Major Steve Dutfield reflects on how a shared sense of belonging is connected to discipleship.

As I have sought to follow Jesus, my home has been in different parts of the UK and even on the far side of Europe. In all circumstances, being part of Christian fellowship has often kept me following Jesus and seeking to confirm my covenant with God as a disciple.

I was speaking recently to a woman who, in her old age and since being widowed, has found herself leading a life full of different experiences. She leads a busy life, attending groups for older people, a craft club and coffee mornings, as well as Sunday meetings at her corps.

As part of our conversation, she told me about her sister, who hardly ventures out of the house. The woman observed: ‘Her trouble is that she doesn’t belong to anything.’

It is a basic human need to belong, to have companionship on our journey. It is essential to human flourishing. For some of us, this might be about identifying with our favourite sports team, wearing our team’s colours, sitting in our usual seat in the cold draught of a wet Tuesday evening, surrounded by others who share that sense of belonging.

As a Salvation Army soldier of more than 40 years, I have been blessed to share with people from a wide spectrum of human life and shades of belief. Sometimes this has been a real pleasure, occasionally a challenge. Usually, we have sung from the same hymn sheet. Sometimes any music we may have been trying to make has been rather on the discordant side. Nonetheless, there has always been this shared sense of belonging.

It is sometimes said: ‘May you live in interesting times.’ There is no doubt that adjective applies to today, when so many things are up for grabs and the very basis of our faith is no longer taken for granted in our world. And yet God still calls us into covenant relationship with him and, for me, as a soldier in The Salvation Army.

In these days, I know that there are many who are considering what belonging might mean for them. There will be those who are not even sure that they want to be, or if they can be, soldiers in The Salvation Army. I am looking forward to the beginning of March, when there is an opportunity to continue the territory’s exploration of what membership and belonging might look like for The Salvation Army in this territory in the 21st century. If you haven’t yet signed up, the event might help you in your ongoing journey of discipleship.