Their modern "war cry" is heard in the sound of bells ringing outside shopping malls at Christmastime. But the Salvation Army has been on the streets of Utah "making war" against "sin and the devil - in every shape and form" for more than 100 years.
The Army's visibility increases markedly during the Christmas season, as shoppers reach into their pockets for change to drop in the group's trademark red kettles. The funds are a sacred trust to members of the Army, according to Capt. Jack Allemang, who directs the group's work in Salt Lake City. The kettles' proceeds "support the Christmas work that we do."
The primary use is to pick up the tab for those who are not adopted through the Angel Tree project. "No one is ignored, even if someone doesn't adopt them," Allemang says. "We also have food vouchers that go out for families during the season. Those are the two primary things we do with the money. Whatever surplus is left we use for ongoing programs in the other parts of the year."
Those ongoing programs - the Army's community dining hall, thrift stores and the nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation program - keep local corps members busy year-round.
Because the Salvation Army puts great focus on social service activities, it has been dubbed "the gospel in action."
But Salvationists (as corps members are called) mix traditional military hierarchy with Christian religion to form a unique organization that is thought of less as a church than a humanitarian group.
Yet the Salvation Army is very much a religious institution. Founded in London in 1865 by William Booth, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, the focus from the beginning was on poverty relief. As a boy, Booth worked as an apprentice in a pawnbroker's shop to support his mother and sisters. His daily encounters there made him keenly aware of the poverty in which people lived.
After becoming a minister, it became apparent to Booth and his helpers that something more than a "churchgoing religion" was needed to alleviate poverty. Booth severed his connection with Methodism and became an independent evangelist. From his first tent meeting in 1865, his philosophy of poverty relief spread and became known as The Christian Mission.
As the 19th century was a military era, so Booth's organization developed along military lines, declaring war on sin and poverty with its official declaration as The Salvation Army in 1878. Military titles and phraseology were adopted, uniforms created, and the movement quickly spread to the United States and beyond.
Officers in the Army are full-time ministers of the gospel, and laymen are its soldiers. Headquartered in London, the worldwide ministry is headed by a general who is elected for a term of five years by the Army's High Council, a group of senior officers.
Because the Army's ministry is so extensive, the world is divided into 50 territories, which are each split into divisions. Each division is made up of a number of corps, or local worship centers. With more than 14,000 corps in just over 100 countries, Salvationists minister to people in 140 languages. As in the military, the Army's organizational structure "makes for good mobility and discipline," according to the group's literature.
Salt Lake City has two corps - one Anglo group comprised of 50 to 60 members, and the other Hispanic of about 100 members, according to Allemang. The two groups share a building at 438 S. 900 West, which was formerly owned by the LDS Church. The LDS Church was recognized by Salvationists last month for donating the facility to the Army.
Doctrine "follows the mainstream Christian belief, and its articles of faith emphasize God's saving purposes," according to information posted on the Army's Web site. "Its objects are the advancement of the Christian religion . . . of education, the relief of poverty and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole."
Salvation Army volunteers first came to Utah in June 1887, and the response was cautiously curious. More than 5,000 people attended the Army's first open-air meeting in Salt Lake City, according to a history compiled by Maj. Jac-que-line Fritz.
In a letter dated June 8, 1887, to the general in London, W.F. Cozens wrote, "Hallelujah! Utah can no longer boast of being free from Salvationists. We are here, God has sent us, and God will give us the victory. People that have seen our Army in other parts of the world can scarcely believe their own eyes when they see us marching the streets of Salt Lake City, with our timbrels beating, horns blowing and flaring red guernseys attracting everybody's attention."
Officers were stationed in Salt Lake City, Ogden and Provo that year. While they seemed to have success preaching to some who were down on their luck or looking for a reason to be sober, Lt. J. Pickup found himself stifled in his efforts with Latter-day Saints. He wrote that "the Mormons are such a funny people." In the Army meetings when he would "go fishing for them, they go fishing for him, and will talk of immersion and water until you begin to think you are wet."
Over the past 110 years, the two groups have each modified some of their more distinguishing characteristics. Today the focus for the local Salvationists is working with other humanitarian organizations of whatever stripe to help feed the hungry and shelter those with no place to go.
"Our community dining room feeds 400 to 600 homeless people 364 nights per year," Allemang said. "The Family Services Center has emergency resources for individuals and families primarily connected with food and clothing."
The Army also operates four thrift stores in the Salt Lake Valley, and proceeds support the ministry's other outreach efforts.
But the "stand-out program" offered locally, according to Allemang, is the Army's drug and alcohol rehabilitation center - the largest nonprofit organization of its kind in Utah (see accompanying story).
With all of its programs to fund, how important is the Christmas kettle fund drive? "It's vital," says Allemang. "It makes up a substantial part of our budget for the year."
Because all funding for local programs is locally generated, Allemang says he's constantly trying to develop resources within Salt Lake City and beyond to fund the group's $3 million-plus annual budget.
Consequently, willing bell-ringers are always needed, he said. While the Army has had to hire bell-ringers for $6 per hour, the yearly ritual still brings rounds of volunteer groups.
Allemang says 59 local groups are helping man the kettles this year. While he'd like to see more people involved, "I'm happy to say that I haven't in my experience of 20 years seen the kind of voluntarism that goes on in this city. It seems to me very exceptional."