Salvation Army & World Methodist Council Meet Under Common Wesleyan Heritage

United in one Wesleyan heritage, members of the Salvation Army’s International Doctrine Council and representatives of the World Methodist Council met at the Methodist Lake Junaluska campus in North Carolina, USA, in January 2005.

The meeting is a follow-up of the last conversation two years earlier at the Salvation Army’s Sunbury Court in England. While the history of the two denominations and their common Wesleyan heritage was well appreciated, this time they focused both on their similarities and key differences.

In the first presentation by the Salvation Army co-chair of the dialogue, Dr Roger Green, similarities associated with a common Wesleyan heritage were addressed in the paper "Wesleyan Foundations for Salvation Army Missiology". In addition, Rev Dr Doug Mills’s paper entitled "The Doctrine of the Church in the Methodist Heritage" added that the two churches shared the same theology of what it means to be a "gathered" people of God.

On the other hand, the difference in the belief of Sacraments between the Salvationist and Methodist was highlighted by Lars Lydholm from Denmark Salvation Army in his address "A Salvation Army perspective on the Doctrine of the Church and the Sacraments".

Methodist co-chair of the dialogue, Professor Dr Paul Chilcote further developed the dialogue in his remarks on a Methodist understanding of "Eucharist Among the Means of Grace". The relationship between sacrament and Church as well as the value of the agape meal (love feast) were thoroughly discussed.

In the rest of the dialogue, the real and theoretical equality of women in life and ministry talked about. Major Barbara Robinson detailed "The Role and Spiritual Leadership of Women in The Salvation Army". Her paper provided the setting for the group to discuss the historical benefits of spousal team ministry along with current discussion on the practical realities and difficulties of maintaining that system in The Salvation Army.

Maintaining the strong evangelical nature of Wesleyan heritage, the Salvation Army and the Methodist Church directed the topic of discussion to discipleship and evangelism. Rev Dr Wonjae Lee presented two case studies from Korea. It has been proved that "Little Churches Within a Church" strategy has kept the focus for Methodist spirituality and evangelism.

Other more practical topics being addressed include education and how the Church should interact with world culture. Majors Lester Ferguson from the Caribbean and Edwin Okorougo from Nigeria provided a detailed summary of ‘Salvationist Perspectives on Christian Education and Discipleship’. The Methodist commitment to education as a means of alleviating social inequality and promoting spiritual responsibility was outlined by the Rev Dr Angela Shier-Jones in her paper on ‘The Church and the World: Christianity and Culture from a Wesleyan Perspective’.

The closing session of the dialogue explored possible future work for the group, co-moderated by the Chair of The Salvation Army Doctrine Council, Colonel Earl Robinson, and the General Secretary of the World Methodist Council, the Rev Dr George Freeman.

Both parties felt the need for greater appreciation of how each tradition understands ordination and commissioning and how the two traditions train their officers and ministers. With the motto of the founder John Wesley, "The World is My Parish", they also believed that there would be considerable merit in exploring the relationship between ministry and evangelism, learning from each other’s approach to world evangelisation.