Illustration: Olivier Le Moal/stock.Adobe.com
Dr. James Read and the Ethics Centre team commemorate Orange Shirt Day
The Heart of the Matter As Dr. James Read retires as executive director of the Ethics Centre, he urges Salvationists to continue engaging critically with the concerns of the world.
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n September 18, Dr. James Read, then executive director of The Salvation Army Ethics Centre in Winnipeg, received the Order of the Founder, the Army’s highest award. Read has spent his entire career helping Salvationists think critically about ethical, social and moral issues. He moved to Winnipeg in 1982 to help create what is now Booth University College, serving as a professor of ethics and philosophy. In 1994, he founded The Salvation Army Ethics Centre and, in 2008, he became a senior policy analyst for the newly formed International Social Justice Commission. He also served as chair of the International Moral and Social Issues Council out of International Headquarters. As Read enters retirement, editorin-chief Geoff Moulton spoke with him about his tenure at the Ethics Centre, critical issues facing the church and what has brought him joy on the journey. As he reminds us, ethics is primarily a matter of the heart. You’ve helmed the Ethics Centre for 27 years, since its inception. What have been the main contributions of the centre and how has the work evolved over time?
It was a privilege to play a part in the birth of the Ethics Centre. In 18 December 2021 Salvationist
the 1990s, I began as a health-care ethics consultant for the Canada and Bermuda Territory with the support of Lt-Colonel David Luginbuhl, then health services secretary. In the early days, the centre was largely attuned to the needs of Salvation Army health services, hospitals, long-term care facilities, eventually extending those services to non-Army hospitals as well. When the territory developed core values, we saw an opportunity for the Ethics Centre to help The Salvation Army “walk the talk,” noting the need for integrity in the organization, not just in individuals. Raising awareness of the values and building support around them became one of the Ethics Centre’s goals. In 2008, with the development of the International Social Justice Commission in New York City, the Ethics Centre began resourcing the international Army. For the last 13 years, our work has focused on social justice concerns, not just internal organizational concerns. The world seems topsy-turvy these days. What are the main ethical issues that need our attention? Is there one that resonates for you personally?
The world does seem topsy-turvy right now. Whether it’s always been that way, we might debate. But it’s not just the topsy-turvyness that gets my attention—there is a polarization of people like I’ve never experienced before. Many are divided into camps, taking sides, planting their flags and defending their ground. That mindset is at odds with an ethics approach, which attempts instead to understand the world and specific challenges for the purposes of bringing people together. Unfortunately, we are in this fractious time where people have entrenched views. We are not in a time in which people are seeking to be humble and admit that we don’t have it all figured out. So, how can we work together? In terms of the issues, first, of existential, global importance is the state of the environment. I think that Christians in the West generally need to take climate concerns more to heart. We must ask what it means for us to be earth creatures, to understand that God has made us embodied creatures, and we are dependent on the earth as the earth is dependent on us. We can’t just use material resources at our whim, but rather
