General is the title of the international leader and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

(CEO) of

the Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

, a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

denomination with extensive

charitable The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' or ...

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or adminis ...

that gives quasi-

military rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in ...

to its ministers (who are therefore known as

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...

). The General is elected by the

High Council of The Salvation Army The High Council of The Salvation Army elects a new General in the event of a vacancy or prior to the retirement of the existing office holder. It can also remove a General who can no longer fulfill their duties. It is made up of the Chief of th ...

and serves a term of five years, which may be extended to seven years.

Brian Peddle General Brian Peddle (born 8 August 1957) is the CEO and 21st General of The Salvation Army since 3 August 2018. He was formerly the 26th Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army from 1 November 2015 until 3 August 2018 under General André Co ...

, the current general, assumed the position in August 2018 upon the retirement of Andre Cox. The organisation's founder, William Booth, was the first and longest-serving general. There have been 21 generals as of 2018.

History and procedures for election

Usage of the term "general" began with the founder of

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

William Booth William Booth (10 April 182920 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first " General" (1878–1912). His 1890 book In Darkest England and The Way Out o ...

. His wife,

Catherine Booth Catherine Booth (''née'' Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mot ...

, the organisation's co-founder, became known as the "Mother" of

. General Booth served as general until his death in 1912; Booth selected his son, Bramwell Booth as his successor. It was William Booth's intention to have each general choose his successor, but the Salvation Army Act of 1931 passed by the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

requires that each general is selected by the

. Every general since Bramwell Booth has been selected by the High Council. In accordance with the Salvation Army Act of 1931, a general must "

retire Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

" at age 68 and may serve as long as seven years. The general is elected by the High Council when his predecessor retires or dies (known within the Salvation Army as being promoted to Glory).

was the only general to die in office. The High Council is composed of the Chief of the Staff, all active

commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

, except the spouse of the incumbent general, and all territorial commanders. The High Council may also remove a general from office for violations of his "covenant to God", disability, or the inability to fulfill his duties, though this has never happened. The

officer of the Salvation Army An officer in The Salvation Army is a Salvationist who is an ordained minister of the Christian faith, but who fulfills many other roles not usually filled by clergy of other denominations. They do so having been trained, ordained and commission ...

who is elected general is the worldwide spiritual leader of the Salvation Army and the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of the organization. The general has a role that is similar to the Pope's role within the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. Since The Salvation Army maintains a hierarchical, quasi-military structure, all appointments and regulations are issued under the general's authority. Three women have been elected General of the Salvation Army:

Evangeline Booth Evangeline Cory Booth, OF (December 25, 1865July 17, 1950) was a British evangelist and the 4th General of The Salvation Army from 1934 to 1939. She was the first woman to hold the post. Early life She was born in South Hackney, London, Engl ...

, William Booths's daughter, in 1934, Eva Burrows in 1986, and

Linda Bond Linda Bond (born 22 June 1946) is a former General of the Salvation Army; she was the 19th person to hold the position. She was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. After international service and various promotions, she held the post of ...

in 2011. On January 31, 2011, after 10 days of meetings which began on January 21, 2011, the 17th High Council elected

as the 19th General of

. Bond was the third woman to hold the post and the fourth

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. This election was handled by the largest High Council in history and was especially significant due to the number of women delegates (57) outnumbering the number of men delegates (52). On 3 August 2013 the then-Commissioner Andre Cox was elected by the High Council of 2013 as the 20th General of The Salvation Army. The High Council of 2018 selected

as Cox's successor in May 2018; he took office in August 2018.

List of living retired Generals

As of March 2022, there are four retired generals living. The most recent general to die was

John Larsson John Alfred Larsson (2 April 1938 – 18 March 2022) was a Swedish Salvationist, writer and composer of Christian music and hymns, who was the 17th General of The Salvation Army. Biography The son of officer Sture Larsson and Flora Ethel Mild ...

on 18 March 2022. * Paul Rader *

Shaw Clifton Shaw Clifton (born 21 September 1945) is a former General of The Salvation Army. He succeeded John Larsson as the 18th General on 2 April 2006. Career Shaw Clifton was born on 21 September 1945 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Clifton was commi ...

* Andre Cox

Leadership

The general serves as the

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

(CEO) of The Salvation Army at the international level, but the organization is divided into many subunits controlled by other individuals. For instance, Commissioner David Hudson, appointed by Cox, serves as the CEO of The Salvation Army of the United States.

Generals of The Salvation Army

Timeline

Below is a timeline of Salvation Army Generals' terms in office. ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1865 till:2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1865 Colors = id:GEN value:red legend:Term Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:40 columnwidth:150 TextData = pos:(20,40) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"General:" BarData = barset:PM PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM from: 1865 till: 1912 color:GEN text:" W. Booth" fontsize:10 from: 1912 till: 1929 color:GEN text:" B. Booth" fontsize:10 from: 1929 till: 1934 color:GEN text:" Higgins" fontsize:10 from: 1934 till: 1939 color:GEN text:" E. Booth" fontsize:10 from: 1939 till: 1946 color:GEN text:"

Carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters t ...

" fontsize:10 from: 1946 till: 1954 color:GEN text:" Orsborn" fontsize:10 from: 1954 till: 1963 color:GEN text:" Kitching" fontsize:10 from: 1963 till: 1969 color:GEN text:"

Coutts Coutts & Co. is a London-headquartered private bank and wealth manager. Founded in 1692, it is the eighth oldest bank in the world. Today, Coutts forms part of NatWest Group's wealth management division. In the Channel Islands and the Isle of ...

" fontsize:10 from: 1969 till: 1974 color:GEN text:" Wickberg" fontsize:10 from: 1974 till: 1977 color:GEN text:" Wiseman" fontsize:10 from: 1977 till: 1981 color:GEN text:"

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

" fontsize:10 from: 1981 till: 1986 color:GEN text:" Wahlstrom" fontsize:10 from: 1986 till: 1993 color:GEN text:" Burrows" fontsize:10 from: 1993 till: 1994 color:GEN text:" Tillsley" fontsize:10 from: 1994 till: 1999 color:GEN text:" Rader" fontsize:10 from: 1999 till: 2002 color:GEN text:" Gowans" fontsize:10 from: 2003 till: 2006 color:GEN text:" Larsson" fontsize:10 from: 2006 till: 2011 color:GEN text:"

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

" fontsize:10 from: 2011 till: 2013 color:GEN text:"

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

" fontsize:10 from: 2013 till: 2018 color:GEN text:" Cox" fontsize:10 from: 2018 till: 2022 color:GEN text:"

Peddle A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used ...

" fontsize:10

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Generals Of The Salvation Army The Salvation Army Methodist ecclesiastical offices