Commissioner Miriam Gluyas talks with Shire Salvos Team Leader Mark Soper about new ways of doing church, from gathered worship to formats like ‘Communities of Hope’ and ‘Community Tables’. All these platforms strive to open up faith conversations that will point people to Jesus. Mark and his team work in a collaborative and encouraging way in the Sutherland Shire of Sydney. He says the best advice for those starting out is to hang out with like-minded Kingdom people, walk in the right direction and keep Jesus in the centre.

The Ordination, Commissioning and Sending Out of the Defenders of Justice and Reflectors of Holiness will be held over the last weekend in November. Please mark the following dates and times in your calendars for this significant event in the lives of our soon-to-be-commissioned cadets. Cadet Leeanne Pattison (Defenders of Justice) will be commissioned on Friday 24 November at Adelaide City Salvos (7.30pm). Cadets Edward and Beola Conteh (Defenders of Justice), David Delany (Reflectors of Holiness) and Vikki Song (Reflectors of Holiness) will be commissioned on Sunday 26 November at Auburn Corps (10.30am). Online links will be available closer to the date.

The first of September, the day children in Eastern Europe return to school after the long summer break, is traditionally a day of much celebration. Children begin the school year dressed in their best clothes, with special flowers and gifts for their teachers. The day is referred to as the ‘Day of Knowledge’. Salvation Army corps throughout the region help supply children needing assistance with back-to-school supplies, including backpacks, books, stationery and other essentials. In Ukraine this (northern) autumn, for the second year in a row, students are beginning their school year in the midst of Russia's full-scale invasion of the country. And around the world, thousands of young Ukrainian students who have fled to other countries with their loved ones to escape the war will start school outside their homeland. The Salvation Army, both in Ukraine and in nations where refugees are living, is assisting students and their families, as they are able, with school supplies and clothing to help them start the new academic year. The nation is grateful to all who are helping to build a Ukrainian future – teachers, parents and countries who are assisting Ukraine and Ukrainians. In honour of the start of the new school year, in Ukraine and in many countries, the day began with the playing of the Ukrainian national anthem. The word ‘knowledge’ in the Bible is found over 150 times. “Also, the Bible teaches us to acquire knowledge and to seek wisdom,” said Salvation Army leaders in Ukraine. “Wisdom involves acting according to the Spirit of God’s commandments; with wisdom comes the will and the courage to continue living according to the wisdom of God: ‘And everything you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father,’ (Colossians 3:17). “The future will be built by today’s children, schoolchildren and students. We are praying for a happy future for children in a kind, just world and wishing all who have begun learning, teaching, supporting and protecting new beginnings with faith and prayer in their hearts.”

BY LERISSE SMITH Creative and innovative thinking featured highly at a recent conference where the spotlight centred on exploring more inclusive and welcoming approaches for people with disabilities and mental health issues in the Church. Box Hill Corps in Melbourne hosted the one-day event titled ‘Welcoming and Inclusive: Actions for Churches in response to people with disabilities and health issues’ that explored theological perspectives on disability and mental illness, as well as workshops on neurodivergence, invisible disability, navigating government support and issues of mental illness in the justice system. And it was far from a pedestrian event where people just sat and listened. Thought-provoking and lively discussions were the order of the day for the 60 participants from different denominations and community-based organisations, along with engagement in an array of interesting workshops, being inspired by guest speakers, and embarking on conversations centred around practical approaches to further include people with disabilities and mental health issues into the Church. “There was lots of fruitful conversation around opportunities and ways that we can be more inclusive of people with disabilities and people experiencing mental health issues, and to learn from each other,” said Joseph Pinkard, The Salvation Army’s National Disability Inclusion Lead. “Obviously, there’s a Royal Commission going on at the moment into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability, and an ongoing conversation about the NDIS. So, it’s very front of mind in the Australian society, and the churches are part of that conversation, I guess, around how do we continue to be a place of welcoming and belonging for people with disabilities. “It’s going to be an ongoing area of attention in mainstream Australia.” Joseph added that for the Church to remain relevant, it needed to intentionally consider including people with disabilities. “I think there’s generally an attitude of welcome in all churches, but sometimes there’s value in being more intentional about including people with disabilities because sometimes there are barriers to participation that we’re not aware of,” he said. And the barriers? Some were visible and practical, others more subtle. It might be like a lack of a ramp, inaccessible worship service space, or church building. However, some could be more subtle, such as low expectations of people with disabilities about their ability to contribute. “Sometimes there are unintentional barriers to participation that can often be around someone’s intellectual capacity and the expectation that maybe someone can retain or respond to information that’s presented at church,” Joseph said. “Maybe the way we communicate is also a barrier in that we mainly communicate in spoken word and written word. It would be beneficial if we could think about how we can maybe reduce and sometimes remove those barriers by becoming more aware of them, and also think about how do we adapt what we are doing to be more inclusive. One innovative and practical example highlighted at the conference gained much people’s attention. Led by Major Dr Catherine Spiller, the project at Mooroolbark Corps (Vic.) focused on how congregations could be more inclusive and break down barriers. It encompassed intentionally gathering and reflecting on how they ran a worship service on a Sunday and what opportunities existed for people with disabilities, particularly people with intellectual disabilities, to participate in a worship service and what may be things to tweak or adapt to make it more inclusive and everyone could participate in the worship space. The outcomes were both exciting and creative. They included keeping congregational responses short and the same in the call to worship, sometimes adding key word signs to the line, repeating the themes in the liturgies they wrote and using visual imagery such as artistic artworks. “Our church as a whole has benefited as we have all been able to participate in worship in new ways,” Catherine said. “We have been delighted to see the members of our congregation with disabilities take up the invitation to participate.” Not only has practical work been happening in the space, but also some attitudinal changes. Major Christine Pickens, of Eva Burrows College, has undertaken some key work around mental health first aid training. Joseph said her work had been really informative because the training had helped provide a baseline level of knowledge about mental health and mental illness. “This can be really helpful in churchgoers’ understanding what mental illness is and what are the kind of practical ways that we can respond and support people who are having mental health issues or challenges,” he said. “Because generally speaking, churchgoers want to support, and congregations want to be welcoming and supportive. But sometimes there is a lack of knowledge or a lack of awareness about what is going to be helpful for someone who has mental health challenges.” Christine also contributed to a plenary session at the conference exploring the question of what role the Christian community played in welcoming and including people with disabilities and mental health issues, while Victoria’s Public Advocate, Colleen Pearce, spoke about the reforms needed to ensure people with disability and mental health challenges could lead flourishing lives.

Majors Darren and Leanne Elsley, chaplains in Broken Hill (Far West NSW) recently took Lieut-Colonels Chris and Stuart Reid (Secretary for Personnel and Assistant Head of Mission Support respectively) on a short road trip to outback NSW. The group stayed overnight on a property about a two-and-a-half-hour drive out from Broken Hill on the banks of the Darling River. The property owner, who grazes goats, was recently assisted by The Salvation Army through funding after the devasting floods that wreaked havoc across the Darling/Murray River area in 2022-23. Leanne and Darren had followed up on the assistance given by spending a couple of days on the property and helping clean up after the flood waters had receded. “On the evening of the visit with the Reids, eight guests from the property’s farm-stay accommodation joined the group and an impromptu ‘community table’ took place,” said Leanne. “Darren was invited to say grace before the meal, and faith conversations were later had around the campfire.” “We were encouraged by such a valuable ministry held by Darren and Leanne,” said Chris. “It was so good to see people openly having faith conversations around the fire. There was a freedom to share and an expectation that strangers would be vulnerable. This was not from us but from the people themselves. God is at work through rural chaplaincy.” On another occasion, Darren and Leanne came across a group of 20 farm labourers who were doing their fortnightly shopping in a local supermarket in Broken Hill. They were working on a remote property a couple of hours out of Broken Hill, far from their homes in Vanuatu. Darren invited them to meet in a local park that afternoon and supplied pizza – and another community table resulted. Darren and Leanne pray daily that their lives would radiate Jesus. They pray; “Holy Spirit, fill us with the love and peace of your presence, and help us to bring your love and peace to others today, simply through our presence with them. Help us reveal to others your true name and your nature.”

“The Salvation Army believes that every person should be able to live with dignity … That is not the Australia we live in right now.” So said Jennifer Kirkaldy, Salvation Army General Manager of Policy and Advocacy, when she appeared before the Senate Inquiry into the worsening rental crisis last week. “We envision a world where all Australians have access to safe, appropriate, and affordable housing (with support available where required), and the financial means to access the other essentials of life,” Jennifer said in her opening statement to the inquiry. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Jennifer continued, highlighting the work of The Salvation Army in the last financial year through the provision of 1.86 million sessions of care. This included: Nearly 760,000 nights of crisis accommodation; More than 1.52 million meals to people accessing homelessness services; Support for almost 10,000 women and children who experienced family and domestic violence. More than 50,000 nights of accommodation to young people who were at risk of or experienced homelessness. “In our Social Justice Stocktake, affordability was in the top five social justice issues seen in every single electorate in Australia,” Jennifer explained. “But while housing affordability, and especially the worsening rental crisis, is widespread, it is not affecting us all equally. “Recent research conducted by The Salvation Army with people accessing our emergency relief services shows that, for a segment of our community, the rental crisis is desperate.” Extreme housing stress “Median housing costs for people accessing our service had increased 14 per cent in just one year to a total of $250 per week. That is less than the average Australian spends (which sits at $273 a week) but represents a significantly greater percentage of their income. “While Australians on average spend around 14 per cent of their income on housing, the people accessing our services are spending around 41 per cent of their income. “We would say a person is in housing stress if they spend over 30 per cent of their income on housing. They are in extreme housing stress if they are spending over 50 per cent of their income on housing. “For the record, 46 per cent of the people coming to us who are reliant on the JobSeeker payment are in extreme housing stress.” Rising homelessness “The worsening housing affordability crisis is contributing to rising rates of homelessness and is plunging more and more people into poverty. Combined with cost-of-living increases and a critical shortage of social housing shortage, it is obvious why this situation needs immediate attention. “The Salvation Army welcomes the Housing Announcement by National Cabinet on 16 August 2023. “But, while we anticipate that these initiatives could help, they do not address the immediate and urgent housing affordability needs for people on low incomes or of people who are at risk of or already experiencing homelessness. “In the current climate there are three actions in particular that need attention: The first is fixing our social security system. We acknowledge the modest increase that will apply next month, but the fact remains that income support payments, especially JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and the Commonwealth Rental Assistance are too low. The second is to invest in social housing stock. Again, we appreciate what has already been announced, but social housing fulfils a critical need in our community, and current targets (while better than nothing) are not ambitious enough. Finally, we are hopeful about the current process for a National Housing and Homelessness Plan, and we need to ensure that that plan is fit for purpose and driven by lived experience. In particular, we believe that a dedicated housing plan for children and young people will be critical to success. “Safe and affordable housing is a critical foundation for every other aspect of a person’s life. Thank you for the work you are doing to draw attention to rental affordability issues and to find solutions. We look forward to being of assistance.”

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!

To read tribute report, click here

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!