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Our Identity Principles
Our identity principles guide and strengthen the identity of The Salvation Army across our territory. They are:
The identity of The Salvation Army originates in God and is rooted in God — Father, Son and
Spirit.
The Salvation Army must consistently explore, embrace and strengthen our God-given, Godinspired identity, which is part of the mission of God in the world and the wider Church.
The identity of The Salvation Army must be faithful to God’s purposes and relevant and engaging to a range of audiences. For example, corps members, employees, supporters, volunteers, officers, media and parliament.
The Salvation Army’s identity must be big enough for every part of the territory to understand itself and be appreciated as part of one Salvation Army, contributing to our mission. Fragmentation or narrowing the identity of the Army poses a risk to an inclusive and diverse Salvation Army. We need to be clear, confident and consistent as we live out the gospel of Jesus and ‘Love God, Love Others’ in every aspect of our lives. These statements and principles will help us to do this together.
Transformation, Integration, Streamlining
Many organisations have made the mistake of creating and adopting new principles, values and goals — and then immediately ignoring them! We need to make sure that ‘Valuing People’, our values, our vision and our mission are enacted in reality. The Salvation Army has always been very pragmatic, rather than theoretical or abstract, and so we are already looking at ways to initiate real change in how we ‘do’ Salvation Army. Commencing in 2021, the Structure Co-ordination and Design Project aims to help the UKI Territory achieve greater local mission flourishing by co-ordinating and designing appropriate support from headquarters. When we talk about ‘local mission flourishing’ or ‘local mission delivery’, we are referring to all aspects of Salvation Army work that directly connect with people in communities such as corps, fresh expressions, pioneering, core recovery church, Lifehouses, care homes, antitrafficking work, chaplaincy, employment services, debt advice, charity shops and other services. Three desired outcomes are prioritised in this work:
Transformation: Increase the capacity of locally based Salvation Army work to contribute to the five mission priorities (share the good news, nurture disciples of Jesus, care for creation, serve others without discrimination, seek justice and reconciliation). Integration: Build strong and effective collaboration between all aspects of Salvation
Army work in a geographical area. Streamlining: Design appropriate, effective, efficient and sustainable structures and processes that enable local mission to flourish. We must be clear, confident and consistent in who we are. The Salvation Army in the UK and Ireland has new vision and mission statements that will steer us in how we love God and love others. In all things, the Army must be Spirit-filled and life-giving to all people. When this happens, local mission is flourishing. We do not believe there are simple, quick and easy solutions to complex, longterm challenges. Change is always with us; we need to continually learn and adapt. We need to be agile and creative as we relentlessly seek our vision of ‘Fullness of life for all with Jesus’.
While this brochure offers an overview of the ‘Valuing People’ framework, a booklet that more fully explains and unpacks it is available at salvationarmy.org.uk/valuing-people
