Taking the Next Step

Within The Salvation Army, there are many ways to live out a calling to serve. One path is full-time ministry as an officer, but there are also opportunities to be actively involved in your local corps (church), using your spiritual gifts in areas such as children’s work, youth, music, administration and more.

Local leadership is the backbone of The Salvation Army and vital to every corps. I want to acknowledge and thank those who serve faithfully and diligently in these roles—many for a number of years.

There are also opportunities for full-time lay ministry across the breadth of our holistic mission. These include Community Ministries, Family Stores, addiction and housing services, reintegration programmes and business administration,
among others.

My own journey began with involvement in children’s activities at our corps, which Kristine and I participated in for over 15 years. This was followed by eight years in various local leadership roles. During that time, I was invited to consider full-time employment in Community Ministries. Kristine and I had always planned to become more involved once our children were independent, so being asked while they were still young was unexpected, but it was God’s timing. After prayerful reflection, I resigned from a job I enjoyed and an employer I’d been with since leaving school 25 years earlier. I felt a deep peace in making this significant decision, confident it was part of God’s plan.

After six years in lay ministry, God called Kristine and me to officership. Over the past 23 years, I’ve never doubted that decision. Looking back, it’s clear that my previous 25 years of employment were a kind of apprenticeship for what God had prepared next.
As you read this, is God prompting you to become more involved—perhaps as a local leader, an employee in one of
our services, or even as an officer? If you feel a calling, speak to someone about it and take comfort in these words from Isaiah 30:21, ‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it”.’

Colonel Gerry Walker
Chief Secretary