Dave makes some great points in his comment. As an employee and supervisor at a Salvation Army homeless shelter, the morale and of employees have dropped a great deal. Because there is a freeze on salaries, many employees are resigning and doing similar work at a neighboring shelter making $2-5 more per hour. In a high stressful environment, I believe this is not the time to freeze budgets and salaries. We pay a great deal of attention to our clients however without the dedication of the employees, the homeless population agenda would be looking worse than it already is.

I have every confidence in the leadership of The Salvation Army in leading us through this crisis. Can more be done? Certainly more at all levels, and I am inspired by the comment above that salvationists are also taking ressponsabilities and praying for the current situation.

I am concerned however with the comment about the officers' salaries as if officers have something to hide - The Salvation Army has always been very transparent with allowances and benefits and be assured that there was no increase just prior to the freeze. Officers' salaries have been frozen as well. While it is true that housing and other benefits are provided, the total officers' salary and allowances are still below what one would expect to pay them for their services. If this wasn't the case, there would be an influx of opportunitists wanting SA officership.

I am also curious as how you see "Holy Spirit empowered boldness. How would you see this played out?

I think we need some detail regarding the 'proactive' measures that Army leadership has implemented. It is my understanding that all non-unionized employees have just been told that their wages are frozen for the 09/10 fiscal year, and that other administrative cost-cutting measures (e.g. reduced travel, no officer retreats, etc)are taking place. As a Christian and active Salvationist, not employed by The Salvation Army, here are a couple of comments and observations:

Has this affected officer compensation in the same manner, or did officers receive allowance increases prior to the freeze? And please remember that officers are protected against some of the negative economic impact through non-monetary benefits such as housing and utility payments.

How does this fit into our commitment to social justice, vis-a-vis our employees? Many, perhaps all, employees were expecting annual wage increases as of 01 April, and they had no lead time to deal with the salary freeze. If we cannot refuse compensation increases which are a part of legally-binding collective bargaining agreements, how can we ignore the morally-binding commitment to non-unionized staff? Non-unionized workers tend to be in local ministry units, and tend to be among the lowest-paid of our employees: we have as much obligation to them as to any of our other stakeholders, including clients.

Is it true that the Army endeavours to maintain reserves roughly equal to four years of financial demand, and those reserves are now equal to less than six months demand? If so, our reaction needs to include diligent attention to cost-cutting, but it also demands bold, Holy Spirit empowered boldness in trust. Where is our spiritual response to this crisis? At our holiness meeting yesterday, we were asked to pray for our understanding employees and wise leaders during this crisis. And we should do that, of course. However, I sense that we need some prophetic Spirit-directed leadership that goes beyond the danger of cliche. We need to hear an urgent call to penitence, sacrifice and prayer for both vision and wisdom ... and we need to see it modelled by our Territorial, Divisional and Corps Officers. At this point in the world's march toward the return of Christ, we need to understand it is not 'business as usual', but the time for a new Day of Pentecost.

I'll be praying that God will give wisdom, strength and Holy Spirit-infused boldness to our leaders and soldiers, starting with the TC and the CS.