What is ALOVE?

ALOVE is a new sub-brand of The Salvation Army for young people and young adults in the UK and Republic of Ireland. It expresses the heart and passion of The Salvation Army for a new generation and it’s the identity of The Salvation Army’s new vision and strategy for youth ministry, which was launched in January 2003.


What Does ALOVE Mean?

ALOVE means that The Salvation Army is all about ‘a love’. A love that is unconditional, gracious, saving, forgiving, serving, compassionate, radical and audacious; a love that is from God; a love that is lived out in faith, humility and service to others.

I want, dear Lord, a love that cares for all,
A deep, strong love that answers every call;
A love like thine, a love divine, a love to come or go;
On me, dear Lord, a love like this bestow.

Song 426: The Song Book of The Salvation Army


How Is It Pronounced?

As it reads: ‘ALOVE.’ The two words ‘a love’ run into one, with the ‘a’ sounding like the ‘a’ in ‘alive’ or ‘above.’ It rhymes with above.


Why Did You Make Up A Word?

In researching and developing a sub-brand, over 150 names were generated, none of which really hit the mark. ALOVE was the only word that captured the essence of what the gospel is all about and what motivates The Salvation Army. The hope is that it will bring more strength, depth and meaning to the English word for ‘love,’ which so often gets watered down into a plastic, Hollywood, pop song type of love in our society.

Amazingly, Jesus’ disciples faced the same problems when writing about the type of love that was the central theme of Jesus’ ministry. In the gospels we see how the Greek word ‘agape’ was eventually used to describe this love; before this, the word had hardly been used. Similarly, The Salvation Army is making use of a new word to bring the love that is central to the incarnation and our movement to a new generation.


Why Was ALOVE Created?

Research shows that the UK Church has seen rapid decline in the number of young people and young adults attending and engaging with faith. For example, the English Church Attendance Survey (and earlier English Church censuses) show that for youth under the age of 15, attendance was at 1,400,000 in 1979 compared to 720,000 by 1998.

Within this climate, The Salvation Army, despite numerous hot spots of excellence in Youth Ministry, has also seen progressive decline in the number of young people engaged with the movement. The Salvation Army United Kingdom Territory Y.P. Register demonstrates a drop from approximately 120,000 in 1950 to under 20,000 in the year 2000.

This general picture of decline provides a wake-up call to the UK Church. The statistics demonstrate that, overall, we are failing to meet the needs of young people and young adults in 21st century society. ALOVE is The Salvation Army’s response to this situation. It’s not about bumping up the numbers; it’s about expressing the heart and passion of The Salvation Army for a new generation and equipping young people to be The Salvation Army for their generation.


What Research Did You Do For The Creation Of The Sub-Brand?

The Salvation Army undertook all sorts of research that shaped the creation of a sub-brand. These included:

• The Burden of Youth Report, commissioned by The Salvation Army, compiled by The Henley Centre
• The UKT Task Force on Youth Ministry

Questionnaires, interviews and research groups were also held in a variety of contexts:

• Divisional Youth Officer’s Conference
• Roots
• Dream Days
• Youth Ministry Unit
• Online Survey
• Market Research Groups around the UKT


What Did Young People Say?

We interviewed various young people about their hopes, dreams and opinions about The Salvation Army. Here are a few of their comments:

‘It’s got the potential at its very best to be absolutely awesome, and absolutely sublime and be absolutely what God intended it to be, but at the other end of the scale it’s got the potential to be absolutely horrendous and it’s just so frustrating. I think my passion for it stems from that…frustration about what we could be... We have a massive potential and that is ahead of us rather than behind us.’
25-year-old male

‘Sometimes I don’t understand why they have so many rules…they are a bit old-fashioned. They are trying to become modern, but they are keeping all the rules the same… It’s different to whenever it was set up so I don’t see why it doesn’t change.’
11-year-old male

‘The Salvation Army has created a culture even separate from other churches let alone society in general.’
25-year-old male

‘A lot of The Salvation Army has young people that have grown up in it. [The Salvation Army] should try and build something up that involves people that don’t go to The Salvation Army. They should also have something where you don’t have to be in uniform to be included… a singing choir where you don’t have to be in uniform at all.’
16-year-old female

‘At work the other week, this person seemed to think that it was just old people and they didn’t think they welcomed young people into it. They were really shocked that I was a young person that went to a Salvation Army.’
16-year-old female

‘…when AIDS was just coming through… The Salvation Army was at the forefront of trying to get involved in doing stuff when other churches weren’t.’
25-year-old male


What Is The ALOVE Vision Statement?

ALOVE is working with regional and local expressions of The Salvation Army to implement the following vision and mission statement:

Vision: Giving a generation back to Jesus.
Mission: Calling a generation to dynamic faith, radical lifestyle, adventurous mission and a fight for justice.

This mission statement is a rewording of the territorial vision statement for young people.

Every incarnation of ALOVE has four essentials:

Worship : Giving our lives and world back to God.
Discipleship : Getting into Jesus and his community.
Mission : Going into the world to find and point out Jesus.
Social : Action Giving a voice to the voiceless.


What Are The Desired Outcomes Of ALOVE’s Essentials and Strategy?

The Essentials:

ALOVE is committed to ensuring that young people and young adults will have access to:

• Regular experience of worship within a culturally engaging setting.
• Ongoing access to discipleship through small groups and cell life.
• Continual engagement in mission with peers, families and the wider community.
• Recurring opportunities to be involved in social action.

The Strategy:

Through this ALOVE aims to:

• Raise up the present generation of young people as a missionary force, ready, equipped and empowered to win the world for God.
• See far greater numbers of young people coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and committing themselves to a life of holiness and discipleship.
• See far greater numbers of young people actively engaged in Christian mission, incorporating worship, evangelism, prayer, compassion, community service, advocacy and justice.
• Establish a new vision and excitement among young people.
• Develop far greater numbers of trained and committed leaders.
• See far greater numbers of young people being trained and developed for leadership.
• Create new models of worship and mission for and with young people.
• Give far greater opportunities for young people to be nurtured and discipled in their faith.
• Provide an enhanced energy and vitality in church life, with young people acting as a catalyst for change, growth and renewal.
• Engage meaningfully with marginalised and socially excluded young people in the UK.
• Transform and renew local communities affected by levels of deprivation among young people.


What Happens To The Youth Ministry Unit?

The Youth Ministry was set up in January 2003 to work alongside divisional and local youth leaders to implement the new youth ministry strategy. As of 20th March 2004, it will change their name to ALOVE, but still perform the same function. To differentiate from the regional ALOVE offices, it will be called ALOVE UK or ALOVE UKT.


How Will ALOVE Be Implemented At The Regional/Divisional Level?

Regional leaders will play a key role in implementing ALOVE as it is the expression of the new youth ministry strategy for their context. ALOVE UKT (the former Youth Ministry Unit) will work alongside each DHQ team in implementing this new strategy. It will also provide numerous resources to support DHQ teams in their plans to communicate ALOVE in their region.


How Will ALOVE Be Implemented At The Local Level?

First and foremost we recognise that many local youth groups already have a strong identity for their youth ministry. ALOVE is not trying to change that – local identities are developed, shaped and owned by local communities and we don’t want to enforce something upon that.

Instead, the hope is that ALOVE will become an identity that resources, enhances and adds to what is being developed locally. Taking on the ALOVE identity at the local church level is a way of demonstrating that they are part of a new movement within The Salvation Army that exists to serve and empower a new generation throughout the country.


How Is ALOVE Organised?

The Salvation Army is an international church and charity. In the UK and Republic of Ireland there are over 800 centres that fall into 18 different regions. Each region/division has an ALOVE representative called a Divisional Youth Officer that works as part of The Salvation Army’s divisional team. The Divisional Youth Officer oversees youth ministry and the implementation of the ALOVE strategy in their region. This strategy is developed with consultation from ALOVE UK (or UKT), a special team that exists to support the regional expressions of ALOVE. This team is part of The Salvation Army’s head office.

: click here for our Regional Offices' contact details


What Happens If A Church Or Corps Doesn’t Have A Youth Worker?

We recognise that not every church or corps has a youth worker (whether paid or voluntary), but this does not mean that it can’t be part of ALOVE. Firstly, ALOVE will still be there to provide certain resources for what is happening locally, e.g. cell material, web site, etc. Secondly, the Divisional Youth Officers play a key role in establishing ALOVE in their region of responsibility and will be able to provide guidance on the strategy for each area. Thirdly, it is part of ALOVE’s commitment, alongside the divisions, to identify and train new youth leaders throughout the territory. This in turn will eventually provide more human resources for corps currently lacking in this area.


Does ALOVE Mean The End Of Uniforms And Brass Bands?

ALOVE is not about favouring one cultural medium over another. It is about living out the essentials of the new youth ministry strategy. If the cultural medium in which young people can identify with the essentials the most is through traditional Army sections and activities, then ALOVE affirms such mediums. Similarly, if the young person identifies more with a drum ’n’ bass worship night, ALOVE affirms that too. Ultimately, the cultural medium is merely the context in which quality youth ministry is delivered – it is not the focus.


What’s The Point Of Branding?

For some, the word ‘branding’ is a loaded word. Surely it’s the domain of corporate executives, not the Christian Church? However, this misses the point and potential of branding. Branding is so much more than flash names and logos. Think about some of the major brands out there – they all represent something (good or bad).

Branding is about expressing the vision, beliefs, purpose and personality of your movement; it is the symbol of your reputation and the experience people have when they come into contact with you. In that sense you can still have a brand even if you don’t name it!

ALOVE is The Salvation Army’s opportunity to communicate in a new way to thousands of young people and young adults.


What Is The Relationship Of ALOVE To The Salvation Army?

ALOVE is an integral part of The Salvation Army and not an offshoot of the movement. The BBC is a good illustration to describe the relationship. As a massive media organisation they express themselves in numerous fields including Radio, TV and Film. Each expression (and the multiple programmes within them) has its own identity, as they are reaching different audiences, but you will always see it related to the main BBC brand.

In a similar way, ALOVE is an expression of The Salvation Army for young people and young adults. Everywhere you see the ALOVE brand, you will see the Salvation Army shield.


Why Not Just Use The Salvation Army Brand?

Research demonstrated that while young people identify with the heart, passion, purpose and radicalism of The Salvation Army, they don’t always identify as much with the military metaphor, which is often seen as old-fashioned and Victorian. ALOVE is a commitment to building on the essence of The Salvation Army and expressing it in 21st century youth culture.

The following quotations are from young people, filmed for The Salvation Army’s Link video feature about youth ministry.

On the church they said:

‘Church is getting old; times have modernised.’
‘It’s a boring waste of time.’
‘There’s just better things to do at the weekend.’

On The Salvation Army they said:

‘When I think of the name Salvation Army, I think more church and religion than like helping people our age.’
‘Run-down charity.’
‘Salvation probably isn’t such a common word that young people use and army sounds like a strict regime… It doesn’t sound too appealing.’


What Training Opportunities Does ALOVE Provide?

ALOVE UK runs a number of different leadership training and personal development options, for young leaders and aspiring youth workers. These include:

Essential

Essential is ALOVE’s mission and discipleship training course for 18-24 year olds. It runs in two parts: Essential1 and Essential2.

Essential1

Essential1 is all about getting to know God in deeper ways. The training explores what it means to live life as a follower and disciple of Christ. It challenges students to live, listen and learn; to let their characters be sharpened and deepened.

Essential1 asks the questions what is God already doing? How is he already at work in the lives of other people? How can you live out the hope of the gospel? How could life be different?

The Essential1 training will equips to engage in mission; to apply faith in diverse and changing cultures; to see and point out what God is already doing.

For a large part of Essential1 there is the opportunity to do all the above in a local mission placement. As part of a small mission team, students work, serve and continue the journey of mission and discipleship within a Salvation Army community-based initiative or church/corps.

Essential2

Essential2 equips students to live out their faith in their own vocational context and still be involved in a Salvation Army mission placement.

Whether it’s the world of youth work, science, sports, university, finance, politics, travel, church planting, medicine, music, retail or the arts (to name a few), ALOVE recognises that everyone is gifted differently, and is called to different vocations.

At the same time, many people in a whole range of vocations still wish to serve and support the mission of The Salvation Army in their local community.

The purpose of Essential2 is to equip students to do both - to live as a disciple in their chosen vocational sphere and to be involved in a local Salvation Army mission placement. Essential2 requires students to remain equally committed to their discipleship and mission placement on an ongoing basis.

Essential2 has four streams of training to facilitate this:

Stream 1 – Professional Training:
For those who want to train in the areas of youth, community, children’s and social work and at the same time, commit to volunteer in a mission placement.

Stream 2 – Student Training:
For those who want to pursue a broader range of further educational courses, and at the same time, commit to volunteer in a mission placement.

Stream 3 - Workplace:
For those who are moving into a workplace environment but at the same time, want to volunteer in a mission placement. Further training in an area of specialism may be offered to the individual.

Stream 4 - Officership:
Working closely with The Salvation Army’s Candidates Unit Essential2 also facilitates those who want to become a Salvation Army officer.

For more information contact carrie.cummings@salvationarmy.org.uk

It is only possible to do Essential2 once Essential1 has been completed. Then students will gain unique access to Essential2 without even needing to pay any training fees. Essential2 can also provide some financial support towards tuition fees on a future course if a vocational choice includes that.


What Is NEO?

NEO stands for New Expressions of Church, which could mean a new church plant or the re-development of an existing church.

There are many areas within the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland where the gap between church and young people is even greater; places that have been marginalised by society and often forgotten by the church. NEO is a commitment to change this picture.

ALOVE is committed to developing a number of NEOs in the UK and Republic of Ireland. ALOVE UK provides specialist advice and consultation to the regional ALOVE centres throughout the process.

At the time of writing, NEOs being developed include:
• Aston, Birmingham
• Beeston, Leeds
• Gibbonsdown, Barry
• Granton, Edinburgh
• Manchester Central
• Oldham Fitton Hill, Eden Project

ALOVE is currently looking for people to join one of the NEOs. For more information email:alove.neo@salvationarmy.org.uk or call ALOVE on 020 8288 1202.


Where Can I Find Out More?

We realise that you may have all sorts of questions, so please don’t hesitate to contact us at ALOVE for more information.

Telephone: + 44 (0)20 8288 1202
Email: ALOVE@salvationarmy.org.uk

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