From Banners and Bonnets to Boiler Room
The Wandsworth Salvation Army - Called to be a "Boiler Room" - Here are some of the questions we had about it and the answers we discovered
What Is a Boiler Room?
It is a generic term for a unique expression of the out-breaking of God through prayer. (If you are scratching you head now read on.)
A very brief history, how did it all start?
The current Boiler room expression came thanks to the birth of a radical prayer movement who started praying for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This in time birthed Boiler Room in Reading. For more information about this massive mobilisation of prayer warriors visit 24-7prayer.com.
Why the Name?
In the words of 24-7: because there was a sense of an engine driving God's dreams forward. A boiler room was a powerhouse, a driving force, a place of pressure and creative energy. From the furnace came power. Functional, dirty and hot, it wasn't a comfortable setting for entertaining or relaxing. It was a place of essential work.
They later found out that Charles Spurgeon attributed the fruitfulness of his entire ministry to his Boiler Rooms. These were prayer rooms in the building he was speaking in where people would intercede as he preached. He described these Boiler Rooms as the very power source of his ministry.
What's the purpose?
After Reading, came more Boiler Rooms and each one is different (unique) but all seek to bring Jesus into the very heart of the community that they are in.
Our Boiler Room is the vehicle by which we journey to the redemption and transformation of Wandsworth.
We have spent much time in prayer, seeking God and in study. These are some of the characteristics we believe "Wandsworth Boiler Room" will express.
Prayer : To a Christian prayer is as essential as breathing. We talk to our friend, our Saviour and in respect of the battle for His kingdom, our true General.
Community : It's good to know that you are part of a family that loves you no matter what. This is sometimes not the experience of our upbringing and so as a family of believers we seek to show Christ's love to all we meet. In community we seek to build each other up; to strengthen, encourage and support "as iron sharpens iron."
Social Justice : "What use is faith with out works?" We only believe what we do. As the Bible says, we are called to be Jesus with people not just talk about Him. Jesus Himself modelled servanthood to us, so we should follow his example.
Creativity : The Creator God creates us in his image. As such, we have creativity within us. To learn to express this in all its diversity is to start to explore the depth of communication we can have with God.
Mission : The 'Gospel' (Good News) of Matthew ends with Jesus' commandment "Go and make disciples of all nations" How can we easily ignore the 'great commission'?
Pilgrimage and Retreat : Pilgrimage helps us keep things in perspective. The Bible calls us to live in the world but not belong to it. Our lives themselves are a journey with Jesus we need to explore, and an occasional journey in life can help us with this.
We all get weary and need to find shelter from the storm that life can be. We hope that there will always be a place of safety and peace to be found with us.
Where is it backed up in scripture?
Can we find a reference to a literal boiler room in the Bible? No.
Can we find all the elements of one? Yes. In fact we can find God expressing each of these elements Himself. If it's good enough for Him it is good enough for us.
Why us?
To answer this we need a bit more history.
Right from the early days of 24-7, The Salvation Army was involved. This was an initiative that shared our heart for prayer. Then came a powerful prophetic word during a Roots conference from Deborah Green calling the Army to give the Lord a complete year of prayer. We were called to '24-7-365'. The Army rallied and prayed. Prayer had once again begun to establish a right place in the Salvation Army. The year ended successfully, but what now?
A group of Godly men and women gathered to ask some difficult questions.
· What is the best use of resources?
· How to go beyond playing 24-7?
· How to bring people to repentance?
· How to encourage individuals to pray?
· How to promote 24-7?
There was only one answer: "BOILER ROOM"
But now, where should it be?
And after more prayer there was, in their minds, only one place: "WANDSWORTH"
So for the next 18 months Wandsworth Salvation Army prayed and prayed and prayed. Is this what God wants of us in Wandsworth? We always received the same answer, YES.
Why us?
Because we are a motley crew. There is no greatness to be found in our congregation. We are not rich, we are not very clever we are just not that special.
So as we press on to see the redemption of Wandsworth and we cry out for The Salvation Army to be restored to a God fearing, passionate, movement of men and women devoted to the Salvation of souls and justice for the oppressed, we will know one thing, what ever happens it is because God made it so.
Why Bother?
How can we not? We must choose to stand before Goliath with our tiny pebble. For who God calls he will equip. We are not worthy of this call, we may not feel ready to stand up and fight, but we have no choice but to hear and to respond.
What changes?
There are two answers to this, both are correct. What changes: nothing and also everything.
On 29th of November 2004 the day after we launch the Boiler Room, we will all look the same and feel the same but we will be different.
The bride and groom wake up as husband and wife the day after their wedding. They look the same, they feel the same but they are not the same they are different. They have cut a covenant with God that established a bond in the heavenly realms.
It is the same for Wandsworth Salvation Army, we will stand in agreement with God and each other declaring our intent to outwork His calling and Vision for His church in Wandsworth.
What things are going to happen in the Boiler Room? Is it just about prayer?
As outlined earlier, the six elements of Boiler Room will help us define what we do. More importantly it is our relationship with Christ which will define us.
Prayer : before all things, for all things and about all things. Our commitment to prayer is fundamental. This is currently seen through our daily midday prayer meetings, half nights of prayer, regular prayer meetings attended by many of the congregations across the borough, 24-7 prayer events. Our prayer room is open during office hour and on request.
Community : Jesus loved community, the early church lived in community and the Celtic Christians modelled community. We may not all live together or even share one purse but we are learning how we can express the values of community in the 3rd millennium. We may not all be Urban monks (yet) but we have felt the depth of love that we can share and that authenticity helps us to grow as Christians. We are called to make disciples of all nations; a community based on mutual trust, where we look for the good in each other is a great place to do this.
Social Justice : From our hall we offer help to our community and work with marginalised people, including rough sleepers, street drinkers, children and the elderly. As members of a much larger community we seek to be Boiler Room People where ever we are, in our homes, work, school and any where else we go, taking the our relationship with Christ to all we meet.
Creativity : We have been working with many different artists in the field of dance, film, D.J.'ing M.C.'ing drama and music as well as those who pick up a paint brush!
Mission : Part of our mandate has been to equip believers to "Go!" We have already seen local people sent out to build God's kingdom in many places in the U.K. as well as Eastern Europe.
However mission is not just for those who would go, it is also for those who would "Stay!". In such a transient borough, God is calling people to stay, to be rooted in Wandsworth and to commit themselves to seeing this land transformed. As Boiler Room People our mission field is our school, our local shop or even just our 'local'.
Pilgrimage : Mainly we have only experienced this on an individual level, although the annual Roots pilgrimage has always borne good fruit for us at Wandsworth. As we continue to explore God's vision and dig the wells of history through the likes of the Celts, pilgrimage may well take on a more significant role for us.
Retreat : If you have ever sat in the prayer room in the middle of one of "those days" you will know the value of retreat. This is not only a sanctuary for us but more importantly for others. As some of us 'rest in the shadow of the Almighty'', lets think about those who as yet don't know His rest. That 5 minute respite or 2 hours rest in the prayer soaked peace of the prayer room may be to some the first step of a journey to freedom in Christ.
Will we still be the Salvation Army?
Let there be a resounding "Yes" to this question. We are the Salvation Army. As Red, Yellow and Blue as they come!.
What's wrong with the SA corps model as it is now?
For many, the current corps model is the completely right thing for their corps. As for Wandsworth, God has asked us to explore something else. Does this mean we are better? No. Does it mean that every Salvation Army corps must become a Boiler Room? No.
Are we going off on a different tangent to rest of SA?
Again, No. The General has recently stated how we should remember our heritage "The Army was raised up by God for a great purpose" he calls us "To be what we were raised to be - to do what we were raised to do". William Booth (Founder) said, "To go for souls and go for the worst."
It is Gods intention for us to be a Boiler Room. For us to take the message of Jesus to our community. For us to stand up for injustice, to resist and push back the enemy.
If William Booth were to come to this Boiler Room I believe he would recognise the true spirit of the Army.
Will there be one leader or a committee?
We only have one leader and that is Jesus. We stand in the covering of the Salvation Army and this church is lead by our Commanding Officer, Major Alan Norton.
We all journey together and all bring our gifts and skills. All are valued and all are welcome but in a war there can only be one general and one line of command.
Who's involved in Boiler Room?
The easiest way to answer this is we all are. Boiler Room is about people it's about community and it's about belonging. Who is involved? Whoever we know, our neighbour, our Doctor, our whosoever.
"Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden I will give you rest."
Are the youth allowed to join in?
A question asked in innocence. Yes, Yes, Yes. As a Boiler Room we seek to find new ways of being church with each other and new ways are sparked by new ideas.
We welcome the young and the old alike. We seek to value all, to listen to what they say and to take notice. Will we need help?
As we mentioned earlier we are a motley crew. Will we need help? Yes.
The bigger question is, who will help?
The unity of His church has always been on our hearts. We have built a network of local churches who pray together. We pray now that other churches will see that the Boiler Room is not just for the Salvation Army, it is for Wandsworth and for her Church. They too have a role to play and are just as much a part of the Boiler Room as we are.
Also God has promised to send us workers who will come fully equipped and ready. We have already seen the first fruits of this with Vicky Adams and The Wright Family soon to join us. We will keep praying for an increase of labourers for the harvest.
Is it a permanent or a temporary thing?
We strongly believe that the Boiler Room is here to stay. Once lit it will continue to power God's work in this borough and beyond until it is accomplished or He says stop.
What is the vision for the next 5-10 yrs?
Ask God! That's what we are doing. The consensus of opinion is that He will reveal the way to us one step at a time. This is a very exciting time to be Boiler Room. The stakes for the Army may never have been higher. Exactly how Wandsworth Boiler Room will be expressed in the future is not yet known but we think we can guarantee it will be an exciting journey not to be missed.
How do you explain it to others?
I hope that you know have an over all understanding of what the Wandsworth Salvation Army Boiler Room is about. Explaining it to others may take time but I have found the more I do it the easier it becomes.
We have produced some less exhaustive leaflets and post cards that may help but probably the easiest way is by showing them.
We are as much Boiler Room People as we are people who go to a Boiler Room. Being Church is not about attendance of a building it's about believers being with each other.
What if someone doesn't want to?
As much as we welcome all, we understand that this expression of church may not suit everyone. It would be a very sad world if we all liked exactly the same thing. I would add however that sometimes we are called out of what we find comfortable. This is often the way we grow best so please seek God for his plans for the future before making any plans of your own.