Wikipedia

I got to hand it to Wikipedia (AKA The Free Encyclopedia), they have a fairly accurate definition of The Salvation Army. I would like to bring the following excerpts to your attention:

History
As The Salvation Army grew rapidly in the late 1800s, it generated opposition in England. Opponents, grouped under the name of the Skeleton Army, disrupted Salvation Army meetings and gatherings, the usual tactics being the throwing of rocks, rats, and tar, and physically assaulting members of The Salvation Army.

The mission of The Salvation Army is to win the world for Jesus. This mandate is based on the Army’s interpretation of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. The Salvation Army believes, as stated in their first doctrinal statement, that only these scriptures, “constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.”

Declining Numbers
In the U.S. there are 1.4 million followers, of whom more than 400,000 are “soldiers” who have taken covenant vows. Membership is declining, as is the number of “cadets” enrolled in the four U.S. officer-training schools…Worldwide, in 2005 the organization had 62,000 employees and 3.5 million volunteers. In 2005 its leadership was 3,700 clergy (“officers”), a decrease of 30 percent from the number five years earlier.

Public Perception
Often classified within the taxonomy of Christian denominations as a Methodist faith community, The Salvation Army has always seen itself primarily as a Christian church, but this has been eroded in the public’s perceptions over the years. It is now seen externally to be mainly a social services charity and/or thrift shop. Some members of The Salvation Army are keen to re-emphasize their role as a Christian church.

Music
The Army tradition in music is to use popular idiom of the day to reach people for Jesus. The Army’s Joy Strings were a hit pop group in the 1960s and early 1970s in the UK and beyond, reaching the charts and being featured on national television. Possibly the most popular SA band is The Insyderz, an American ska-core group in the 1990s and early 2000s. Current bands like New Zealand’s Moped and The Lads, England’s Electralyte, Australia’s Soteria, and America’s TransMission, carry on this Salvation Army tradition.

Read the entire entry for The Salvation Army here.

It’s also interesting to read the debate about those who collaborated on the entry by going here.