mySalvos

Hi everyone,

Julie and I are grateful to God for the different seasons we enjoy in Australia – Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy the new life in our trees and gardens.

As we head into the last three months of this year, which will no doubt continue to be a busy time for all of us, we were reminded in chapel at Blackburn last week of William Booth’s Cab Horse Charter in the 19th century.

Booth’s charter made two salient points: when a horse is down, it is helped up, and while alive, it is given food, shelter and work.

This charter became the founding principles of The Salvation Army – when people are down, help them up: everyone has the right to food, shelter and work.

More than 139 years later, Booth’s words still come through in our vision:

Wherever there is hardship or injustice,

Salvos will live, love and fight,

alongside others,

to transform Australia one life at a time

with the love of Jesus.

Our vision is expressed through our mission of caring for people, creating faith pathways, building healthy communities and working for justice.

But none of this can happen without all of us working together as one movement. I often like to think of The Salvation Army as a body with different parts (heart, lungs, mind) working together to fulfill its mission. Every part of the body has a role to play and without the other, the body cannot function.

As you go about your day, you may be providing a food hamper, listening ear, finding a bed, serving a meal, preparing a sermon, leading a Bible Study, delivering a specific project, updating an IT system, answering a help desk call, processing salaries or payments, supporting HR processes, developing marketing or fundraising campaigns, advocating to government, or ensuring we comply with legislation to mitigate the risks to the organisation.

Regardless, we are all playing our role in fulfilling our vision and mission.

No matter where you are or what your role is, we are all contributing to God’s mission; in different ways.

We often talk about Mission Delivery or our Mission Expressions, the areas of the organisation that deliver the support and services to those who need it most.

Just as important as the work they do, are the people behind the scenes – the Mission Enablers. These supporting and enabling functions form part of the backbone of the Movement. They can be transactional in delivering repeatable tasks, business partnering by working closely with the frontline to understand and support Local Mission Delivery, governance and oversight or setting national strategies and priorities. They are just as essential in delivering our mission to those in need.

Without everyone fulfilling their role, we as Salvos won’t be able to transform Australia, one life at a time with the love of Jesus.

Over the coming months you will hear this term Mission Enabler used more and more. And most of all, you’ll hear about the guiding principles that go with being a Mission Enabler, including:

Mission focused: Delivering the right services in the best possible way to maximise our frontline impact for the people and communities we serve.

Solution Focused: Always seek to enable, not disable, and search for pragmatic solutions.

Collaborative Partnerships: Seek to understand and build relationships to make informed decisions and drive the right outcomes for all who are impacted.

Honest and Accountable: Communicate with respect, honesty and clarity, and take accountability for our actions and decisions to build trust.

Effective and Efficient: Invest in the right things to drive the right missional outcomes and seek to continuously improve to do things the best possible way to enable a sustainable Army.

In Julie and my recent travels we have seen a great example in the Queensland Division with the success of the Local Mission Delivery model there. It’s by no means perfect but a great example of how, in all functions, Mission Delivery and Mission Enablers work together under one divisional banner. That happens regardless of change in direct reporting lines, as part of being one national territory.

We are all part of the same team, part of the same body, just with different roles to play:

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Romans 12:4-6

As always, I welcome any feedback or queries you may have. Please feel free to send me an email at AskTheChief@aus.salvationarmy.org

God’s richest blessings,

Mark

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