Like a Mighty Army?: The Salvation Army the Church and the Churches

In 1937 prior to the 1948 inauguration of the World Council of Churches Karl Barth challenged the churches to engage in real strict sober genuine theology in order that the unity of the church might be visibly realized. At that time The Salvation Army didnt aspire to being formally known as a church even though it was a founding member of the WCC. Today it is globally known as a social welfare organization concerned especially to serve the needs of those who find themselves at the margins of society. Less well known is that seventy years after Barths challenge it has made its peace with the view that it is a church denomination. Accepting Barths challenge to the churches and in dialogue with his own ecumenical ecclesiology the concept of the church as an Army is interrogated in service to The Salvation Armys developing understanding of its identity and to the visible unity of Gods church. This is a fine example of the interplay of historical research theological interrogation and the analysis of emerging ecclesiastical practice well illustrating the impact of the mental exercise of historical and theological enquiry upon the practical issues presently confronting the Salvation Army in exploring the nature of its identity and mission in the modern world. --John H. Y. Briggs University of Birmingham Birmingham UK This is a groundbreaking study in both method and content. It explores with real honesty and clarity the identity and ontology of the church as the body of Christ including a commendation of baptism and the Lords Supper as ways of Christs self-attestation. Required reading for theologians and ecumenists. --Timothy Bradshaw University of Oxford Oxford UK David Taylor is a Salvation Army officer and after thirty years of leadership ministry in a local congregation currently serves as the Co-ordinator of Higher Education at The Salvation Armys William Booth College in London United Kingdom.