%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 20 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 17 0 R /GS4 18 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250904103508+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250904103508+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1199 >> stream xWr6+2I`O1;7qmg84EDBP@Ҍm'decs=x iV%%2%StsL|/~}6_K^tJ7tn-Et:,[h-]̏E~' R;׺aPL(f<Of"oQ8'x +퀕^=8 [%v:v儳hoVsr5r2:?<,LQQ=Ir}~j5P4t,9qZv C6姺s). ӄSݟQ2ݻ݌gw7tq/R(Io)i) 豕rl(]o*Tre YgxDc3i, ,cSK {xB>G{fAlE'źEGaiaV>5wWTҧgbgr|zNѝ$SeTJxv)i}Nr_VZ`)B[o:Yڑ=xʇⰊ#A MaՃύRJhG9Jm⥅jݍ z(.T+`un]igQ FU}W6()Dh!ViGQ35OX5-[!zcUiuVcc)UGf+7$٭UXN) Y@Y+>CWz'VHJ{NeGq6# fu|X2@itS VJ8q{-%o+ǻʲ_I2]FYgr j endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 21 0 R >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 988 >> stream xmUMo6W̱%GV۶h-PC%,6%)}@w޾4(x,yNa{%mn՟6iWUsOǞn-_R2"ő)o]"]Fݍ4s^ʫ󙍛'x=X׿' PjemOtn=knGƝ-fva޵̖&1OtfOρ.F[Z#m5HJQu;J&:Z§\UUėOFO/+q =6y-& qP0ubTU!>k*C;fArh]֮/{ڇHQw *)KjvFC;(De;NP X>½ySj>jwQ]YUD<(sVI~z h&G)8% (9gp bh ]} sAU2"_lT6і-y+dHJS̹6_.ژawnt$:-b(Gd$Yg^p*cfa/>f"͞r d"zĝW;)SB2)P]C'g"_bNP>f[[cMHSw?*rɁ׈WSnoSD%l~GgP2{!gڞ9gx: ]6gidC\C s Fw8Ǐ"#=kH(<щG"49GҸ+RHz#:<AVgGU; %%sTrr9M5ߏ1.3])?q#p}k,Hu~'{=ߟWf]8}߾yfu[ټ) endstream endobj xref 0 22 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000401 00000 n 0000000430 00000 n 0000000579 00000 n 0000000682 00000 n 0000001954 00000 n 0000002061 00000 n 0000002169 00000 n 0000002279 00000 n 0000002392 00000 n 0000002508 00000 n 0000002537 00000 n 0000002647 00000 n 0000002704 00000 n 0000002761 00000 n 0000002820 00000 n 0000002879 00000 n 0000002908 00000 n 0000003013 00000 n trailer << /Size 22 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<2cea17c96f6594fa04c4ef09409fce5a><2cea17c96f6594fa04c4ef09409fce5a>] >> startxref 4074 %%EOF The Salvation Army's Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

The Salvation Army’s Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

January 11, 2003
2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article


COMMISSIONERS ISRAEL AND Eva Gaither and Doreen and David Edwards read the plaque commemorating The Salvation Army’s submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
– photo by Sue Schumann Warner

In the July 1997 issue of The Officer, former Southern Africa Territorial Commander Commissioner Paul du Plessis (a South African) wrote about the Army’s submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Salvation Army was the first church in South Africa to do so. He said: “The decision for the Army to make its own submission was not taken easily, but the conviction grew among the executive officers of the territory that this should be done. We were aware of the international integrity of The Salvation Army and that making a submission was effectively including IHQ and the Army worldwide with its stance on South Africa.”

The following is excerpted from the submission:

There are ways in which we know we have failed–a growing consciousness brought about in our collective mind by the Holy Spirit. All Salvation Army gatherings since our 1883 beginnings have been open to all races. Our failure has been in allowing the recognition of separate ethnic groupings, seen as normal at the time, but which fostered the idea of separate development. We did not see God’s justice as being grounded in God’s love and some of our people have been morally violated by the inequitable distribution of resources available to us…

“…While we did care for body and soul, we ought more strongly to have attacked the evil which wrecked both bodies and souls in the first place. Professing an apolitical stance, we used this to avoid the kind of protest for which the early Salvation Army was known. We became self-satisfied and paternal, introspective about our own affairs and insensitive to what was happening around us…As an Army we did not willfully commit racial acts. Indeed, we were able to bring healing and help in some of the worst affected areas simply because we were trusted not to become embroiled in party politics. Still, we failed to ‘stand up and be counted’ when it mattered most–and that is painful for us…

“The Salvation Army would want to uphold the principle of not being involved in party political issues. We will endeavor, however, not to hide under this umbrella as an excuse for silence when we should be prepared to speak prophetically and fearlessly on matters of justice.”

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like