Salvation Army less to denote hierarchy than the level of responsibility or professional role.

“When somebody becomes a Salvation Army officer, they would graduate as a captain and then you would go up in rank based on your position that you hold or based on the level of responsibility,” she says. “For example, if you’re a divisional leader, you would probably be a major or a lieutenant-colonel or a colonel and it goes right up to our international leader [in London, UK], who is a general.”

The international organization is also involved in hotspots around the globe, including right now by providing food and emergency services to Middle Eastern refugees in Europe. From global to hyper-local, Sally Ann workers can also be found under overpasses and in alleyways because, Lowell says, they can’t depend on people in need finding the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army makes it their business to find those who need them.

Theologically, the Salvation Army is part of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, which has led to criticism from gay rights advocates. The organization has been accused of holding to the idea that homosexuality is wrong. As a theological point, this may be true, but the Salvation Army has responded with assurances that their service delivery and employment practices are blind to sexual orientation. Still, there are those who call for a boycott of the kettles.

Because of these allegations, I’ve walked past the Christmas kettles the last few years and kept my change in my pocket. I also believe people should be able to believe whatever they want but should be judged on their actions. As I’ve learned more, I’ve concluded that there are plenty of churches and other organizations that hold retro anti-gay attitudes, but none of them are doing a fraction as much good in the world as the Salvation Army.

And if those who call for boycotts dedicated their energy to solving the problems Sally Ann is addressing, I’d be more inclined to sympathize.

This year, when the Christmas kettles appear (in late November), I’ll give generously.

PacificSpiritPJ@gmail.com

@Pat604Johnson