So off we marched on Commissioning Day, some five-hundred of
us, to entrain for the City, and to march the streets to Exeter Hall, Strand.
Of course there was fervent enthusiasm, as indeed one expects from Salvation
Army cadets. Branwell Booth once told us that the great Quaker, George Cadbury,
considered the most precious quality in our Movement, and the most difficult to
maintain, was our enthusiasm. I must confess I always look for enthusiasm in
our cadets. If the soul on fire is sometimes hard pressed to keep that sacred
fire burning, where shall the cold and the careless appear?...
After Commissioning Day all was hustle and bustle. A team of
tailors and seamstresses arrived from the Trade Department to alter, repair and
trim uniforms… A new uniform was provided for each cadet commissioned. The cost
was met, in part or the whole, from the money given or collected by the
candidate towards training expenses. This was usually about 5 £. Only rarely could a cadet with private means make a personal
contribution. At one time we could train our British cadets for less than 100 £ per head, covering
nine months. It’s not so today: but God still provides for us, though not
without our own effort and sacrifice. Training is costly, to all concerned, and
in every sense, but it is equally indispensable. One press reporter called our Commissioning ‘the annual
miracle of blind obedience ‘.
Just take a look at your (Salvation Army) Year
Book where we publish the total number of our officers throughout the world.
You will see the number is well maintained, and tends if anything to rise. God
still calls His workers. On the Thursday of the week we were commissioned it
was one long series of departures, mainly by horse-drawn brakes, to the various
railway stations. I watched my chums go. We sang and cheered and prayed. We
would go out and tackle the devil about whom John Dean had warned us. One of
our choruses was:
The old devil’s crown
Has got to come down-
And that with hudabaloo
The House of My Pilgrimage
P.72-3
Albert Orsborn
3 comments:
I came across an old SA video from 1978; the International Congress. And here are just a few statistics quoted by Prince Charles, no doubt provided to by the Army's PR department in preparation for his speech:
16,000 SA officers serving in 83 countries and with 3,000,000 members...
I remember as a fifteen year old being a part of that Congress and feeling overwhelmed and excited by what I was witnessing as God's Army, and of how I couldn't wait to be an SA Officer to play my part in it all. Now, 35 years later I am still excited, more realistic as I have seen something of the faults and flaws of the Army but nevertheless still pray: 'Bless our Army! With Your power baptise us all.'
Active UKIT
I don't even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but definitely you're going to а famοus blogger if you aren't already ;) Cheers! click the next internet site
Also see my site - click the next internet site
Post a Comment