The Salvation Army and our Youth

Every Thursday night at my church we have our Teen Drop In (TDI). We've recently tried to reformat it, as we just have an abundance of teens coming to hang out and talk, and it can become difficult at times to decide a topic to discuss with such a large group of opinionated teens.

However, last night, we began a discussion about the Salvation Army. In our youth group we have youth who were raised in the army, youth who are officer kids, youth who attended a different church all together but join us on Thursday nights, and youth who are brand spanking new to the Salvation Army within the last 6 months. But...we all have the Salvation Army in common, in one way shape or form.

The discussion started out slowly as different people talked about why it was they attended our church, and why they had chosen a Salvation Army church. About 10 minutes into discussion however, the topic got turned to uniforms and senior soldiership. It was interesting to notice all the opinions and questions that the youth have regarding these topics, yet had never been spoken out about before from them. I was honestly amazed at the intelligence and thought that went into what a lot of the youth shared and talked about in reference to what they thought about the Salvation Army uniform and how it affected them.

Our youth ranges from teens who are in songsters and band (although not all of them in uniform), to teens who are apart of the worships team (some uniform, some not), to teens who would claim that they would never under any circumstances wear the uniform. So, not all who were present for the discussion agreed with one another, but it was definitly a safe environment for the youth to rant and rave about feelings and opinions they had regarding this topic, without fear of critiquing or condemnation from the "older" part of the church (a point I'll go into more detail later on).

A couple thoughts brought up that stuck out to me were the following:

- 14 is too young for a teen to sign and pledge to a Senior Soldier covenant

- Soldiership should follow where the youth are in school (i.e junior soldiership for elementary students, corps cadets for middle/highschool students, and senior soldiership for high school graduates)

- The uniform was created to wear outside the church as a witnessing ministry - so why not change it so that you wear the uniform when you are doing ministry and out in the public, but not on a sunday when you are with fellow believers

- The separation between those who are in uniform, and those who aren't can cause those who are new to the Salvation Army, or just looking for a church, to feel excluded based on how they look

- The uniform can be intimidating to people when you are out in the world during ministry and cause a barrier to those you are trying to reach

- too much emphasis is placed on how the Christian looks (i.e what they are wearing) instead of the heart that they have for God, and the words that are coming out of their mouths as they witness to the friends with whom they "fit in" with because of how they dress

These are just a few of the ideas and thoughts that were brought up last night. I want to remind anyone who is reading this, that I am not saying that I either support or disagree with any of the things above, nor were all these thoughts mine. They were ideas and deep feelings that were expressed by a large group of Salvationist youth in a comfortable, non - threatening environment. I don't feel that any of us have the right to tell them that they are wrong for what they believe, nor are their thoughts not valid.

I do find it interesting though how many youth referred to the "older" part of the members who attend our church, and that they felt a lot of pressure, and condemnation from that part of our church. I don't think that the ideas shared are necessarily just a "youth" thing, and should then cause a rift between generations of Salvationist. Actually, there was a mother of a couple of the youth present at this discussion, and shared her thoughts regarding the uniform as well, that could have very well have come from a teen. It was just interesting to me to notice how many of the youth referred to the "older" part of our church, when speaking about what it was they were sharing.

I also find it interesting that I think a lot of what the youth shared last night, they would never say in public at our church, and probably a lot of them wouldn't even say it to their parents. Because a lot of them are made to feel that what they are saying is wrong...that they aren't allowed to question who or what the Salvation Army is, and what it stands for. I am completely against this idea, and think that they need to voice their opinions and share their thoughts, because even though some may be uneducated in their rants and raves...they are from the heart, and they are a part of the Salvation Army church as much as the next person.

I'm not sure really what the "point" or "moral" of this blog is. But I know that our youth have opinions..a lot of them..that aren't being shared. We want our children and youth to be able to speak up and be apart of what the Salvation Army is, and where it's going. But how do we expect them to do that, if we condemn them for what they are going to say? They shouldn't be made to feel that their opinions aren't legate, nor that they aren't worthy of being said. They need to be encouraged to share. Maybe this was just the starting point for our churches youth. The safe, non-threatening environment of a room full of teens who share their thoughts and ideas. I hope that they will all get to the point where they won't feel intimidated or unworthy to share with others what they are so passionately holding in their hearts.