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The Salvation Army URL has changed to salvationarmy.org.au

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About Us

The Salvation Army Australia is an international Christian movement, united by faith and giving hope where it’s needed most. Across Australia – in cities, country towns and rural communities – our work touches every demographic and age group.  We’re involved in national issues while also bringing hope to people who may be experiencing hardship or injustice.

Since our foundations in nineteenth century London, we express our faith in charitable work to provide both the spiritual and the social support.  We believe that with one hand we reach out to God and with the other we reach out to the world.

As both a church and charity, we can preach and speak about justice, compassion, and other issues that support the welfare of others and see them as a whole person – body, mind and spirit.

Commitment to Reconciliation

The Salvation Army recognises the Aboriginal people as the traditional owners and custodians of our land. Our vision for reconciliation is to be a faith movement committed to equity, freedom and the righting of injustice.

We aim to respect, value and acknowledge the unique cultures, spiritualties, histories and languages of the oldest surviving culture in the world, and to engage in a unified and positive relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their communities.

Read our Reconciliation Action Plan

Is The Salvation Army a religion or a mix of denominations?

The Salvation Army is not a religion nor is it a mix of denominations. The Salvation Army stands independently as a denomination of the Christian church alongside other churches, for example, the Anglican, Baptist and Uniting Church.

It started in the 1860's when Methodist minister, William Booth, began reaching out to the masses living in poverty in London.

He preached that there was a God who could transform their lives and show them a new way. He fed them, prayed with them and thousands of people's lives were changed.

Booth tried to introduce his converts to local Methodist churches, but the wider church at the time had lost much of its vision for what was then considered the "underclasses", and would not accept them.

In less than 20 years, while it had not been his initial goal, William Booth established a new denomination of the Christian church—The Salvation Army. Today, the Army upholds the cross of Christ and serve communities worldwide.

A good word to describe a denomination of the church is 'community'. The Salvos, like other churches, is a community of people that meet together in local neighbourhoods, regions or centres.

They are dedicated to sharing the love of God by caring for people, creating faith pathways, building healthy communities and working for justice.

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