Moving forward together
Hope For All, by artist Rachel Potter, is a partial reinterpretation of an 1890 illustration from William Booth's seminal work In Darkest England And The Way Out, which visualised The Salvation Army's scheme to redeem or save the different aspects of people's lives.
In July last year, a small group of strategic thinkers from across The Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory gathered under the leadership of Territorial Commander Commissioner James Condon. Their responsibility was to assess what was required to achieve maximum effectiveness in fulfilling the territory's mission.
Particularly important was building on the visionary and strategic initiatives that have played significant roles in the territory’s recent history. This assessment has now become the basis for the Forward Together plan.
Today, at a specially convened meeting in Sydney that was also live-streamed to a potential audience of thousands of Salvationists, the plan was unveiled to the territory.
"Our Forward Together plan is the consolidation of much hard work over recent years," Commissioner Condon said. "It is not a ‘new direction’ but is a vital step to continue building on the important work of the past."
Addressing the meeting, Commissioner Condon announced what he described as "two key developments" that the plan will incorporate.
"Firstly, as a territory we will be examining our organisational culture and looking for ways to increase the health and vibrancy of our workplaces and mission fields," he said. "We have already commenced this work at territorial headquarters, and in the coming weeks we will be expanding discussions with the divisions and corps and centres and will be seeking your [Salvationists in the territory] involvement and feedback.
"Secondly, we are also working on a plan to review, refine and improve the organisational structure of our territory to best serve the mission of The Salvation Army in 21st century Australia.
"Rigorous work, completed over the last five years, has gone into the planning and analysis of this current review and ultimately, as we are led by the Holy Spirit, we want to ensure every available resource is used to maximum effectiveness in strengthening the mission."
Four goals
While “Save Souls, Grow Saints and Serve Suffering Humanity," the 7 Mission Priorities and the Freedom language will all continue to play a role in determining the way forward for the Australia Eastern Territory, Commissioner Condon said four key goals have been identified that are critical to the territory becoming more effective. They are:
- People transformed by Jesus (soul saving);
- Healthy faith communities (growing saints);
- Unified mission expressions (serving suffering humanity) and;
- Being courageous stewards (using our mission resources effectively and efficiently).
Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Campbell, the territory's Secretary for Business Administration, also addressed the meeting, focusing on the need to be courageous stewards of the Army's resources.
"I believe that we can be either wide and thin in our ministries and effectiveness, or deep and transformational," he said. "It would be true to say that at times we have stretched ourselves a little on the lean side, challenging the available resources and capacities we have.
"The principles underlying this review process are to have everything we do as missionally-focused, community-relevant, delivery-strong and financially-sustainable as possible. We want to ensure the platforms that support everything we do are organised and distributed in such a way that support can be strong and the right resources are able to be mobilised to the places where they are needed the most.
"Some of our structures will need to be centralised while others will need to be decentralised to be most effective so that we may see people flourish, the Word of God spread, disciples increase significantly and people getting saved."
Living document
Working groups are being created to spearhead the various initiatives that will be required to achieve the Forward Together goals. These groups will comprise of subject matter experts and other representatives from across the territory. Each group will be tied to a specific outcome, and it will be their responsibility to research, decide and implement what is required to see progress made.
"I give you my assurance that our territory’s energy and resources will be aligned to the plan so that we see real, measurable results in response to each of the four Forward Together goals," said Commissioner Condon.
"From its inception, The Salvation Army has carried a bold vision of seeing the whole world transformed by Jesus. It’s only as we all work together, guided by the Holy Spirit in wisdom and unity, that we will see this become a reality.
"We are not afraid to ask hard questions and make brave decisions in response to what we hear. Our plan is a living document that will be developed and revised over coming years in response to progress that is made and new challenges that emerge.
"Any subsequent changes won’t change who we are or what we do. Rather, these changes will release us to move into new places and take significant steps forward in our mission. We have prayerfully considered this and are trusting God that this is the right way forward for our Army."
To have your say on the Forward Together plan or to find out more, go to salvos.org.au/forwardtogether.
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