Why Not Just Use The Salvation Army Brand?
Research demonstrated that while young people identify with the heart, passion, purpose and radicalism of The Salvation Army, they don’t always identify as much with the military metaphor, which is often seen as old-fashioned and Victorian. ALOVE is a commitment to building on the essence of The Salvation Army and expressing it in 21st century youth culture. The following quotations are from young people, filmed for The Salvation Army’s Link video feature about youth ministry. On the church they said: ‘Church is getting old; times have modernised.’ ‘It’s a boring waste of time.’ ‘There’s just better things to do at the weekend.’ On The Salvation Army they said: ‘When I think of the name Salvation Army, I think more church and religion than like helping people our age.’ ‘Run-down charity.’ ‘Salvation probably isn’t such a common word that young people use and army sounds like a strict regime… It doesn’t sound too appealing.
