The first appointment post-training for Salvation Army officers back in the day was a three year appointment. They sent us away from training after a year to our first appointment because we both had previous theological and ministry experience and, though we ended up being presented late to the appointments committee, a perfect little appointment arose for us in Pill, Bristol…on the banks of the Avon River, to three urban villages nestled under the M5 Avonmouth bridge. A wee bit more reminiscing…
Anyone reading who remembers those days knows several things: we were not perfect – far from it. We definitely didn’t get everything right. I arrived there at the age of 23! We were also in right at the deep end once again, dealing with some of the most shocking and complicated pastoral situations that I’ve faced in over 20 years of ministry. Even after moving on from there, we had to return to Bristol to give court evidence several times in the most shocking case of child sexual abuse that our ministry had uncovered in that community. We were dealing with those pressured situations confidentially whilst seeking to advance the gospel, and not without internal and external opposition. That was just the context, but even in all that, and some close personal bereavements in that time, there were some great opportunities and adventures! The early days of this blog started in those days, back in 2004! 20 years ago!! Oh boy..
As I look back, there were some key themes of that ministry there at Pill:
- we got the people out of the church building. We initiated a significant programme of outdoor worship and witness. We had a wee brass band, who were valiant, but we also saw the power of simply getting out and worshipping in the streets. We preached the gospel, but believed our worship of Jesus would also impact the spiritual atmosphere of the villages. My conviction was that The Salvation Army was born for the open air and we became colourfully visible. I look back at the photos of those days, and they’re awash with colourful presence and proclamation on the streets.
- we taught the principles of spiritual warfare and we got out to pray for our streets, our land, and its people. Prayer walks in our district, already being undertaken, were intensified: Pill, Ham Green, Easton in Gordono and Portishead…we went for it. We were seeking to demolish spiritual strongholds of the enemy that had persisted for generations. – even John Wesley once proclaimed that he’d never seen anywhere as sinful as Pill! We even had a conference called ‘The Aggressive Christianity Conference’ – we were at battle against Satan and all his schemes!
- we taught personal freedom from sin and the call to holiness of life as well as preaching the gospel – in our tradition, it’s called ‘full salvation’! Remember – my biggest influences at that time were 100 years dead – the Booths, Railton, Cadman, Brengle. I was just thoroughly and passionately convinced that ministry could not just be telling nice stories and regurgitating bible stories – God was a God who moved in power with power to save and cleanse
Our Corps Sergeant Major, Pete (senior local elder and wonderful, wise mentor), said to me when we left that he believed we’d look back on our time at Pill and see it as a great season in spite of the great pains. He said that because he’d been with us one-on-one through the trauma of wading through all the tough pastoral stuff which plunged me into a depression. And, surely enough, the benefit of years means you can see beyond the muck of humanity at its worst to find the treasure of those days.
Andrew S M Clark 