History
The Salvation Army was founded in London, England in 1865 by William and Catherine Booth. On February 13, 1886, The Salvation Army first opened its work in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The early Salvationists opened a barracks over a shoe store at 112 East Main Street. For nearly a century the Army was to occupy various buildings. They included sites at the corner of Church and Water Streets, 244
N. Rose Street, and the current location at 1700 South Burdick Street, which was dedicated to God and Mankind on Sunday, November 17, 1991. As the early Salvationist's saw the need, various activities commenced. Music was one such important activity. In 1903 Peter Gayhide organized the first Kalamazoo Band. The intervening years saw participation by the Band in scores of civic parades and countless functions. Kalamazoo is now one of 1,383 Corps throughout the United States. From the outset, Army soldiers wore military-styled uniforms emblazoned with a large "S" for 'salvation' - but it soon became known as standing for "Soup, Soap, and Salvation." The Doctrine of The Salvation Army
We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only consitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice. We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preservor and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship. We believe that there are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory. We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man. We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness and that as a consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God. We believe that the Lord Jesus has by his suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved. We believe that repentence towards God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself. We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ. We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in the immortality of the soul; in theresurrection of the body; in the general judgement at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.
