The succession of Dignity

I attended an excellent lecture yesterday on  Erik Wickberg, born in Sweden, he  the 9th General of The Salvation Army (1969-1974).

As a teenager, he once beat the national Swiss chess champion.In1925, Erik became an Officer from Bern 2 Corps, Switzerland. His firstpointment was corps officer in Hamilton, Scotland. He then took on the role of Training (Education) Officer in Germany, and Private Secretary to the Chief Secretary and Territorial Commander. He went on to become Private Secretary to International Secretary and Assistant to Under Secretary for Europe at International Headquarters (IHQ). Soon, he moved to Sweden as IHQ Liaison Officer. During World War II, he was appointed to Germany, where he was often obliged to sleep in air raid bunkers. When the war was over, he was assigned the task of post-war relief in war-torn Germany. His next positions were, divisional commander of Uppsala, Sweden, Switzerland Chief Secretary, Sweden Chief Secretary, Territorial Commander of Germany, and Chief of the Staff (IHQ), before becoming the General. 

General Wickberg was honoured by many nations for his service to God and humanity. He was made Commander, Order of Vasa (1970); admitted to the Order of Moo Koong Wha (Korea, 1970); received an honorary D tor of Laws (Korea, 1970); awarded the Grand Cross of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany (1971); and awarded the King’s Golden Medal (Grand Cross), Sweden (1980). He authored two books: Inkallad(God’s Conscript) (autobiography, Sweden, 1978) and Uppdraget(The Charge - My Way to Preaching, 1990).oc

I had the privilege of meeting Erik Wickberg many times on both sides of the Atlantic. He was admired as a theologian and denominational leader.

A key point I picked up was a comment he made in a lecture to more than 100 cadets at the International SA College, that the principle of human dignity (earned or merited|) is the foundation of all social teaching. "Our dignity as SA officers is linked to the value and esteem that comes from the generations of officers and Salvationists that preceded us"