In 1980, Kool and the Gang released a song called “Celebration,” which dominated the sound waves for over a year and is still played at weddings, parties and work-out sessions at the gym. The words go like this: “There’s a party goin’ on right here, a celebration to last throughout the years. So bring your good times, and your laughter, too. We’re gonna celebrate your party with you.”

What does this have to do with The Salvation Army? At Celebration OneTwoFive, we will be celebrating our past, including the stories of people committed to following the leading of the Holy Spirit. We will be celebrating a present that is filled with God’s activities. And we will be celebrating our future, which we believe holds tremendous Kingdom possibilitites.

For the past seven months, hundreds of people have been praying for Celebration OneTwoFive - for the planning, the speakers, the music. On Saturday afternoon there will be a “prayer feast” celebrating the diversity of being co-workers with God. This celebration will build on the small-group prayers offered in previous months.

Billy Graham writes, “Prayer is spiritual communication between man and God, a two-way relationship in which man should not only talk to God but also listen to him. Prayer to God is like a child’s conversation with his father. It is natural for a child to ask his father for the things he needs.”

What can one expect as we celebrate our diversity? This time together will be about our collective experience. It will be deeply spiritual. It will be community-driven and environmentally aware. It will be globally minded, holistic and authentic. It will be multi-sensory worship that capitalizes on ancient-future faith.

Come to Winnipeg June 15-17. Let’s celebrate our diversity!

- Major Susan van Duinen, ASP, Man. & NW Ont. Div