pioneers of the Kingdom...

Willis has forwarded this quote:

"There are certain things which The Salvation Army can spare and still be The
Salvation Army -- citadels and other meeting places, for instance. Money,
too, can be done without. The advantages of organization are not entirely
essential. One thing, however, The Salvation Army cannot spare. The
Army, which William Booth gathered together out of the most impossible material,
to the astonishment of the world, cannot do with the pioneer spirit. The
pioneer spirit is as necessary now as ever, for left to itself a movement tends
to stagnate. Uniformed officers and soldiers we have in encouraging
numbers -- but too many seem to have forgotten that they are not to be known as
'members'. We can say without equivocation that were we to lose the daring
and the determination of the pioneer spirit we should no longer be The Salvation
Army. There are plenty of churches and congregations. They have
their own special work to do, but we are called to be pioneers of the Kingdom."

– General Erik Wickberg
as quoted in The Officer magazine, January/February 2007