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Symposium Delegates Agree on Five Territorial Priorities

Delegates voted on hundreds of propositions

Nov 2, 2008 2 comments
On Saturday, November 1, Symposium 2008 delegates outlined propositions on the five key themes that they wished to put forward for voting by all delegates. Then, as the delegates ate supper, members of the steering committee arranged these propositions into common groupings and categories to avoid duplication.

Following supper, delegates were given a printout of all the propositions which were each numbered according to their group or category. Each delegate was also given a numbered ballot, encouraged to pray over the propositions and then select 10 that they felt should be priorities for the territory.
Members of the steering committee (and also a delegate from the symposium chosen to oversee the voting process for transparency purposes) then tabulated all of the votes for the propositions. The top 12 propositions where then identified and shared with Symposium 2008 delegates.

Each division and region selected one member to represent them in the Unanimity Council, where they were tasked to seek unanimous agreement on these 12 propositions. The Unanimity Council prayed and discussed together well into the next morning before coming up with the Five Territorial Propositions that they unanimously agreed on.

These are the five propositions with unanimous consent:

1. The Salvation Army uses appropriate attire as a tool to reach the world for Christ. Where the uniform is worn it will be modern, affordable and identifiable and includes clear identification as The Salvation Army by word or symbol.

2. The Salvation Army is intentional about discipling its soldiers and members. The Salvation Army provides resources and encourages mentoring. Through discipleship Salvationists/members can articulate their plan for spiritual growth and holiness.

3. The Salvation Army is creatively connected to children and youth culture to engage and empower them in godly living.

4. The Salvation Army connects to its communities in relevant ways and with Spirit-filled direction. Through this, it develops concrete plans for outreach to the community. Salvation Army ministry units are committed to adapting our ministries to meet the specific needs of our diverse and multi-cultural communities without compromising our mission focus and values.

5. Whenever appropriate, corps and social service centres are linked, empowering members of the congregation with the opportunity for ministry.

Symposium 2008 delegates will continue to participate in worship, prayer and discussion on Sunday before returning to their homes and ministries across the territory. All of the information gathered throughout Symposium 2008 will be shared with territorial and divisional leaders who will be meeting together in two weeks at the Territorial Leaders’ Council. At this point, leadership will discern ways to ensure these five priorities are carried out across the territory and to also discuss the many other themes and issues raised during the symposium.

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Leadership(1), Symposium(13)

Two Responses

  1. Comment from Brent Steeves, Nov 9, 2008 6:52pm

    That heading is manipulative and misleading! The delegates certainly did NOT unanimously agree on the 'proposals' forwarded to THQ. A small group of individuals given no time to consult with the people they supposedly represented decided what would be 'unanimously' put forward.

    Further, the top proposals as voted upon by the many delegates were NOT endorsed by those few tasked with 'unanimously' choosing what would be promoted.

    Finally, nothing more than an endorsement of the illness that has seen our Army decline in the past years was put forward. Really, are ANY of the 'proposals' put forward different from what most Salvationists already believed were in place?

  2. Comment from Lorna Rogers Simard, Nov 17, 2008 7:16pm

    Having read the 5 agreed upon statements out of 100's, I conclude that there's nothing new here and/or that if these were the areas of unanimity out of 100's of proposals, then there must have been significant disagreement and not much agreement.

    I am particularly interested in #1 since two members of our family have to get new uniforms. Should we be paying several hundred dollars for two new uniforms,or should we be buying a less expensive alternative?

    Having been a delegate at the previous symposium, I found the previous symposium perhaps a little more change oriented - this symposium, as judged by these 5 statements, seems pretty status quo. Not much evidence of out of the box thinking here.