Taking Command : Gen. Paul A. Rader plans to Prepare the Salvation Army for the Next Century With an Eye on Tradition

Mention the Salvation Army and many people think of bell ringers at Christmastime or uniformed musicians on street corners playing brass instruments and waving tambourines.

But for Gen. Paul A. Rader, the first native-born American to command the Salvation Army worldwide, that image, although accurate, is too narrow.

Best known for its social programs and disaster relief efforts, the Salvation Army says that it is at heart an evangelical Christian church. It is biblically conservative but socially active.

Elected general July 23, Rader said he is keenly aware that during his five-year term the 129-year-old Salvation Army will be preparing to enter the next millennium.

Until his election as general, Rader was the organization’s territorial commander for the western United States with headquarters at Rancho Palos Verdes. He moved to his new headquarters in London this week.

In a wide-ranging interview with Times religion writer Larry B. Stammer, Rader reflected on his faith, the challenges facing the 3 million officers, soldiers and members of the Salvation Army, and his penchant for activism over reflections on doctrine. Following are excerpts:

Question: For most people, an encounter with the Salvation Army is with bell ringers on street corners. Are you bothered by the way the army is popularly perceived?

Rader: My No. 1 priority is to clarify our identity . . . to be seen as an evangelical part of the universal church of Christ. (But) the Salvation Army is one of the most popular charities, thank God, in the United States.

Q: Why the popularity?

Rader: I think because there have been a lot of people over the years who have worn this uniform well. They have acted with great compassion. They’ve been there for people in a thousand different situations: In Anaheim working with gangs. New York prostitutes. Hollywood runaways. Earthquake and flood relief in California and the Midwest. Hurricane relief in Florida. . . . You do that for 100 years and (you) build up in the public a sense that the army can be trusted, that they’re going to be there.

Q: You spent 17 years in Korea with the army. Did that experience change you?

Rader: Profoundly. . . . The intensity of dedication of Korean Christians is a very impressive kind of thing; their commitment to a life of prayer, their dissatisfaction with any kind of religious experience that doesn’t produce results in their lives and in their communities. . . . Korean Christians always think in terms of what the Gospel means for the whole of their country. They’re not thinking so . . . individually.

Q: Are most churches looking inward?

Rader: I perhaps should only comment that we certainly see the necessity of working toward . . . the church being turned inside-out. . . . The tendency always is to move from the outside in, to be self-concerned and keep your fingers on your spiritual pulse and look after your own personal well being and ignore the fact that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Our concern has been with what’s happening on the street. . . . You’re not commissioned to serve just a small congregation in the corner of some community. You’re commissioned to that community. Everybody on the street, everybody in the hospital, everybody in the prison is part of your parish. You’re responsible to reach people and to serve them in love and compassion in the name and spirit of Christ.

Q: What about the army’s uniforms?

Rader: I don’t think I’m going to make a decision to do away with uniforms, I can tell you that. But I think we have to give thought to how we wear it and where we wear it and why we wear it. . . . What the uniform says is, “I’m available.” That puts you in the path of a lot of pain in the world. . . . We have thousands of people--hundreds of thousands of people--who are willing to wear this uniform. To say that to the world, I think, is quite a remarkable thing in these times.

Q: Is your uniform a reminder that you’re in “spiritual warfare,” that you’re taking on “principalities and powers?”

Rader: It certainly intends to communicate that and to be a reminder to the whole church. I see us as a part of the whole evangelical church. We each bear our witness denominationally. I think those who are strongly Sacramentarian in tradition have an important witness to bear that enriches us all. Others who are more revivalistic or Pentecostal, I think, have a powerful testimony to bear. . . . But I think the army speaks of the militancy of the church. . . . What I’m concerned about is, are we really engaging evil in the world? Are we really involved in the fight here?

Q: How do you define evil?

Rader: I believe in a personal devil. I believe in an evil, intelligent person in the universe that is operational and is a cause for a great deal of the suffering, anguish and pain of the world. . . . We deal both with our capacity for greatness and the kind of glory that God intended for us and . . . our own sinfulness . . . that has created a great deal of the suffering in the world.

Q: Do you see the fall from innocence recorded in the Genesis account of Adam and Eve as literal historical truth, or myth that conveys a transcendent truth?

Rader: I see it as literal truth myself. I have no problem with that at all. . . . Something occurred there, whatever form it took. There was something there and there was a transaction taken there that has had a dire effect on human history ever since. The result has been this sadness and evil and death and suffering that we see all about us in the world.

Q: Those outside the army rarely hear of internal controversies over doctrinal issues or Bible interpretation.

Rader: We have a very clear doctrinal statement. . . . Our message is based on the Bible. . . . We’re very activist in what we do. But to support that adequately with an understanding of why we do it from a biblical and theological point of view is important. . . . There is more conservatism theologically now than at some points in the past.

Q: Why?

Rader: I think some parts of the army (were) enamored with liberal perspectives and it sort of filtered down, particularly in certain groupings. But what keeps bringing us back toward center is we’re very focused on task, mission and evangelism. You can’t sustain that very long, in my view, with a liberal theological perspective. I think you’re going to drift away from it. You’re going to lose your evangelistic zeal.

Q: What is your view of AIDS and homosexuality?

Rader: We’re not into judging people on the basis of how they got into that kind of a situation (AIDS). There are a variety of reasons. . . . But we all know that a great majority of those . . . are infected because of homosexual activity. That’s just a statistical reality. . . . We don’t believe it’s morally acceptable as a lifestyle. . . .

But at the same time, not only with regard to homosexual behavior, but a whole range of behaviors, we have reached out in love to people who have done all sorts of things--whether they’re murderers or prostitutes or whatever they are. . . . We’re going to try to help them find a way to a satisfying, God-honoring kind of life.

Q: Have you ever had a “wilderness experience” in your life, a crisis of faith or doubt?

Rader: You know, I’m a true believer. I have to say that I have not struggled with doubt. I’ve had questions over the years, of course. I’ve spent a lifetime encounter with Scripture and tried to sort through those questions and find answers. I think maybe I live more comfortably with the uncertainties of faith than some people do. . . . We all have a lot that when we get to heaven we want to ask God about. . . . My own faith in Christ has been reinforced over the years and strengthened by what I’ve seen of the faithfulness of God in so many circumstances, reflected in peoples’ lives of great courage and devotion. That sustains you in times when you can’t understand what it is God is up to.

Q: There were only two women on the 45-member High Council that elected you. Do you see patriarchy as a problem to be addressed or a tradition to be affirmed?

Rader: A problem to be addressed. It was only an accident of history that only two women were on the High Council. . . . I hope that doesn’t happen again and I’ll do what I can to prevent it from happening. . . . Traditionally, we have kind of led the pack on women in ministry all across the world. Half of our women are ordained. Half of our officers are ordained women and they’re functional. They’re preaching. They’re ministering.