The Salvation Army's 352 community churches are the nerve centre of all its ecclesiastical and humanitarian work. They are diverse -- Salvation Army community churches operate in Chinese, Haitian, Korean, Laotian, Spanish and Portuguese in several major cities -- as befits Canada's diverse society.

As the phrase 'community church' implies, they are deeply committed to the community around them. As well as Christian worship on Sundays and weeknights, most Salvation Army church centres also offer a variety of social and educational activities, designed to meet the needs of both congregation and the community at large. From leadership training for lay people to refugee services, ESL classes, intercultural and family programs, the services stemming from the Army's faith-based ministries are wide-ranging and continue to expand.

The Army, in acknowledging the capabilities and gifts of those it serves, seeks to find within the assets and strengths of each community the potential for improvement. By fostering individual participation and community action, and by reinforcing social networks, The Salvation Army empowers people to realise their own hopes and dreams, and enables communities to find their own solutions.

In many communities, Salvation Army family services offices are attached Salvation Army churches, and act as emergency services headquarters in times of disaster. Frequently called upon by municipal authorities, local Salvation Army personnel are unique in their ability to deliver resourceful and practical solutions in response to the needs of victims of floods, fires and other unforeseen calamities.

All community churches in Canada and Bermuda have access to the Army's international family tracing service. The Salvation Army handles more than 20,000 inquiries annually around the world, successfully tracing almost four-fifths of them. One of the 350 cases processed in Canada in recent years was the widely publicized reunion of Joyce McIntyre with her sisters, Nancy Davies and Madeleine Miller, at Pearson International Airport. Recommended to the family by the British Consulate in Ottawa, The Salvation Army family tracing service was able to bring about the heart-warming reunion of the three sisters, and more than 20 other family members, after being apart for over half a century.

Examples of effective, community-based activities are to be found at the Army's Cascade Community Church at Abbotsford, British Columbia. They include: the Fresh Start basic literacy tutoring program, a cooks' training program that deals with basic fundamentals of intermediate and institutional cooking, a job training program designed to develop work skills leading to secure employment, and an emergency shelter for homeless people (some of whom also receive counselling and training).