Army 101

What Does a Worship Service Look Like at The Salvation Army?

"No need for a uniform or special dress code–just come as you are and let us worship the Lord together!" by Major Jenny Ortman

Whether a small group Bible study or a large group assembly, the primary focus of The Salvation Army’s religious services is to worship God. Worship means ascribing worth to God by giving Him our attention, thoughts, talents and time. Worship isn’t confined to a specific service, meeting or location. Salvationists believe all activities can be acts of worship when we live sacramentally, meaning “set apart,” and honor God by allowing Him to direct every aspect of our lives.

However, if you find yourself at a Salvation Army corps on any given Sunday, and many other days of the week, you would encounter a formal religious service. These services are dedicated times to focus on God, giving Him glory and praise. While specific activities involved vary depending on the talents and willingness of those participating, each Salvation Army corps holds a regular weekly worship service, and there is great diversity in how these services look.

The Salvation Army values flexibility in religious services, followed by an invitation for public response. Common elements of a service may include a public reading of Scripture, time for prayer, musical presentations or congregational singing and the collection of an offering to support corps ministries. A sermon or Bible teaching is typically led by an officer or a qualified soldier/lay leader trained to appropriately share and explain the word of God. Both men and women preach and teach in Salvation Army worship.

Salvation Army worship services often include the opportunity for sharing testimonies. This allows congregation members to share how God is working in their lives, encouraging and challenging others in their spiritual journeys.

Depending on the available talents at each corps, a service may also include music and fine arts presentations that enhance the worship experience. The Salvation Army values all forms of musical, cultural and artistic expression in worship and evangelism. Many corps have volunteer artists and musicians who contribute to services through drama, dance, multimedia presentations, adult choir (called Songsters), children’s choir (called Singing Company), piano, string instruments, drums, brass bands and more.

The types of music heard during services range from traditional hymns accompanied by organ, piano or brass band to modern worship choruses led by a praise team with various instruments. A conscious effort is made to equip all corps with musical and multimedia resources, ensuring that each congregation can have a vibrant expression of worship, regardless of local talent availability.

The end of each worship service typically involves an invitation to respond—either to receive salvation for the first time or to reflect on the service’s message and seek God’s direction. This response often takes place at a unique piece of furniture called a mercy seat, a kneeling bench at the front of the chapel. The mercy seat is open for anyone to pray throughout the service, but it is especially emphasized at the end of the service during the altar call.

Salvation Army worship services are open to all, with instruction for all ages. A typical corps congregation is made up of a diverse mix of people from all backgrounds, ages and walks of life. Salvationists often take worship services outside the walls of their corps to make them more accessible. You may find us conducting a worship service in a nursing home, a park, around a dinner table, or even on a street corner. Corps are not intended to be social clubs where members only interact with one another; instead, they strive to be a body of believers equipped to live out lives of worship and reach out to their communities with the message of the Gospel.

If a Salvation Army worship service sounds like a place you’d like to worship God, you are warmly invited to attend your nearest corps. No need for a uniform or special dress code–just come as you are and let us worship the Lord together!

THE SOUND OF SERVICE: THE LEGACY OF BRASS BANDS IN THE SALVATION ARMY

  • The first Salvation Army band was formed in 1882 by accident. Charles Frye and his sons offered their services as bodyguards for Salvation Army street preachers. They began playing music on their brass instruments to give them something to do while they protected the officers, and soon after quitting their family business, to lead the Army’s music department.
  • The Salvation Army has approximately 2,500 brass bands worldwide.
  • Since the 1920s, a Salvation Army brass band has marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade, the longest participant of any music group.
  • Salvation Army musicians have been on the Top 50 chart in the UK. Started as a contemporary group at the International Training College, the Joystrings combined old-fashioned gospel with new rock sounds. In April of 1964 the group shared the UK Top 50 chart with the English rock band the Beatles with their song, “It’s an Open Secret.”
  • The drum has been called the “church bell of the Army.” Not only is it used for music, in the open-air it is often turned on its side to provide a place for penitent people to kneel and pray.
  • With the boom of brass music, The Army’s Trade Department opened a Musical Instrument Factory in 1889 at the Trade Headquarters. It mainly produced instruments for brass bands, but they also manufactured other types of instruments to Salvation Army requirements, including those for timbrel groups.
  • The first band to hold the designation of Staff Band was the US National Headquarters Staff Band (Now the New York Staff Band, which was formed in 1887).

Photo by Central Territory via Red Shield Tool Kit

ALL Articles