What we choose to notice

Welcome to The New Frontier.

For decades, The Salvation Army in the West has been telling its stories.

Stories of people overcoming obstacles, communities coming together and lives transformed. Stories of officers, employees, volunteers, donors and supporters answering God's call to serve others.

These stories matter. They help us see what God is doing in the world and in one another.

But our responsibility doesn’t end with telling what happened. We also have an opportunity to look more closely, to ask what it means, what we can learn and what it might show us about the mission ahead. 

That's the idea behind The New Frontier.

We live in a time of constant information. Every moment brings another headline, update or notification competing for our attention. But more information doesn’t necessarily mean greater understanding. We’re still trying to make sense of the challenges facing our communities, the changes shaping our world and the role faith plays in responding to them.

The New Frontier is a new editorial home for the stories, ideas and conversations shaping the mission of The Salvation Army in the West.

We'll continue telling stories, looking more closely at what they reveal and exploring the questions beneath them:

What challenges are people facing?

What helps people flourish?

What makes transformation possible?

And where is the mission headed next?

We'll look across the West for people, places and ideas that can help us explore those questions and learn from one another along the way. 

For our first issue, we’re starting with a question that reaches into nearly every part of our lives and mission: What does it mean to faithfully steward what God has entrusted to us?

Stewardship is often reduced to money. But in this inaugural issue, Entrusted, we consider something much broader—the faithful care of the resources, opportunities, relationships and mission God has placed in our hands.

You'll find stories of generosity and spiritual care, trust and leadership, opportunity and ordinary faithfulness. They’re different stories, but each asks something of us. What have we been entrusted with, and what will we do with it?

Because the mission of The Salvation Army has never been only about what we do. It is rooted in why we do it.

God's love compels action.

It compels us to see the image of God in every person. To step toward human need. To believe lives can change, communities can flourish and hope can be restored.

We see that love in action across the West every day. Our job is to look closely, ask good questions and help make it visible.

And stewardship seems a fitting place to begin.

After all, attention itself is a form of stewardship.

What we choose to notice, seek to understand and carry forward matters.

Thank you for reading, thinking, questioning and learning alongside us.

Welcome to The New Frontier.