The Salvation Army Gateway of Hope provides emergency shelter, meals, counseling and job training programs in Langley, Canada. It began operations in 1861 in England and opened its first facilities in Canada in 1882. The Gateway of Hope shelter opened in 1961 and recently moved to a new sustainable building with eco-friendly features. The building provides emergency shelter, interim housing, daily meals, counseling, literacy programs, and job training including in culinary arts, computers, hospitality, and custodial work. It aims to help those in need become self-sufficient.
William Booth was a Methodist minister, who took his Wesleyan sensibilities and Christ’s command to ‘feed my sheep’ to their logical conclusion. Starting as The Christian Mission in the East End of London, England, in 1865, it was re-named The Salvation Army in 1878, to reflect the increasingly military structure the movement had adopted. It was this that came to Canada just four years later, and the Army’s growth as a church and social service agency since then has paralleled Canada’s development as a nation. From the beginning, the Army in Canada adopted founder William Booth’s philosophy that there is little point preaching ‘salvation’ to hungry people. And so the concept of ‘soup and salvation’ took hold, later to be developed into the comprehensive social service programs The Salvation Army operates today, many of them in partnership with government. Langley work began in 1961 with the House of Concord which was an alternative to jail for male youth.
Ask: “Who is largest provider of Social Services?” Largest provider is Government. During certain times in history, communities would petition the Salvation Army to start work in their town. Officers are the pastors. I am an employee. Corps are the Churches. Institutions include hospitals (Grace Hospital), addiction treatment facility (Miracle Valley), homes for seniors (Buchanan Lodge), hospice, Camps (Camp Sunrise), Women’s Shelters, Youth Offender Homes, etc…
One of the mottos of the Salvation Army has been, “Heart to God, Hand to Man”. I think it sums up well the point I’m trying to make. It isn’t about one or the other, faith or deeds. It’s really about both. Our deeds coming out of our faith, our faith expressing itself in deeds; righteousness not religion, Pure hearts that care, heart transformation not empty religious expression. A heart to God, and a hand to man. This core value, taken from the scriptures, is expressed in four ways: food, clothing, shelter, and compassion. For the next few minutes I’d like to show you how these four expressions of Christian faith are done here in the Langley Salvation Army.