History

The Salvation Army (SA) began its work in Latvia in 1923. during the Latvian Free State – in Riga and Jelgava. The first local officers (pastors) were trained in the second year of operation. During the first ten years, seventeen corps (congregations) were active in Latvia, four of them in Riga. 1937. Documents from the year 1937 show that there were 22 officers. A home for 160 homeless people was opened in Riga. Soup kitchens and social assistance were organised in all PA centres.

1943. In year 1943 September 14, the Nazis ordered the Salvation Army to cease its activities and confiscated all its property. Major Lonnie Gorksch was the last officer to leave the building in 1943. She took with her a cloth from the pulpit embroidered with the words “Come to Jesus”, various documents and the official seal of the Salvation Army. For the next fifty years, the SA operated secretly in Latvia. The brave SA officers used their birthdays and name days as occasions for meetings, gathering people for Bible lessons and prayers to continue the fellowship they had begun. Four of these officers were waiting for the Salvation Army to resume operations in 1990. 18. November, the SA officially resumed its work with the restoration of independence.

The Salvation Army is special in that it believes that religious and social work should be equal. William Booth, the founder of the SA, believed that it was difficult to tell the gospel to an unfed and unclean person. First, Christian love must be shown in action, and then the human heart will be opened to hear the Good News. The Salvation Army’s motto is: soup, soap and salvation. Therefore, in all the parishes, alongside the religious work, which includes worship, Sunday school, Bible classes, prayer evenings, youth and women’s fellowship evenings, etc., there is also social work: soup kitchens and the distribution of second-hand clothes.

In the Salvation Army, social work is carried out not only in parishes, but also in various institutions.