A Cry for Peace
Cat Noakes-Duncan | Wednesday, 28th March, 2018
I was excited to see a chapter in Saints and Stirrers, written by an officer (minister) in the Salvation Army who I have known my whole life. Growing up in a Salvation Army family involves belonging to a close knit community, with its own culture, language and norms. Growing up in a Salvation Army family involves regular exposure to terms like war, territory and victory. My grandparents each had their ‘Articles of War’ (covenantal document of belonging to the Salvation Army) framed and hanging above their bedhead. Every Sunday we would receive our War Cry the Salvation Army magazine which me and my siblings would thumb through to see if we featured in any of the photos or whether we knew any Sally kids who were lucky enough to be snapped that week.
As an adult I exited the Salvation Army when I joined Urban Vision, also a covenantal community but one overtly influenced by a theology of peace. I have since wondered how the Salvation Army approached war in the past and what a Salvationist Christian approach to war would/could be. Essentially I wondered whether I could re-belong to this Christian church whose culture celebrated the language of war and co-opted themes of war so fully.
So, imagine my interest and relief when thumbing through Geoff’s edited book I saw a chapter written by Harold Hill, a man I deeply respect and who knows my culture because it is his own.
Within the chapter ‘Comrades in Arms: Germany, the War Cry and the Salvation Army during the Great War’ Harold analyses how German Salvationists were recorded and treated within the Salvation Army magazine, the War Cry here in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Harold notes a distinct lack of terms such as ‘enemy’ when referring to German soldiers. He also notes a sympathetic treatment towards the fate of German soldiers within the War Cry, despite a wider movement within New Zealand society which saw German citizens rounded up, detained and deported. Harold provides a number of possible explanations for why the War Cry adopted this counter-cultural approach. I was encouraged to read about the Pacifist convictions of some of my Salvation Army ancestors. Like many of us within our various church traditions, I wished these convictions had been adopted more widely.
Saints and Stirrers is a provocative and engaging read. Within the pages of this book the history of Pacifism within the church and New Zealand society is identified and brought into the light. The individuals and small peace movements which have influenced our church cultures have been given voice and the forces that silenced them have been exposed. I encourage readers to take a look at this book, you might just discover threads from your own story woven into this narrative of peace, hope and social change
Cat Noakes-Duncan is a long-time member of the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand and until recently was active in Urban Vision, a discipleship and missional community. Cat works on education initiatives engaging with children on the autism spectrum and their families. Cat and her husband, Tom, have three children and they live in Petone, Lower Hutt.