Alcohol

The Salvation Army’s abstinence stance has often put it at odds with mainstream society, perhaps now more than ever as drinking alcohol has become such a dominant cultural practice.

The relationship between Salvation Army membership and abstinence from alcohol is a Salvation Army distinctive.

When someone is enrolled as a senior soldier (adult church member) in The Salvation Army, one of the promises he or she makes is to ‘abstain from alcoholic drink, tobacco, the non-medical use of addictive drugs, gambling, pornography, the occult, and all else that could enslave the body or spirit’. Junior soldiers (child members) make a similar (age-appropriate) promise to not drink alcohol.

• Read a talksheet about Abstinence from Alcohol.
• Read a brief article about The Salvation Army’s alcohol abstinence stance.
• Read ‘A Contest of Spirits‘, a discussion of the discourses and debates that have informed how The Salvation Army sees alcohol.