Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Hardy and I will be teaching you your RE lesson today.

We will go through the learning together and make sure that by the end of the lesson, you have successfully met the learning outcome.

Let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to describe the history and work of The Salvation Army.

To guide us through our learning today, we have got five keywords.

They are The Salvation Army, Salvationists, officer, soldier, and corps.

So The Salvation Army is a Christian Church and also a charity that helps people in need.

Salvationists are people who belong to The Salvation Army.

An officer is a leader in The Salvation Army who runs maybe a local centre, they might lead worship, and they might organise help for the community.

A soldier is an ordinary member of The Salvation Army who promises to live life as a Christian and help others.

And the corps is the name The Salvation Army uses for its churches.

You'll be able to see that our lesson today on the history and work of The Salvation Army has two parts.

What is The Salvation Army, and what does The Salvation Army do today? We're going to start off by looking at what is The Salvation Army.

Aisha's here to talk about the tools that we're going to use in this lesson.

She explains what we mean by theology in religious education.

Aisha tells us, "Theologians are interested in stories, texts, and traditions.

We can better understand people's worldviews by examining what the deeper meaning of these stories, texts, and traditions are.

We can also look at the difference they make to people today." So in this lesson, we will be using the tools of theology to better understand how The Salvation Army started and understand its mission.

Izzy is going to join us for our lesson today to help us with our learning, and she's gonna be talking to Gemma.

And Gemma is a Salvationist.

So Izzy starts off by saying, "Hello Gemma, I am learning about The Salvation Army.

Can you tell me what it is?" And Gemma tells Izzy, "The Salvation Army is both a Christian Church and a charity.

William and Catherine Booth were Christians who started The Salvation Army in 1865.

Queen Victoria was on the throne and so today we call this time the Victorian era.

William and Catherine spread their message by preaching in the streets rather than in a church building.

They started in East London, but then travelled around the UK.

Here is a picture of what William and Catherine Booth looked like.

William and Catherine Booth's Salvation Army first began as something called The Christian Mission.

I'm gonna show you a timeline of how The Salvation Army developed.

So we know that in 1865, that was the beginning of The Salvation Army's work in the east end of London.

And we know that back then it was called The Christian Mission.

Then in 1878, the members started to wear a uniform so that they could be recognised as being a part of The Salvation Army.

In 1880, members moved out from the UK and started churches in places across the world, such as in China, India, and Australia.

And then in 1890, William Booth wrote a book about how to make life better for the poor.

And the selling of the book raised money for The Salvation Army's work.

So there's a little introduction to the beginning of The Salvation Army.

Now, Izzy asks, "Why did William and Catherine start The Salvation Army?" And I think Gemma's gonna be able to help us answer that question.

Gemma tells us, "Victorian London was a very unequal society with widespread poverty.

Many poor people lived in dirty and overcrowded slums. There was disease and addiction.

The Booths wanted people to learn about Jesus and become Christians.

For the booths, this meant practical care as well as preaching." Izzy asks, "How did The Salvation Army give practical care to the people living in poverty?" And Gemma tells us that they had a motto.

She says, "Their motto, 'Soup, Soap, and Salvation,' explains how they helped in a practical way before preaching about Jesus." I wonder what soup, soap, and salvation means.

Why don't you pause the video here and discuss what you think The Salvation Army meant by having soup, soap, and salvation.

When you're ready to continue, press play.

Welcome back, everybody.

Let's find out what The Salvation Army motto soup, soap, and salvation means.

So we have soup.

They provided basic needs, things like food and shelter.

Soap meant that they provided cleanliness and good hygiene, so gave people a place to rest, to wash, and to clean their clothes.

And salvation meant that they provided messages about hope, faith, and being closer to God.

So there is our explanation of the motto, soup, soap and salvation.

Let's do a little check for understanding.

We've got a question here that says, "Why did William and Catherine Booth start The Salvation Army?" And I want you to select the correct option to answer that question.

So we have A, was it to convert people to Christianity and give them faith? Was it to help people, B, living in poverty to live better lives? Or was it C, to tell people about Jesus and help them practically? Pause the recording here, and when you're ready to see the correct answer, press play.

Welcome back, and well done to everybody who chose C.

Why did William and Catherine Booth start The Salvation Army? Well, it's because they wanted to tell people about Jesus and help them practically.

So A was half right, they did want to convert people to Christianity, and B was half right, they did wanna help people living in poverty to live better lives, but they wanted to do both together, which is why C was the correct option.

Izzy is now talking to William and she says, "William Booth, how did you help people living in poverty?" Let's see what he says.

He tells us that, "I realised that you could not tell people about God's love for them without demonstrating it.

So we provided breakfasts for poor children.

We opened a homeless shelter for men.

We provided safe houses for women who needed protection, and we opened a factory that made matches so we could provide jobs that paid fairly." Izzy asks, "Why did you choose to call your church an army?" I wonder what William's going to respond to that.

He says, "I felt that I was in a battle.

Not a battle against other people, but a spiritual battle against evil, fighting things such as poverty, injustice, addiction, and hopelessness.

Having the members of my church called soldiers and officers and having our churches be called corps meant that no one would forget that we need to keep fighting for good." Let's have another check for understanding there.

Why is The Salvation Army called an army? We've got four options here.

Was it A, because it was created by soldiers? Was it B, because William Booth wanted to be in the military? Is it C, because it raised money for people impacted by war? Or is it D, because it is a church that fights against evil? Pause the video here, and when you're ready to see the correct answer, press play.

Welcome back, and well done to everybody who selected D as the correct answer, The Salvation Army is called an army because it is a church that fights and battles against evil.

Well done to all of you Who got that correct.

Now, I think we're ready for our first task of today's lesson.

And Izzy's here to start us off.

She says, "I wonder why The Salvation Army started." So can we help Izzy understand why William and Catherine Booth started The Salvation Army? Can we choose two outta the four options below to explain what The Salvation Army did in the Victorian era to help hungry children or homeless men or people without a job or women who needed a safe place to stay? I would like you to present or discuss or list or write an explanation to answer Izzy's question and help her to understand why The Salvation Army started.

So pause the recording here and when you've got your answer, come back for the feedback.

Welcome back, everybody.

So our task was to explain why William and Catherine Booth started The Salvation Army Church.

And to explain this, you may have written, "William and Catherine Booth started The Salvation Army because they wanted to be part of a church that helped in practical ways on the streets of East London in the Victorian era." So lots of information there.

"To do this, they, one, set up breakfast clubs where they fed hungry children each day, two, set up a homeless centre for men who were living on the streets, three opened a factory for people without a job to be paid a fair wage, four, created safe houses for women who needed protection, and they did these things to show people the love of God and tell them the message of Jesus." So just have a look back through that feedback.

Did you manage to capture that information in your own explanation? Well done to all of you who remembered the key facts and included them in your work.

We're now ready to move on to the second part of today's lesson on the history and work of The Salvation Army.

And the second part of our lesson will answer, what does The Salvation Army do today? So Izzy's going to ask Gemma another question.

She says, "Gemma, is The Salvation Army still around today? If so, what do they do now?" And Gemma tells her, "Yes, The Salvation Army Church is still active today.

There are 1.

7 million people who are a part of the church all around the world.

The Salvation Army is in 134 different countries worldwide.

The church buildings are known as corps and are led by Salvation Army officers.

Members of the church can become soldiers, and we are recognisable by our uniforms." So we've explained to Izzy that, yes, The Salvation Army is still around today.

So can you remember how many people are in The Salvation Army? Let's do a quick check.

You're going to select the right option for me.

Was it A, 1.

1 million people, B, 1.

3 million people, C, 1.

5 million people, or D 1.

7 million people? Pause the video here, and when you're ready to check the correct answer, press play again.

Welcome back, everybody.

We were answering the question, how many people are in The Salvation Army? And the correct answer was 1.

7 million people.

And that's all around the world.

Well done to all of you who remembered that key fact.

Now, I'd like you to have a look at this building.

This building is a Salvation Army corps, and I want you to have a think about what you've learned previously about places of worship and what they look like.

And I would like you to look at this building and think about what is similar and what is different to the other buildings that you may have found out about or even visited.

Pause the video here and just take a moment to look at all the features of the building, talk about them with the people you're with, and when you're ready to move on with the rest of the lesson, you're going to press play again.

Welcome back, everybody.

So, you've had a chance to have a look at this Salvation Army building, this Salvation Army Church.

And you may have noticed that it's quite plain compared to some other places of worship.

There's lots of information on display outside.

There is a crest that we can see.

I wonder what else you noticed.

Now, we're going to focus on this crest that we can see on the outside of The Salvation Army corps.

So just take another closer look at it and all of its features, and let's explore it a little bit more.

So here it is.

What I'd like you to do is just pause the recording again, have a closer look at this crest and the different features, and see what you notice and what questions you might have about what you can see on it.

So pause the recording here and press play again when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back, everybody.

So I hope that you noticed all the different features of the crest, and we're going to explore that now in a little bit more detail.

So what do you think the different parts of The Salvation Army crest represent? So first of all, in the centre we have the cross.

The cross is the main Christian symbol representing how members of The Salvation Army believe that Jesus died on a cross to save people and that he was brought back to life again.

You can see that the cross is empty.

And intertwined in the cross is the letter S.

And the S stands for salvation, hence being called The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army says that it offers salvation to others by helping anyone who is in need and by telling people about God's love.

So right at the centre of the crest, the cross and the S.

Next, we can see that on top there is a crown.

Now, the crown represents the reward from God that Christians believe they will get in heaven for being faithful to God.

Then, we can see on the outside of the circle, there are these rays, and they represent the rays of the sun.

And the sun is a symbol of the lights and fire of God's Holy Spirit.

And then back to the middle, we can see two crossed swords.

The two swords represent fighting against evil with words and actions.

Salvationists use weapons such as love, kindness, words from the Bible, and practical help, rather than real weapons.

Now, across the top of the circle, there is another motto.

This motto says Blood and Fire.

What do you think the blood and fire motto represents? Take a moment to reflect on your ideas for this.

You're going to pause the video here, and when you've had a chance to think about and discuss what blood and fire might represent, press play, and we'll continue with the lesson.

Welcome back, everybody.

So you've had a chance now to think about the motto, Blood and Fire, and what that represents.

So The Salvation Army motto of Blood and Fire is referring to Jesus's crucifixion on the cross and the fire of the Holy Spirit.

So the cross represents the blood, and the fire for the Holy Spirit.

Well done if you managed to figure that out.

Now, let's have another check for understanding.

True or false? The Salvation Army is a Christian Church that tells its members about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Pause the recording here, and when you're ready to check the answer, press play.

Welcome back, everybody.

The correct answer is true.

The Salvation Army is a Christian Church that tells its members about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Why? Because we can see from the crest displayed on the building of a Salvation Army Corps that heaven, Jesus' life, and the Holy Spirit are all things that are important to them.

We saw that in the crown, in the cross, and in the rays of the sunlight, all represented in that crest.

Well done to everybody who got that correct.

Now, Izzy's back to ask Gemma another question.

She says, "What are people called who are part of The Salvation Army?" And Gemma responds, "People who attend The Salvation Army as their church are called Salvationists Salvationists worship God and follow the teachings of Jesus, which are found in the Bible.

Salvationists believe it is important to tell other people about Jesus.

This is known as sharing the good news." Izzy asks, "So, is The Salvation Army today just a church?" Gemma says, "No.

No, the Salvation Army today still believes that it is important to fight against evil, poverty, and injustice.

So, men and women in The Salvation Army can go to the training college to become officers and then work to help communities and groups of people in need." They may lead a corps or go into social work.

So we can see from Gemma's answer there that The Salvation Army is still a church, but it also still does its social work as well.

Izzy asks, "What does The Salvation Army do today in its churches?" And Gemma says that some officers lead corps.

"These are like churches with worship on a Sunday and other activities during the week.

These activities may include sessions such as a toddler group or a club for the over-60s.

Band music and singing are important aspects of worship at a Salvation Army corps.

You may see The Salvation Army band carolling in the streets at Christmas.

Izzy wants to know, "What does The Salvation Army do today in its centres?" And Gemma says, "The Salvation Army have hostels for men and for women who are homeless or who needs somewhere safe to stay.

They arrange for officers, soldiers, and volunteers to run mobile soup kitchens that go out at night to help provide food and warm clothing to those sleeping on the streets.

They will also provide support in getting homeless people into accommodation." Izzy says, "What does The Salvation Army do today around the world?" And Gemma tells us, "The Salvation Army works all over the world, responding to emergencies and disasters such as fires, floods, and earthquakes.

In the UK, The Salvation Army's emergency vehicles attend around 250 call-outs per year.

The support they give includes providing onsite refreshments and emotional support." Izzy asks, "What does The Salvation Army do today to stand up against injustice?" And Gemma tells us, "The Salvation Army has a campaign against modern slavery.

It asks people to make sure that the goods they buy are slave-free.

This includes the clothes and products we buy, as well as services from people in places such as nail bars and car washes." So let's have a check for understanding here.

True or false? The Salvation Army is just a charity that helps people in need.

Pause the video whilst you have a think about your answer to this question.

And when you're ready to find out the correct answer, press play again.

Welcome back.

The correct answer was false.

Why is it false? So, The Salvation Army is a charity that provides practical help to people in need, but it is also a church that wants to help people learn about and tell about God's love.

Now, we are ready for our second task of today's lesson, and Izzy's here to introduce it to us.

She says, "I wonder how similar today's Salvation Army is compared to when it was created by William and Catherine Booth." So, can we help Izzy by explaining The Salvation Army's beliefs and mission? Use what you've learned about the symbols in the crest to help you.

Can you give an example of the work The Salvation Army carries out today that is similar to when it first started? So take a moment to have a think about how you're going to present this work, what information you want to include in your explanation, and then you're going to pause the recording whilst you go away and complete this task.

And when you're finished, press play, and we'll continue with the rest of the lesson.

Welcome back, everybody.

We were writing an explanation for Izzy to explain how The Salvation Army is similar today compared to when it was first created.

Now, your explanation for Izzy may look something like this.

"The Salvation Army teaches people about God, Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, and about The Holy Spirit.

This can be seen on the crest where it has the motto, 'Blood and Fire.

' The mission of The Salvation Army today is still to tell people about God and help them if they are in need.

This follows on from William Booth's motto of providing Soup, Soap, and Salvation.

Soldiers may go out in the evening to provide food for people in need on the streets.

Officers may work in a homeless shelter or provide relief during an emergency.

An officer may lead their corps in worship through music and singing and teach them about the Bible." I wonder if your explanation included any other information.

Let's recap our learning from today's lesson about the history and the work of The Salvation Army.

We found out that The Salvation Army was started by William and Catherine Booth in the 19th century.

There was great poverty in society at the time.

We found out that the Salvation Army motto is Blood and Fire.

Today, The Salvation Army works to support people in need, as well as sharing the Christian faith.

It provides shelter, food, and help in disasters.

It also fights injustice.

And an important aspect of its ministry is music, with hymns played by a band.

So, we've come to the end of our learning today.

Well done to all of you for working hard and putting in all of the effort that you put in today.

I hope to see you again soon for another RE lesson.

But bye for now, and take care.