The Salvation ArmyArmée du Salut

Candidates Menu Options

“Abide in me. Go and bear much fruit…” Personal Grid for those exploring God’s call on their lives to potential full-time vocational ministry.

Using your completed Personal Grid as a guide, choose a Menu Option from the list below, in an area that you want to take a "best next step" of growth.

Menu Options are categorized by one of these three icons: 

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Help you grow in knowledge & understanding

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Spiritual & character formation

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Hands-on application & experience

 1. Effective Personal Witness 

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Write an account from the last six months of where you see God working in your life and in your world. Capture any God-moments in your life, Scripture that stands out to you or appears repeatedly in your life during this time, and places or people in which you see Jesus showing up in your everyday life.

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Write out your story-your personal testimony and share it with your mentor and/or trusted friends. Listen to their testimonies, too, and note where God is working in their lives.

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Look for opportunities to share your faith story in public, whether in person or on social media and commit to doing it.

 2. Sacrificial Compassionate Mission 

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Learn about Indigenous ministry in The Salvation Army. Visit the Indigenous Ministries website for more information.

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See what service or mission opportunities are available to you in your community, division or territory that speak to your heart. Pick one and develop a yearly practice of involving yourself in it.

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Pick a social justice issue and do some research. Watch a documentary or read a book about it. Journal what you learned and what your response will be.

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Commit to praying for God to open your eyes and move your heart with compassion. Then watch and listen to how he answers your prayer.

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Go for a prayer walk in your city or neighbourhood. Look for and pray for needs as you walk.

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Download the Infinitum app. Create a hub and begin practising the rhythms of surrender, generosity and mission together. Note how God makes you more sensitive to those around you over time.

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Do a Bible or book study on issues of justice. A possible book to start with is When Justice is the Measure by Dr. James Read and Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan.

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Go to the International Social Justice Commission website. Choose and download one of their social issues guides, working through it this month.

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Also, on the ISJC website-download the UN Sustainable Development Goals handbook and choose a goal to begin working toward.

 3. Active Engagement in the World 

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Commit to widening your friendships and circle of influence by one person this month.

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Get involved in a group or team in your community with the intent of having your presence and life point to Jesus, showing Christ's love by your example. (If you are working through Learning Pathways, its Community Engagement section talks about this.)

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Choose one of the "one anothers": love one another, serve one another, pray for one another, forgive one another. Practise living one particular "one another" every day for a week and journal about what that practice was like for you.

 4. Healthy Spiritual Habits 

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Learn about different spiritual habits (disciplines) and begin to put one or two into practice. See the Additional Resources and Reading list at the end of this guide for ideas.

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Commit to an intentional prayer plan. Use an app like Echo Prayer or The Inner Room to help get you started.

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Intentionally chart the habits of your day. What new spiritual rhythms can you add/align with the already existing normal rhythms of your day? Create a Rhythm of Life that works for you (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun, pages 37-41).

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Engage with one of the modules available at Practicing the Way (choose one to begin putting into practice).

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Examine your social media feed and consumption. What does it say about your healthy spiritual habits? What adjustments can you make? Do it.

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Consider engaging with a spiritual director. Contact your divisional secretary for spiritual life development for assistance in finding one.

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Explore the Bible reading plans on the YouVersion Bible app. Choose one and begin to integrate the regular reading of Scripture into your daily rhythm.

 5. Healthy Spiritual Community 

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Look for one new way to contribute to the life of your church this month, creating opportunity for community with others who you may not have engaged with before. (If you are working through Learning Pathways, its Community Engagement section talks about this.)

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Consider joining a small group at your church.

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Identify one or two Christlike people in your friendship circles or church and intentionally invite them/give them permission to speak into your life.

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Create an Infinitum hub with two or three others who want to become more intentional in their faith. Download the Infinitum app for guidance and resources.

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Examine your social media feed. What does it say about your healthy spiritual community? Make any adjustments you feel necessary.

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Read 12 Ordinary Men by David Vandebeulque with a small group, engaging the discussion guide.

 6. Salvation & Sanctification 

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Write or record your salvation experience and how you are being made more like Jesus. Then share it with someone.

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Read The Chase: Pursuing Holiness in Your Everyday Life by Jerry Bridges. Discuss what you are learning with someone else.

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Begin the practice of Sabbath (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun, page 42).

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Look for the fruit of the spirit in your life and in the lives of others. Take note and chart or journal areas where you need improvement. Ask God to help you be more intentional in those specific areas.

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Examine your social media feed. How does it align with Jesus' character and who you say you are in Christ? Make any adjustments needed.

 7. Equipped for Ministry 

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Explore your unique God-given SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences). How can you develop aspects of who you are? Take the challenge and work on your SHAPE! (Find this resource on the Additional Resources and Reading page at the end of this guide.)

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Attend an in-person or online conference or training seminar that speaks to a ministry you are interested in. Share what you learned or skills you developed with a leader in your church.

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Shadow a leader in your church and document what you learn about how they lead.

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If you are working through Learning Pathways, this would be an area to include in your personal learning goals.

 8. Entrusted with Ministry 

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Talk to your corps officer or ministry unit lead to explore the areas in which you can become involved.

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Take on an apprenticeship in an area of ministry at your church or elsewhere, learning from a more experienced leader who will collaborate with you and allow you to gain your own experience through the relationship.

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Organize a service project or fundraiser to help support those who are less fortunate in your neighbourhood or world.

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Write and share a message (sermon) in church about the importance of becoming engaged in ministry to a person's spiritual development. Not ready for a sermon? Lead a devotional for a ministry group at your church (young adults, band, adult fellowship, etc.).

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Consider the hours in your day and week. How do you spend them? How many are simply spent "passing time"? How could you leverage some of those hours to contribute to the life of your church or community in some form of ministry? Discuss with your mentor about the possibilities, make a plan and begin working it out.

 9. Stewardship 

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Ask your church for offering envelopes or a direct debit form and make a commitment to regularly give your tithes and offerings each week.

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Chart how you regularly spend your day. Identify times you could better use for God's glory. Talk to someone to identify ways to better steward that time.

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Look at the people who are regularly in and out of your life. Do you feel any sort of responsibility to know their needs? How does knowing a need affect you? How could you be the loving hands of God's provision to someone you know?

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Look back over your life. When have you given something that brought you great joy? What did you give? Why did it touch you so deeply? How might you continue to give in the area that gives you joy?

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Monitor your daily/weekly screen time updates. Look at how much time you are spending and where that time is spent. Are there ways you can spend some of that time that can help strengthen your spiritual life?

 10. Discernment & Decision-making 

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To discern where the Holy Spirit has been recently working in your life, consider and discuss the following questions: For what am I longing? What themes keep recurring in my life? Where am I struggling? What is most life giving to me? What is least life giving?

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Take note of the messages you receive this month through media, friend groups, news, legislation, etc. How do these stack up against a biblical worldview? Find someone to discuss this with.

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Chart the decisions you make this month. What factors did you take into consideration when making them? Did you just go with your gut, line it up against Scripture, commit to praying about it, seek God's will, gain broader perspective from your healthy spiritual community? Note patterns in your decision-making process and adjust as needed.

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Catalogue major decisions in your life to date. Beside each one, write your decision-making process. Which decisions felt best, worst, and why?

 11. Relation to Authority 

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Invite a trusted leader to observe you in an area of authority you hold and debrief how you use the authority that has been given to you.

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Where do you find yourself coming in conflict with authority? Why do you think this is? How can you respond in a more Christlike way?

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Find a Christian who holds a senior position in a secular environment and ask them how they hold their authority in a Christlike way. What principles can you apply from their experience?

 12. Response to God's Call 

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Make your response to God’s calling in your life an intentional prayer focus. Ask a group of people to pray with you.

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Work through The Shape of Calling, found on the Candidates department website.

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Plan to attend a Design for Life or Explore Your Call event.

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Use the book The Call by Os Guinness for your daily devotions this month. Journal your response to what you take in.

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Explore your unique God-given SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences). How can you develop aspects of who you are? Take the challenge and work on your SHAPE! Find this resource on the Additional Resources and Reading page at the end of this guide.

 13. Beliefs/Values/Behaviours 

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Explore the doctrines of The Salvation Army. Read and discuss them with your corps officer, ministry unit lead or your mentor. Write them out and what they mean to you.

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Choose to read or go through a soldiership prep course or book, such as Called to Be a Soldier (ask your corps officer for a copy), Battle Ready, Mobilized for Mission or Call to Arms. Work through it with a leader in your church, whether you currently are or intend to become a soldier.

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Read the book insane: the stories of crazy salvos who changed the world by Nelson Munn and David Collinson. What did you learn from our Salvationist history? How might you impact your world today, living out the purposes of the Army?

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Read a biography of a Salvationist leader or account from Army history to gain a better understanding of our heritage and mission.

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Use our new territorial vision statement to help you dream up some ideas of how you could help integrate church families with your community and family services. Build bridges both ways. In partnership with a corps or family services leader, begin to put some plans on one of your ideas.

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Use The Salvation Army’s Day by Day resource as a devotional throughout the month. Put its principles into action.

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Choose to read or go through a soldiership prep course or book, such as Called to Be a Soldier (ask your corps officer for a copy), Battle Ready, Mobilized for Mission or Call to Arms. Work through it with a leader in your church, whether you currently are or intend to become a soldier.

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Read a biography of a Salvationist leader or account from Army history to gain a better understanding of our heritage and mission.

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Use our new territorial vision statement to help you dream up some ideas of how you could help integrate church families with your community and family services. Build bridges both ways. In partnership with a corps or family services leader, begin to put some plans on one of your ideas.

You've chosen your next step for growth, now make sure you connect with those you're journeying with to let them know what step(s) you've decided to take. Then schedule a Connection Point to let each other know how your steps are going. Use the guide on the next page to help keep your Connection Points intentional and on track!

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