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Father’s Day festivities have been in full swing across Salvation Army Aged Care centres over the past week. Residents at Riverview Gardens Aged Care Centre, 30km west of Brisbane, celebrated Father’s Day with a virtual trip to Texas, USA, complete with a very special guest, Shorty! Everyone loved getting to meet Shorty, the most adorable pony. The virtual trip included a Texan barbecue spread, a themed dress-up and a tribute show to some of country music’s iconic singers. Yeehaw! Residents at Gill Waminda Aged Care Centre in Goulburn in the Southern Tablelands of NSW created some Father’s Day cards, sharing many stories and reminiscing about their childhoods along the way. For additional stories and information from Salvation Army Aged Care, click here or check out the SACC Facebook page.

Before entering into officership, I worked for the Army for 15 years, and across both my employment and my service as an officer, I’ve attended hundreds of conferences and seminars. At the majority of these, they either give you a small gift or you receive a ‘showbag’ with various items in it, often including merchandise from the key speaker or the company or department sponsoring the event. Occasionally, it’s a stress ball or a key ring or a drink bottle or post-it notes, but most often, it’s a pen. I suspect if I’d kept all of these pens, I’d now have hundreds of them from a vast array of churches, interchurch groups, charities, government agencies and large corporations, and I could open a pen shop. About 25 years ago, I attended a conference where the speaker said we were moving quickly to a paperless society as everything was going online, and if we didn’t get moving fast we’d be left behind with all the other agencies who refused to go digital. Then he gave us a pen as a gift. Yep. A pen. I’m assuming it was to write a reminder on the back of my hand saying: ‘Stop using paper’. What sort of gift should we give visitors who come to our church, as a way of saying both ‘welcome’ and ‘you should come back again because now we’ve given you a gift and you should feel guilty if you don’t come back’? How about a frisbee? It’s fun, and playing with a frisbee alone doesn’t really work. You need others, you know, a community, a church. Of frisbee catchers. You could even print a Bible verse on it, perhaps Psalm 46:10 – “(Fris)bee still and know that I am God.” Maybe something more practical, like, say, a Batman comic. You could staple a card to a corner of the cover saying: “Don’t just wait for a crisis, you can call on God anytime, bat-chum”, and include 1 Thessalonians 5:17 – “Pray without ceasing, citizen.” Personally, I think a slinky would be great. Tell them that with God on our side, we’ll always ‘spring back’ and give them a card quoting Psalm 85:11 – “Faithfulness SPRINGS up from the ground and righteousness looks down from the s(lin)ky.” Perhaps we need to think more strategically. Let’s give a visitor 20 jigsaw pieces of a 200-piece jigsaw and say, “The next 20 pieces will be available next week, see you then!” and so on for ensuing weeks. I remember an old soldier telling me years ago that during the Depression in the 1930s, his corps did a promotion offering each visitor that coming Sunday a gift. It said that every man would get a coat hanger and every woman an oven lighter. When people arrived for the meeting, the women received a match, and the men received a nail. Alternately, let’s just give them a pen. We’ll include Colossians 4:3 – “And pray for us, too, that God may o-pen a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ …” – Major Mal Davies and his wife Major Tracey are the Corps Officers at Adelaide City Salvos

By COLONEL RODNEY WALTERS Happy Father’s Day! It has been 11 years since I was home in Australia for Father’s Day. In that time, while serving overseas as a Salvation Army officer, my father and my father-in-law were both promoted to glory. Both were great role models in their own distinct way, but they were two men who made a deep impression on my life. As an officer father, I have tried to be fair and present in my children’s lives when I was home or with them. Of course, this didn’t always happen due to crises or issues that had to be attended to, and so, I guess it could be said that I was largely an absent father. (Not a badge I want to wear!) As a family, we had to prioritise one night a week as a family night so my kids knew they had my complete attention. I always intended to be a good husband, father, officer and friend because of my love for Jesus. I remember watching a movie called We Were Soldiers. One scene that stood out was when a young military officer was in the chapel of a hospital following the birth of his daughter, and he was questioning God whether he could be both a father and an officer. His commander came in and, hearing his concern, took the soldier to the prayer rail, and both knelt and prayed. The commander said he believed that being good at one would make the officer good at the other. The sentiment rang true – if you commit yourself to the task you are given, your commitment, discipline, and obedience will also help you deal with life matters. There is no one template for fatherhood. When we make time with our children, we need to be present with them. I have also been blessed with other fatherly role models who have shown me commitment, fun, hard work, and the blessing of time! I have learnt that it is never too late to make amends and start over. The past may not be forgotten, but the ‘today’ and ‘tomorrow’ may change the focus of how our reactions unfold. “We have an Everlasting Father who loves us and has provided everything we need to return to him, no matter what we have done.” The most beautiful image of a forgiving father would be the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). In regard to the best image of a father being forgiven by a child would be seeing arms wide open for an embrace. The next component, or blessing, of being a father is when your child presents you with a grandchild. These are transformational moments. In most cases, you are not the responsible parent and have a small liberty to do things you couldn’t do with your children. It’s a strange yet pleasant feeling. Father’s Day brings many thoughts to many people, but I would like to revisit the parable mentioned earlier. We have an Everlasting Father who loves us and has provided everything we need to return to him, no matter what we have done. He comes to us, arms open wide to receive us! The writer of the song, ‘So You Would Come’, captures this sentiment well in the second verse: Nothing you can do can make Him love you more And nothing that you’ve done could make Him close the door Because of His great love, He gave His only Son Everything was done so you would come. It is my hope for you, no matter your experiences of the past, that today you will experience love and acceptance by our loving Heavenly Father. Thanks Dad!

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BY LERISSE SMITH An exciting initiative focused on creating a safe space for Salvos to explore their viewpoints on a myriad of topics is proving to be a great tool for ministry. The Faith Based Facilitation (FBF) model has gone from strength to strength with a diverse range of more than 100 FBF Facilitators now trained to run facilitated conversations throughout the Australia Territory, coming from all different roles, ranks and life experiences. No topic is off limits, no question is wrong, and there are no hidden agendas. So, what is the key to its success? “It’s an excellent model, a great way of getting people – who differ in perspectives and experiences – to sit together to discuss topics that are important in their lives, in a way that is non-confrontative, says Casey O’Brien Machado, Territorial Faith-Based Facilitation Coordinator and Trainer, and Alternate Chair of the Moral and Social Issues Council (MASIC) Australia. “There is nothing remarkable about the FBF model in itself – it’s simply a way of working that has turned out to be very helpful to people. The safety of having a cycle to follow gives people a process by which to discuss things that are sometimes difficult otherwise.” The ways in which the FBF tool can be used are limitless. It could be used to address issues within a corps, implement a new model or community program, to discussing sometimes difficult topics such as racism, voluntary-assisted dying, sexuality and more. FBF conversations usually take the form of a facilitated discussion between eight to 10 people, lasting 90 to 120 minutes, sharing viewpoints and ideas, reflection, reading of Scripture and prayer. Equipping FBF Facilitators with great resources has been integral, while MASIC has produced guides to help support facilitators in running discussions on topics such as vaccinations and religious freedom, with more to come. Highly recommended Captain Richard Day, Corps Officer at Port Augusta (SA), is a great believer in the effectiveness of the FBF tool, having been trained as a facilitator – and highly recommends it to others. He recalled enjoying the practical elements of the training and putting into practice the FBF process by having conversations utilising the process. The training also gave the participants some general examples of topics to give them an idea of how they could use the FBF process. “The thing I love about the FBF process is you never know where the conversation is going to go,” Richard said. “You can go in thinking it’s going to go down the path of XYZ, but then you get the conversation happening and, all of a sudden, it’s like going down the path of HIJ. It’s about where the people are at, what they are thinking, what comes out of the conversation.” Richard said he used the FBF process a lot in decision-making and talking to different groups of people about daily life. It’s also used amongst his staff too. “The thing I love about it is that it’s not about getting everyone to get to the same point and everybody to agree,” he said. “But it’s about getting people to a point to think about why they believe, what they believe. It might re-enforce what they believe or change their thinking slightly or give them something more to think about. And it’s ok to disagree. Life was not meant to be so simple where everyone agrees on everything.” “You can get to the heart of an issue using the FBF process. It’s been fantastic. Hopefully, a lot more people will get involved and pick it up.” Respectful environment One discussion topic that can often prove difficult to talk about and divisive within the church and wider community is same-sex attraction and relationships. But this has not deterred Auxiliary-Lieutenant Roderick Brown, Corps Officer at Launceston (Tas.), who gave his congregants the opportunity to discuss the topic in a safe, non-judgmental, and respectful environment. Roderick believes some contemporary issues Salvationists deal with, including sexuality, are not best addressed in the preaching platform but in the FBF space, as there are so many complexities and different experiences that people have and different circumstances and exposure. Furthermore, he said a key component of FBF was to understand, as people of faith who want to share the love of Jesus, how best to explore this with people who have different world views to our own or people with different life experiences to our own. “My view is, what is our role as disciples of Jesus Christ? To love people, to care for people, to show them the way of truth. But if, and if is a very strong word there, if there is any change needed, then it is not our job to convince people to change. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit,” Roderick said. “There is no condemnation for those who love Christ Jesus.” The FBF tool also enabled authentic conversations where every voice was heard and valued. For church members who took part in Roderick’s FBF conversations, it was an empowering experience. “I found the whole session very comfortable, and it allowed everyone in the group to be open and honest and have a dialogue around same-sex relationships,” said John*, who attended one of the sessions. For Sue*, it gave her an insight into how to be welcoming within the church-based setting and the role of believers within this space. “I am encouraged that The Salvation Army is having these conversations and allowing safety and space in suitable settings to allow conversations to occur,” she said. Another participant, Jane*, said sitting with a group of like-minded people was lovely. “It did give me ideas on actions I could take to be more inclusive and challenged me to speak up when I am in discussion with other church members.” In Port Augusta, Richard also led a successful FBF conversation with staff and volunteers on same-sex attraction, having been on a journey with the topic with friends who are in same-sex relationships and undertaking a research essay on ‘Holiness and Human Sexuality’. He’s looking forward to facilitating more FBF sessions in the future and opening it up to any topic. In her role as an FBF Facilitator, Casey said she often found that people experienced God moving or speaking to them through others in an FBF cycle, particularly when they were open to hearing or learning things that they perhaps did not know before. “I have found it really moving that often, when an FBF conversation finishes, people don’t necessarily all come to the same conclusion,” she said. “I think there’s a beauty in that ... that supports our theological belief that God created each of us as individuals, each with the capacity to think for ourselves. We believe that God reveals himself to all people, and we can trust that he will do just that.” Looking to the future, Casey hopes FBF will become ‘business as usual’ and another tool Salvationists have in their ministry. For more information on FBF, you can contact Casey O’Brien Machado directly or email at fbfconversations@salvationarmy.org.au *Names have been changed to protect their identity.

BY LAUREN MARTIN A new Salvos Store opening today (31 August 2023) in Tamworth (NSW) will give local shoppers a fantastic retail experience and enable more community members to volunteer. Jenny Cross – who bubbles with laughter when she tells people her name, saying, “I’m not really cranky, I promise!” – says the new store is brilliant. “We had outgrown the old one,” she says. “Now we can have everything displayed beautifully and stock new products again. The opening day will feature a Welcome To Country from a local indigenous elder and a performance from country singer Cody Walker, a fitting addition given that Tamworth is the country music capital of Australia. “It will create a fantastic vibe,” says Jenny. The store has “the best team in the world,” says Jenny of her staff and volunteers, who come from various backgrounds, including work-for-the-dole, correctional work placements and community members looking to have fun and give back. “We always need more volunteers,” says Jenny. And, now that the store is larger, there will be more pricing to be done, more stock to be sorted and more displays to arrange. Meaning that more community members can be part of The Salvation Army’s mission!

Whether joining the congregation online this Sunday (see link below), or in London, Salvationists and supporters are encouraged to share prayers and words of encouragement for the new world leaders of The Salvation Army – General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham, World President of Women's Ministries. You can send your personal prayer or words of encouragement to the leaders via the online form here or on social media using #PrayForTheGeneralAndWPWM ‘Praying for leaders’ resources are also available to view or download here and include a prayer guide and encouragement cards. The prayer guide focuses on 14 aspects of leadership and can be used for personal, collective and public prayer over 14 days or weeks. Available in 10 languages, the guide includes: · written prayer · recorded video prayer · Scripture · questions for reflection · ideas for personal action. The prayer cards are for personal or small-group use. Each card features: · one aspect of leadership · Scripture · a question for reflection Topics included in the prayer resources include wisdom, courage, health, fresh energy and creativity, and peace. Salvationists and friends from around the world will join together this Sunday 3 September for the official welcome to the new international leaders. The event, taking place at Regent Hall in London, will be streamed live on The Salvation Army’s international website at 3.30pm GMT (1.30am Monday 4 September AEST). The event will also be available to watch on The Salvation Army's international YouTube channel here. General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham are set to pay a visit to the Australia Territory in 2024. The world leaders’ visit – from Thursday 29 August to Monday 2 September 2024 –​ will be an opportunity for Salvos to come together in person and be encouraged as we hear first-hand from the General and Commissioner Buckingham about how God is at work globally across our movement. ​ As part of the Buckinghams’ visit, all active and retired officers will be invited to attend an event in Sydney on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 August 2024, and a Salvationist rally will be held in Melbourne on Monday 2 September 2024. ​ Further details will be announced at a later date.

1. What is your current appointment and what do you find most satisfying about it? I am the Coursework Coordinator at Eva Burrows College. I love learning and wrestling with how to live out my faith in a rapidly changing world. Being able to support students on their learning journey is a real privilege. 2. Away from the appointment (if that’s possible!) what do you do to relax or unwind? I love reading, movie nights with my family, baking, and exploring new places on holidays. 3. What’s a favourite Christian song and why do you like it? Your Grace Still Amazes Me by Phillips, Craig and Dean. The words of this song capture the awe I feel when I reflect upon the grace of God. I truly am amazed by God’s grace. 4. If you could have a good talk with a biblical character apart from Jesus, who would it be and what would you talk about? I would love to spend some time chatting with Amos. I am fascinated by the Old Testament prophets and the gutsy ways they proclaimed God’s justice and grace despite the opposition they faced. I would want to talk to Amos, particularly about chapter five of his book in the Bible and the connection that is made between justice and worship. 5. If you were talking to a group of Salvationists and they asked if you recommended officership or not, what would you say? Officership, like any other vocation, certainly has its ups and downs. When I consider my officership journey to date I am grateful for the people I have met along the way. It is a sacred privilege to meet people where they are and to become a part of their journey. I am also grateful for the many opportunities I have had to serve in a variety of roles in corps and at the college. Interview by Major Mal Davies

BY LAUREN MARTIN For the past eight years, community members needing emergency relief from The Salvation Army have called the phone assistance line for assessment and then collected vouchers at their nearest ‘Connect Centre’. Now, the Doorways team is trialling new face-to-face Financial Assessment Centres at several sites across the state. One of those sites is Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid-North Coast. Corps Officer Captain Peter Gott says it all came about because of a strong desire by corps members to create relationships around the Emergency Relief (ER) space. “A lot of our volunteers that were working or volunteering in our welfare space (before Doorways) had transitioned to become Doorways volunteers. “When we arrived as corps officers, we got to know the team, and there was a real heart for wanting to create a space to meet the real needs of loneliness and isolation that are quite high in our community, especially as a result of the COVID lockdown years.” Last year, the corps built relationships with Coles Secondbite and OzHarvest and started a Wednesday drop-in at the corps building with groceries and free fresh fruit and vegetables. Doorways case managers and ER operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and there are always volunteers at the corps on those days, providing community members with cups of tea and coffee and someone to chat with if they are waiting for an appointment. It was the perfect place for Doorways to trial face-to-face financial assessment for emergency relief. Now, if people come to the corps for the drop-in centre and to get food relief, they can take advantage of having an immediate face-to-face emergency relief assessment if a need is identified. “I remember a single mum had come into our drop-in centre ... it wasn’t her first time grabbing some food,” says Peter. “She was chatting and said to one of the other community members that, at the moment, things are so tight for her that she is either buying food or her medication. She couldn’t afford both. “I was able to say, ‘Well, our team has some chemist warehouse vouchers that could be there to help you.’ So, on that same day, she was able to see one of the Doorways team and get that support.” ‘Beautiful’ partnering Chris New is the coordinator of the Mid-North Coast Doorways Program and works with the Doorways team at Port Macquarie Salvos. He says the face-to-face trial is working incredibly well because of the beautiful partnering between the corps and Doorways teams. “The moment a community member comes through the doors, they meet our lovely volunteers who are extremely warm and welcoming. They are sat down and offered a cup of tea or coffee, and they will undergo a financial assessment with our ER assessor, like one of the phone assessors, but in person. “When you walk through the doors of a Salvos corps, you get covered in love, you really do. That’s what community members feel when they come through the door. They will exhale, they will speak to corps members, and you can see the weight get lifted off their shoulders ... some of them will burst into tears. They almost feel that they have ‘come home’ to a support network that they have not had in their lives.” After the initial ER assessment, many community members are offered the chance to journey with a Doorways case manager to assist them in navigating more complex life issues. This journey also involves corps-member volunteers, who get to know the community members as they come back for appointments and often spend time at the Wednesday drop-in space, getting groceries and having a cuppa and a chat. Peter says there are plenty of opportunities to develop partnerships with other community organisations in the corps building space, which has a large commercial kitchen and lots of space. “I think there is also opportunity for life-skills programs,” he says. “The ER space is really about the crisis moment, and then the case worker is trying to pull them out of that space, but we want to focus on how we can give people the tools to build good skills in life. “But we are building community and relationship here first, and we will see where God leads.”

General Lyndon Buckingham and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham are set to pay a visit to the Australia Territory in 2024. ​The world leaders’ visit – from Thursday 29 August to Monday 2 September 2024 –​ will be an opportunity for Salvos to come together in person and be encouraged as we hear first-hand from the General and Commissioner Buckingham about how God is at work globally across our movement. ​ As part of the Buckinghams’ visit, all active and retired officers will be invited to attend an event in Sydney on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 August 2024, and a Salvationist rally will be held in Melbourne on Monday 2 September 2024. ​ ​ Further details will be announced at a later date.

George says he had forgotten about God until he reached a point in his life when he couldn’t stop drinking. Having a strong desire to change, he attended an Alpha course at Tweed Salvos with his wife and encountered a God who could change lives. George has a genuine joy and connection to people today. He reflects that God has a plan for him and has always had a plan for him.

BY CLIFF WORTHING Bringing solutions to local issues is driving growth and awareness for The Salvation Army in the Solomon Islands, according to Major Robert Evans, Solomon Islands District Officer. Even though 94 per cent of the population identifies as Christian, there is a growing desire to engage with The Salvation Army’s ethos and way of doing things. Robert and his wife, Major Vanessa Evans, are Australian officers who have led The Salvation Army’s work in the Solomon Islands for the past five years. The Solomons are part of the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Territory. “We are showing that Christianity is more than singing nice songs on Sunday,” Robert said. “People have seen how a church can improve their quality of life, which is what is so attractive to them!” The Army is active in 11 villages, and 19 other villages have asked them to establish a presence in their communities. Robert said the Army was not competing or duplicating what other churches do but looking for the gaps to fill, individuals in the “too hard basket” or groups not affiliated with other churches. “They are our people,” Robert said. One of the most significant areas of mission and closing a gap is a literacy program run by Vanessa. She has set up four learning centres targeted mainly at children not in school and women who have missed out on educational opportunities. “The program is helping our women gain the skills and confidence to contribute to society and gain greater equality,” Vanessa said. She mentioned how satisfying it was to see females write their names for the first time or come out of the background to make a difference. The learning spaces are places where children and women in the communities can gain confidence not only in their reading, writing and speaking but also increase their self-esteem, as well as reduce their vulnerability to sexual violence and human trafficking, according to Vanessa. “One of the highlights of this program is seeing some of our women who were my first students now become teachers,” Vanessa said. “The flow-on effect of just one activity is producing great results.” To see one of our women stand up in public and read from the Scriptures is amazing, and watching other women come up to her and tell her that they want to be like her is so heartwarming,” Vanessa said. “Learning spaces is one way that The Salvation Army Solomon Islands is changing lives.” Each week, an average of 161 women and children attend the learning spaces. Everywhere the Army establishes a presence, it creates social enterprises to build a self-sustaining component for the church group. Fishing, coconut oil production, low-cost fuel, and an aluminium foundry are just some money-making enterprises. Making it Happen project Another priority in the Solomon Islands is developing Indigenous leaders. The Evanses have identified four couples as candidates for officership. Once they become officers, they can be appointed to one of the church groups. To prepare for those appointments, quarters need to be built in each location. The Australia Territory is supporting the cost of building one of the officer quarters through this year’s Making it Happen project. Three priority locations in Malaita Province have been proposed because they have the greatest mission development potential. The estimated cost is $A120,000 to build and furnish the officers’ quarters. Robert’s background in architectural design contributed to the drawing up of plans. The Evanses have consulted widely with village leadership to ensure the quarters suit village life. The quarters will have a private upstairs living section and a downstairs living area, traditionally accessible for community meetings, prayer meetings and Bible studies. “The village pastor’s house is the gathering place, is open to foot traffic and is integral to village life,” Robert said. “We are trying to cast a vision of what quarters in this part of the world can look like.” The plans will be submitted to Territorial Headquarters soon for approval. The Evanses are discussing a partnership with Rural Training Centres to help build the quarters. The students would gain valuable real-life experience in building a project as part of their studies, making gaining employment easier once they graduate. The training centres save money because the builds will be in rural areas, which is cheaper for them than sending students to the capital, Honiara. The Salvation Army receives free labour while providing experienced builders as supervisors. The local corps will support the workers with accommodation and food during the building process. “We are really excited by this partnership because everyone contributes and gains from it,” Robert said. “In trying to do good, we don’t want to take away the resilience of the people by just throwing money at the locals.” Fundraising ideas, promotional materials, and resources for a Making it Happen Sunday are available at www.my.salvos.org.au/making-it-happen