General E Wickberg

"There are certain things which The Salvation Army can spare and still be The Salvation Army -- citadels and other meeting places, for instance. Money, too, can be done without. The advantages of organization are not entirely essential. One thing, however, The Salvation Army cannot spare. The Army, which William Booth gathered together out of the most impossible material, to the astonishment of the world, cannot do without the pioneer spirit. The pioneer spirit is as necessary now as ever, for left to itself a movement tends to stagnate. Uniformed officers and soldiers we have in encouraging numbers -- but too many seem to have forgotten that they are not to be known as 'members'. We can say without equivocation that were we to lose the daring and the determination of the pioneer spirit we should no longer be The Salvation Army. There are plenty of churches and congregations. They have their own special work to do, but we are called to be pioneers of the Kingdom"

Wickberg, E. (2007) The Officer, January/February 2007