Well, I promised a response to this. Then I apologized for it not happening yet. Sorry for the wait... it likely won't be worth "waiting for with baited breath". But none the less, here is my response:

The question was, "How could The Salvation Army allow this [The Freeway] to happen?"

The truth is they didn't allow The Freeway to happen. They made it happen. And by "they" I mean "we".

You see, we are inherently part of The Salvation Army, even though:

• some of us may not think so
• some of us may not know so
• some of us don't want to admit to it
• some of us couldn't care less either way
• some of us don't identify themselves with The Salvation Army... even though they are part of The Freeway
• etc.
  

When people frequent the coffee house they may or may not know that we are Salvation Army, or a church, or anything other than a nice place to grab a tasty beverage with free wifi, local art, funky music, friendly staff, and an incredible vibe. That's OK with us. See, the point isn't promoting our church, or The Salvation Army, or even ushering people into religion. The point is building community, getting to know our neighbours, creating a safe place, living missionally, and incarnating Christ's life and message to our postal code.

Likewise, people who have joined the church community may have joined the local body of Christ at The Freeway and not necessarily the world-wide movement. That doesn't mean they are any less part of the world-wide movement, but in their frame of reference they have joined our little church community. That's OK with us too. Maybe they identify with The Freeway, but not The Salvation Army as a whole. Fine. That doesn't mean they any less belong.

To be honest a lot of the people who have found The Freeway to be home don't know who William Booth or John Wesley are... or for that matter, who Brian McLaren is either. They couldn't care less about "emerging" or our Wesleyan heritage or our Salvation Army roots. But they belong regardless. We are the people in their neighbourhood who care, and who have established relationship with them... the people who represent Jesus to them... and they represent Jesus to us.

We are also inherently Salvation Army even though:

• we don't wear uniforms
• we don't play brass instruments
• we don't have a flag
• we don't speak in acronyms
• we use Biblical metaphors other than just military ones

If you want to know what The Salvation Army looks like, come and visit us at our coffee house some time. Or check out our local addictions centre, or our centre for young single moms, or our centre for adults with developmental disabilities, or our shelter or... well, you get the message.

The church community and the coffee house would simply not exist without The Salvation Army. They have supported us in incredible ways... not as outsiders who they feel led to help... but as their own.

"We are The Salvation Army"... there I said it, are you happy now?

Labels: the freeway, the salvation army, writing