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Our Faith

The Salvation Army is a Christian organisation and part of the universal Christian Church.

Its message and the lifestyle it advocates are based on the Bible's teaching. Its work is to make known the good news about Jesus Christ and to persuade people to become his followers.

Everything The Salvation Army does is rooted in the faith of its members. The confidence Salvationists have in a loving and caring God finds outward expression in their love for humanity and their practical response to human need.

Timbrelists take part in a march of witness in Papua New Guinea
Timbrelists take part in a march of witness in Papua New Guinea

Worship

Salvation Army places of worship are sometimes called ‘citadels’ or ‘temples’, but, whatever their name, they are Christian churches open to the community they serve and offering a warm welcome to all.

Most Salvation Army centres hold weekly worship services, usually on a Sunday. These meetings have a relaxed atmosphere, and can include hymn singing, Bible readings, testimonies (members of the congregation talking about their Christian experiences), and presentations by worship or drama groups.

The hymns and songs may be accompanied by a traditional Salvation Army brass band or a more contemporary worship band with keyboard, guitars, drums and other instruments. The songsters (choir) may provide a vocal lead or present a reflective musical item.

As well as services on a Sunday, there are often weekday and evening activities, such as prayer groups, family events, lunch groups, youth clubs and meetings for seniors.

Why not go along to your local Salvation Army centre and see for yourself all that it can offer?

A worship service in New Zealand
A worship service in New Zealand

Our beliefs

These eleven doctrines set out the formal beliefs of The Salvation Army, though it is worth noting that all are welcome at Salvation Army centres, regardless of belief.

  • We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
  • We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.
  • We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.
  • We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.
  • We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience, they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall, all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.
  • We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.
  • We believe that repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation.
  • We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
  • We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.
  • We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • We believe in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, in the general judgement at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous, and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

Discover more about our beliefs: