The Salvation Army

I visited The Salvation Army Church this Sunday (Nov. 6th) at 721 S. McDowell Blvd. Most do not think of the Salvation Army as a church. They think of it more as an organization like the Red Cross - since they have focused on humanitarian help and community outreach, and done so well. Many also associate it with Christmas bell ringers near shopping districts.
However, The Salvation Army is in fact a church, started by a Methodist minister, William Booth, and his wife, Catherine Booth, in 1865 as the East London Christian Mission. They changed its name to The Salvation Army in 1878 and added uniforms, a flag, its own music, and rank from General to soldiers. The Mission evangelized anywhere and to anyone, and sent converts to local churches. However, they often converted prostitutes, alcoholics, addicts, and other who were often not considered desirable in many churches. Eventually, the Booths converted the Mission to a church which would accept those converts. Today, The Salvation Army is a worldwide church headquartered in London with over a million officers and soldiers.
Scott and Barbara Schneider co-pastor the church at the equal rank of Captain. Though The Salvation Army is theologically orthodox and conservative, husband and wife serve equally as pastors, and the wife can minister in any capacity, including preaching. (A woman can be ordained apart from a husband.) The Petaluma church has between 25 and 30 in attendance of mixed ages.
The Salvation Army in Petaluma is in the midst of constructing a community building that will also be used as for Disaster Relief. They need skilled workers to volunteer to help complete the building. Community Builders Project is partnering to assist them. If you have skills, and want to help them, contact The Salvation Army, or Community Builders Project, by following the links above. I enjoyed visiting The Salvation Army church.

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