IS the corps which I lead, or where I soldier, focused on mission or locked into maintenance mode? If the latter, its days are numbered. It’s increasingly clear that corps which focus purely on self-preservation are in danger of not surviving at all in the long term.
While most people would want to answer the question by saying their corps is focused on mission, when a corps is viewed subjectively by its members it’s not always easy to identify that it is in fact maintenance-focused. Perpetuating, or even expanding, programmes which have become part of the fabric of the corps does not necessarily mean the corps is mission focused. Even programmes which seem to be successful in terms of attendance can be a distraction to mission. So, here are some questions which can help determine the focus of a corps.

Is the corps programme aimed at growing the congregation or growing the Kingdom?
Growing the congregation can be a valid feature of both mission and maintenance corps, so a good additional question is, ‘What is the vision of the congregation?’ Responses such as ‘a full hall’ or ‘more activities’ can indicate that the vision is focused on survival. A mission-focused corps is more likely to respond by expressing desire to see growth in God’s Kingdom. This might also result in increased attendance but that will not be the prime aim - which is to lead people to Christ.

As Eddie Gibbs has written: ‘Christians must become not recruiters but friends - fellow-travellers, admitting that their knowledge is partial and their obedience inconsistent. Such frankness will strengthen our testimony among those who look for honesty and authenticity.’

Do we think of membership or discipleship?
The Salvation Army has always been good at collecting statistics, but a corps focused only on keeping numbers up is in maintenance, not mission, mode. God’s clear direction is to ‘make disciples’ (Matthew 28:19, 20 all quotations from
New International Version).

While enrolment as a soldier can be part of discipleship it’s possible to play the numbers game without even considering discipleship. If we’re faithful in discipling our people we will increase our membership too, and they will be deployed in mission. As David Beer says: ‘Healthy churches take the task of making disciples to heart. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20) is important to them. They plan a strategy of outreach into the community.’

Are we driven by our structures or by our purpose?
An inevitability of establishing a religious denomination is that it develops its own structures to create stability and order. But these can become too rigid and strangle innovation. While it’s not always easy to adjust the structure we’ve grown up with, evidence suggests that corps with a strong orientation towards mission have a far more fluid approach to their structure.

Mission-orientated corps tend to be pragmatic about programmes and procedures, using methods which help achieve their purpose and curtailing programmes which do not. A maintenance-orientated corps is more inclined to be a slave to its traditional programme. Such a corps can be so anchored to its heritage that this overrides the need to be relevant to the society in which it operates. Corps committed to mission always strive to be relevant, modelling authentic Christian living in their community.
Do we see a congregation or a community?
How do we decide the identity and measure the strength of our corps? Are the important factors the quality of the music sections, the strength of the leadership team or the size of the congregation? Are we concerned only with the people attending meetings or taking part in the programmes, or does ‘church’ include everyone in the neighbourhood?

A corps concerned only with the size of its congregation and the continuance of long-standing programmes is probably maintenance-focused. A corps focused on mission finds its strength in fostering community in its truest sense - a group of people who trust and support one another, seeking to develop each other, tolerating and celebrating differing ideas concerning worship rather than expecting everyone to come from the same mould.

Corps which achieve this are models of real community to a society in which individualism has been elevated to the detriment of community. Corps which do not encourage different opinions and styles are likely to develop a pseudo-spirituality which requires its members to adopt the prevailing attitudes. This has massive implications for the way the corps is able to relate to people not yet part of its fellowship.

Says Bill Hybels: ‘As Christians, we’re supposed to model our lives after Christ’s (“the friend of sinners”). Yet somewhere along the way, some pastors began beating the “come apart and be ye separate” drum. They twisted a verse that calls on us to lead a distinctly Christian lifestyle into one that justifies our ignoring spiritually lost people. The result was the development of an “us versus them” mentality that makes non-believers the enemy instead of the object of our prayers and love.’

Are we trying to grow a church or change society?
It’s possible to grow a corps through good techniques and programmes but these are not the essence of being a church. In recent years there has been a dawning of understanding that the purpose of a church can never simply be numerical growth. Performance-related programmes and services may produce a growing number of attendees, but how does this in itself advance the purpose for which God gave the world the Church?

Dwight Smith has written: ‘God said to me, “Do you think that my Church is a warehouse which exists for the sole purpose of filling it with people to listen to you talk?” It dawned on me that perhaps that was not what made God happy, that just possibly, gathering people to sit and listen to somebody talk about the Bible was not the primary reason for the existence of the Church; that more people, happy people, bigger budgets, more programmes might not be the main reason for the existence of the Church.’

The perspective of a maintenance-orientated corps leads it to have an internal focus which serves the corps itself, rather than showing the world what God intended the world to be. The mission-focused corps has the world as the focus of its ministry. It is an outward facing corps, seeking to change the society in which it exists.
An article in the magazine Leadership declared: ‘Maybe the Church’s mission isn’t to become bigger? Maybe it’s to engage the larger world to reveal that the Kingdom of God has drawn near?’

Are our spiritual gifts for the Church or for the world?
The resurgence of teaching on spiritual gifts in the Army has brought new life and energy to many individuals and corps. Acceptance of ‘every member ministry’ benefits any corps, mobilising the congregation more effectively. However, there is a danger that the continuance of a maintenance focus can result from the mistaken idea that spiritual gifts are exclusively for use within the Church. It’s true that Ephesians 4:11, 12 suggests the gifts are for the building up of the Church, but this is in specific reference to the leadership gifts, as they are often termed: ‘some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers’.

What would it mean if certain gifts were given for the building up of the Body and others for the express purpose of empowering God’s people for works of ministry outside the orbit of the corps building and programme? What if the gifts of healing, hospitality and service were to assist the people of the corps in being influential in the community - not just through corps programmes but also in their personal lives?

What an impact this could have on society! What an impact Salvationists would make if their spiritual gifts were not confined to within their corps but were actively used in community groups and local government - enabling God’s values to be incorporated into the very fabric of the local community! That’s mission!

In conclusion, seeking to impact the society in which it is located is the aim at the heart of the mission-focused corps. Such a corps will draw people to its message and mission, as the early believers did: ‘enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’ (Acts 2:47).

Rather than concentrating on maintenance aims of self-preservation or protection of image, mission-focused corps concentrate on truly being the Body of Christ in the world today, building relational interaction within the local community. Thereby they mirror Jesus - the true purpose of the Church in the 21st century as much as in the first.
by Major Mike Caffull

Mike Caffull is Divisional Director for Evangelism, London North-East Division, United Kingom Territory with the Republic of Ireland

Reprinted with permission from The Officer,September/October 2006