We Need Officers ATTRITION SERIES XX

FOR OFFICERS ON THE FENCE OR IN TRANSITION

General Shaw Clifton wrote in his New Year 2010 Pastoral letter... “This season of new beginnings allows us to place before the Lord also the hopes we have in our hearts concerning our daily work. Many of you reading this are Salvation Army officers making plans for the spiritual advancement of those you lead and those you serve in Christ's name. I say to you, 'May God bless those plans, those sacred ambitions for the souls of others.'

Today, just three years later, more than 400 of the officers addressed in that Pastoral letter are no longer officers, having giving up their sacred ambitions for the souls of others in their role as SA officers.

Concurrently, the dearth in the number of Candidates and accepted Cadets in western world territories continues to slow to a trickle. Training Colleges (SA seminaries) have closed, or consolidated and moved to properties a fraction of their former sizes. The dwindling numbers, coupled with the mandated retirement of officers at ages directed by law or SA regulations, casts a troublesome providence when witnessing the increasing shortage in the number of officers necessary for today and the future.

Could it be that potential candidates and those who already own a stake in the war see the ‘ambition for souls’ as a lesser priority than those who signed up a decade or two ago? The work of the Salvation Army has never been more demanding of officers, and for some the challenges are overwhelming. Fund raising strategies, government regulations and political correctness groups, councils and courses, board meetings, etc. important though they may be, all impede on, and slow the army’s missional evangelistic advances, and we get caught up in matters far from our sacred ambitions. And whenever our missional ambitions are compromised our focus blurs, our message weakens and our intent may even be misunderstood.  And if the souls of men and women, boys and girls don’t response as expected our faith begins lacking fervor; we begin to doubt ourselves, maybe even berate ourselves. And amid all that self-doubt it’s easy to lose one’s sense of calling and covenant.

At various moments within an officer's life, questions of "fit", "Divine call" and "covenant" come to the forefront.  Has the time come for me to look outside the familiar? Do I throw aside the convincing mix of, 'SA family tradition', the spouse's 'call', and the ministry success? 

Have we not all been there: allowing chronos to replace kairos. Discerning a wise course becomes a struggle not in whether to decide or stay, but rather where to seek a new, a different, an easier path.

There are a growing number of headhunters out there challenging you to open yourself to the possibility of a new place of ministry. They'll assist you in considering a course of action whereby the stirring of God's Spirit, and the voices of Army leaders are tuned out; ‘listen instead to your own inner being.’

In today's religious culture of church starts and closings it's not only considered acceptable but also expected that ministers be active participants in the 'calling' process. Free vocational assessment by experienced professional teams virtually guarantees you a list of big time church interviews. And if you're not quite the fit, there are any number of inexpensive 'make-over' solutions helping you to: create a winning 'audition sermon', guarantee a dynamic board interview, hone a God designed methodology on church and discipleship growth, make a convincing case of how family worship and values will be a part of the church calendar. "We'll help prove to the Church Board that you are their ideal God anointed pastor."

'The experience has been built to challenge the understanding of ‘your limitations, while providing powerful, individualized coaching on your essence and how to maximize the stewardship of your design and your ministry.'

Will I succumb and become and enlist with the "50% faction” of my session and divorce myself from my covenant and the design God inscribed on my heart. Had I misunderstood God's intent for me to serve as a life-long Army officer?

What is that bothers me most about the SA?

REMORSE & RETURN

In surveys conducted by the FSAOF in 2010 and again in 2012 it was revealed that 24% of all officers in our fellowship who’d resigned would return within 90 days if asked to do so. Did I misunderstand God’s direction to seek a new path? Should I have sought dialogue on a higher level at HQ or ‘outside’ counsel?

”Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continually return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us."

Thomas Kelly, A Testament of Devotion

“Part of the Army’s God-given genius is to move with the times. We were born out of a specific time and specific culture in English history, but God has moved Salvationism on and outward through many generation and into countless cultures ever since”. (Shaw Clifton)

Elton Trueblood reminds us in his, My Utmost for his Highest

"Woe to me if I preach not the gospel" 1 Corinthians 9:16

"Paul's words have to do with being made a servant of Jesus Christ and our permission is never asked as to what we will do or where we will go. God makes us broken bread and poured out wine to please Himself. To be separated unto the gospel means to hear the call of God; and when a man begins to overhear the call then begins agony that is worthy of the name.

Every ambition nipped in the bud, every desire of life quenched, every outlook completely extinguished and blotted out saving one thing only- "separated unto the gospel" Woe be to the soul who tries to put his foot in any other direction.

Take a moment now, enter that place where His call is heard clearly, and with your covenant and open Bible in front of you pray; Lord, what would you have me do?

I BIND MYSELF TO HIM IN THIS SOLEMN COVENANT  
ADD YOUR SIGNATURE AND THE SCRIPTURE REFERENCE TO WHICH GOD BROUGHT YOU TODAY-

_____________________               _______________

Sven Ljungholm

Former SA Officer

Birkenhead Corps

UKIT

We Need Officers ATTRITION SERIES XIX

Lincoln, Leadership and The Salvation Army

7FEB

I recently saw the film Lincoln starring Daniel Day-Lewis which tells the story of President Lincoln’s efforts to abolish slavery.

In the film directed by Spielberg, there is a scene where the bombastic and powerful House Ways and Means Chairman, Thaddeus Stevens privately debates with the president.  Stevens, a staunch abolitionist, is concerned about Lincoln’s apparent equivocation on the issue of slavery, and urges unwavering adherence to a “moral compass” that points unambiguously toward “True North.” Lincoln counters that this is all well and good, except when your moral compass steers you into a swamp. Your True North doesn’t matter much then. You’re stuck in the swamp.

I don’t know if this debate ever happened or if the credit goes to the scriptwriters. But in any case, the tension between principles and pragmatism is at the root of many dilemmas facing leaders today.

Some leaders simplistically frame this in “either/or” terms: you can either be true to your principles or completely abandon your principles by succumbing to outside pressures. But extraordinary leaders like Lincoln seek a more nuanced understanding by harnessing the dialectical tension—forging solutions that embrace both the principles they hold dear while at the same time acknowledging the real-world factors that are often beyond their control.

Thaddeus Stevens was put to the test when asked to speak in front of the House of Representatives during the critical debate on the Thirteen Amendment that would abolish slavery. Stevens had long argued that slavery should be abolished on the basis of the principle that all men are equal, regardless of their race.  But on this occasion, he is cautioned that a full-throated and candid articulation of his views would be amplified by a fickle press, instigating fear among crucial Representatives, and lead to certain defeat of the measure.

At the moment of truth, Stevens backs down from his purely principled position, softening to the more palatable argument that all men should be treated equallyunder the law.  While certain radical Republicans were aghast, his more tempered plea was exactly what was called for under the circumstances, and the constitutional amendment passed by a meager two votes.

Stevens could have stuck to his original moral compass, which would have steered him directly into the swamp. Instead, through his struggle, he discovered a new authentic True North voice, one that worked in service of his ultimate purpose, the abolition of slavery.

We all have a moral compass don’t we, some kind of cause we strive for or believe in. The Salvation Army’s True North is to communicate and live out the transforming message of Jesus, bringing freedom and hope into lives of a world of the hurting, broken, lonely and lost, reaching them in love by all means necessary.

The movement has grown and now faces many challenges in the 21^st century such as how to be forward thinking as membership rates drop alongside a tendency to live on the glory of the good old days. Ask Microsoft and Apple how difficult it is to remain successful, and not only in one country but many. Today, The Salvation Army is in 126 countries but aspires to be one movement.

It’s not easy to change. As leaders and members of The Salvation Army (indeed any organization), we must be able to recognize the strong entailment of our history on our mission and form without making that history a definitive model. We need to look again at our core beliefs and values, our ‘True North’ and be ready to throw out cultural additions accumulated through the ages that hinder rather than promote our values.

Imagine as General Linda Bond (world leader of The Salvation Army) envisions:

‘a God-raised, Spirit-filled Army of the 21^st century, convinced of its calling, moving forward together into the world the hurting, broken, lonely, disposed and lost, reaching them in love by all means with the transforming message of Jesus, binging freedom, hope and life.’

How we avoid the swamp of irrelevancy, of reputation protecting at all costs, and of division is not an easy question. How do we find an authentic True North that serves the vision, but might call upon us to change, which might seem unnatural or risky. Again I don’t have a complete answer.

But I’m reminded in Lincoln that extraordinary leaders like Abraham Lincoln seek a more nuanced understanding forging solutions that embrace both the principles they hold dear while at the same time acknowledging the real-world factors. The Salvation Army was not created to be risk-averse but at the same reckless decision-making and wholesale changes will likely steer us wayward.  Keeping our True North in mind will help us plot our way forward, though at times change may hurt, but ultimately allow us not to end up in a swamp!

http://disciplesofthecross.wordpress.com

Ben Cotterill, Cadet

UKIT

We Need Officers ATTRITION XVIII

General Booth's Farewell meeting in America (Jam-packed Carnegie Hall):

November 5, 1907 NY TIMES: 

Secretary of the Treasury: "I introduce to you the greatest evangelist of our time, and, in my judgement the greatest the world has ever seen."

Major Stephen Court, Canada - true. The greatest evangelist ever (to that point in history) – certainly if you measure by conversions, countries and cities and continents preached, ‘sermons’ preached, disciples made... This is the New York Times. We under-rate him.

Here is part of Booth's speech: "Forty-two years ago... I stood alone. All the Colonels and the Captains now fighting for salvation were under one hat, and I had the privilege of wearing it. I had no organisation to raise funds, yet The Salvation Army stands out today a powerful organisation. The Salvation Army not only conquers a country, but keeps a country it has won against enemies, whether from her or from hell.

Court - Hallelujah. He makes some other noteworthy claims in this speech, intriguing to every salvationist.

http://armybarmyblog.blogspot.com

______________________________________

YEAR         # of Active SA Officers


1865 - 1907        0 - 15,000   15,000 increase in 42 years  An increase of 360 additional officers per year

       

1907 - 2007  17,000     2,000 increase in 100 years An increase of just 20 additional officers per year


_____________________________________________________


His sixth motor tour of Britain was cut short when he lost the sight of his right eye. Dimly able to write his own name through the cataract in his left eye, he toured Europe in the following Spring. In the May he filled London's Albert Hall and made perhaps his greatest speech: 'While women weep as they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, I'll fight; while there yet remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight - I'll fight to the very end.'

An operation on his left eye was not successful and he was left completely blind. 

On Sunday 18 Augusthe lost consciousness and grew steadily weaker. He died three days later. of International Headquarters. He was 83 years old. 

At the three-day lying in state, 150,000 people filed past the old warrior's casket. 40,000 flocked to his funeral at Olympia Exhibition Hall where Salvation Army Officers knelt by the casket, along with thieves, tramps, harlots, the lost, and the outcast. 


Royalty too. Queen Mary came along with her Lord Chamberlain, Lord Shaftesbury, and because Her Majesty had arrived unannounced without warning, she had to sit at the rear of the hall next to a prostitute. She heard the prostitute say: 'He cared for the likes of us.'



The casket was borne to Abney Park Cemetery through silent masses lining the streets, followed by 10,000 uniformed Salvationists and forty Army bands. Around his grave were lain wreaths from the King and , Queen Alexandra, Kaiser Wilhelm, and the American Ambassador Whitelaw Reid. 



The New York Times claimed: 'No man of his time did more for the benefit of his people.




We Need Officers ATTRITION SERIES XVII

Confronting Our Final Deadline

This past December, I spent the holidays caring for my 87-year old uncle as he succumbed to a brain tumor. Ira was a childless widower. I was his closest living relative and primary caregiver. As I sat in a Boston hospice, watching Ira's life drain out of him, I was powerfully reminded that yes, there is a Judgment Day.

Regardless of whether or not we are religious, most of us, in our last weeks, will give ourselves the ultimate performance review. Barring sudden death, we'll ask some variation of the inevitable questions: did I live the life I wanted to live? Did I realize all the possibilities of what my life could be?

Such was the case with my uncle. By most measures, Ira did well in life. He made a good living and had many friends. But sometimes he let his insecurities dominate him. He passed up on an offer to take on a career-defining job, deeming it too risky to leave the sanctuary of a familiar workplace. He wanted a family, but married too late to have one. He was loved, but he died alone. During his last months, his one big regret was that he never seized on all the opportunities that life presented.

Years ago, when I watched my mother and, later, my father die, I realized that death informs life. My uncle's death reminded me that when we let it, death forces us to focus on what we truly want to do with our lives. In his Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs underlined the notion that death is a potent catalyst for life-altering change: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life."

There's just one thing. For the promise of death to shape our lives, we can't do as my uncle did, which was to lead a largely unexamined life and then, in his last year, conduct a post-mortem on his life's journey. By then it's too late to change for the better. Instead of a post-mortem at the end of life, what's needed is a pre-mortem in the here and now.

The cognitive psychologist and author Gary Klein conceived the mental simulation called the "pre-mortem": you look into the future, think about what you want to achieve, and imagine your efforts have failed. The exercise pushes you to take an unflinching look at the obstacles you'll likely encounter and honestly reckon with the challenge of how best to accomplish your goals.

With a pre-mortem, I imagine myself on my deathbed, looking back on my life. The simulation reminds me that success is a byproduct, not an end in itself. For me, a successful life comes from knowing what will matter to me when I'm dying and ensuring that those things are in my life while I still have breath in my lungs. And what will matter most will be the quality of my relationships with my family, my God, my work, and all the people who count on me to be a good steward of Panera. If I prove myself worthy of those relationships, I will reap the byproduct of having lived a successful life.

The logic of a pre-mortem can be applied to our work lives as well as our personal lives. A leader's foremost challenge is to figure out where the world is headed and ensure that the organization is prepared for tomorrow's arrival. A pre-mortem allows my Panera colleagues and me to imagine the future in our industry and what consumers will desire in, say, five years. It pushes us to identify and commit to initiatives that will help us exploit opportunities in our markets and build competitive advantage. Above all, a pre-mortem injects a sense of urgency into our planning, by reminding us that tomorrow is fast approaching.

So it goes with life itself. If I die at the same age as my mother, who died too young, I have roughly 1500 days left to make a difference in the world. When it comes to stripping away all of what's superfluous in life and homing in on what's really important, there's nothing quite like acknowledging the promise of death, our ultimate deadline.

We Need Officers ATTRITION SERIES XVI

Time for reinventing the movement?

Reinvention might be too strong, but realignment is too weak. There are a few deeply missional paradigms that need to be revisited.

Start with, ‘why do we do what we do?’

Then go to, ‘how’s that working out?’

How does God measure us?

What does He think about us?

Is it possible that our faithfulness to God leans more towards our faithfulness to what we’ve always done?

These questions are admittedly subject to generalization. Beyond the shadow of a doubt there is plenty of authentic SA mission happening at a level and pace that would make the founder grin and warm the heart of God. I am proud to be a Salvationist, especially in the USA Western Territory.

That’s not to say we don’t have work to do. Will you join me in reinvesting in this movement until every corner and every fibre is in concert with God’s purposes for us?

Let’s start with our own hearts, kneeling before God, sanctifying ourselves for His glory. Then let us come together with a freshly inspired resolve to win the world for Jesus, rolling up our sleeves, loving our neighbors, determined to follow The Lord with all that we are. Hallelujah!

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 

1 John 3:18 NIV

by Jim Knaggs on February 27, 2013

We need Officers ATTRITION SERIES XV

THE International Commission on Officership has completed its work and General John Gowans has launched the biggest-ever consultation exercise in the history of The Salvation Army on the 28 recommendations made by the commission.


The General is inviting all officers, active and retired – more than 25,000 in total – to be part of the consultation process and the commission’s report has been translated into every language needed to make this possible. The consultation process is being handled by the prestigious international research organisation MORI.


The International Commission on Officership, established in response to a recommendation made by the International Conference of Leaders held in Melbourne in March 1998, was asked to review all aspects of the concept of officership in the light of the contemporary situation and its challenges, with a view to introducing a greater flexibility into the concept of officership.


The 28 recommendations cover a wide range of subjects related to officership.


One is ‘that territories continue to move away from authoritarian models of command and develop consultative models of leadership’. Another declares: ‘We recommend that competent officers be appointed to positions of executive responsibility irrespective of age or years of service.’


A number of the recommendations deal with the matter of marriage. Possibilities being considered include – in certain circumstances – the continuance in officer service of one partner in an officer-marriage following the withdrawal from officership of the other partner; the continuing service of an officer following marriage to a non-officer; and the acceptance for officership of just one partner in a marriage, the other partner remaining a non-officer.


Another recommendation deals with ‘open-ended’ officer service, whereby an officer – instead of serving for life – might withdraw from officership after a number of years ‘with dignity’ and with appreciation being officially expressed for the years of service given.


Yet another matter dealt with by the commission is the possibility that an officer, in appropriate circumstances, might undertake secular employment, with all the income from it going to his or her appointment.


The commission also recommends that a review of the rank system should take place. Adjustments could be made to the present system. Alternatives to that include all ranks, with the exception of the General, being awarded on length of service, or all officers, with the exception of the General, holding the rank of captain.


Other recommendations deal with such matters as the officer’s covenant and undertakings, leadership development, the appointing process, women’s ministry, cultural issues and pensions.


With regard to some issues the recommendations allow for the possibility that different policies might operate in different parts of the world.


The consultation process will culminate in the International Conference of Leaders to be held in Atlanta, USA, from 22 to 25 June. Following the conference the General will spend time in reflection and prayer before deciding how the various recommendations are to be handled. ‘Pray for me,’ says the General, ‘that I may have not just the wisdom of Solomon, but the very mind of Christ.’


Copies of the final report of the International Commission on Officership are available at £2 (post free) from the Literary Secretary, Programme Resources Department, International Headquarters, PO Box 249, 101 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4P 4EP, United Kingdom.


General John Gowans, The Salvation Army’s international leader from 1999 to 2002, will be remembered for the unique, colourful and larger-than-life personality that he was. ‘When God made John Gowans he threw away the mould,’ writes General John Larsson (Ret.) in his foreword to General Gowans’s autobiography. ‘Into the gift-mix of this original he poured the potential of an unconventional thinker, an arresting speaker and a charismatic leader. He added the dynamism of a man of action and the creativity of a poet, the ruggedness of an Elijah and the spiritual sensitivity of a John the Beloved. And he topped it all with a large dollop of humanity!’

We Need Officers ATTRITION SERIES XIV

Major Stephen Court contacted me earlier this week requesting insight on the resignation patterns of SA officers, and other relevant information available only from studying the FSAOF Surveys conducted and researched over the course of the last 4 years.

And then this, yesterday from Stephen’s blog: “It seems like we’re in chairos season for revolution.”  He was referencing two blog articles penned by two USA Commissioners, one active and the other seemingly more ‘active’ now, than when he was on active service!

The FSAOF’s 4,000 blog visitors these last two weeks would certainly echo Stephen’s ‘chairos’ season observation; truly God designated moments!

We have shared the two Commissioners; articles in our blog. Here’s Stephen’s  response to both.

If a FSAOF supporter would like to write their own observations we’d be pleased to post it!

Many blessings on behalf of the FSAOF, Sven Ljungholm Birkenhead Corps, UKIT

____________________________________________

Alright – plunging into the current discussion…

It seems like we’re in chairos season for revolution.

Commissioner Noland tackles the goal of 4 million soldiers and 100,000 officers, here - http://joenoland.blogspot.ca/2013/02/flummoxed.html?spref=tw

Commissioner Knaggs even wonders if it is time to RE-INVENT the movement, here –

http://tcspeak.com/blog/2013/02/27/time-for-reinventing-the-movement/#comments

First, Noland.

Noland goes all biblical in his approach and rips out four phrases to inform our meditation:

1. "I'll give you good shepherd-rulers who rule my way…"

2. "You will increase and prosper..."

3. "Oh, for the good old days!"

4. "Stuck in the ruts of their evil ways…"

The first two speak to God’s promise and intentions.  God is good and He wants what’s best.  Let’s keep that in mind as the discussion advances in days to come and the revolution accelerates in months to come.

The latter two expand – inside > out.  First, the people of God will no longer pine for the glory days.  They’re history and they will be outshone by the coming glory.  Then, the godless nations will emerge from the ruts of their evil ways to honour God.  It sounds like a biblical order, here:

We remember God’s character and promises.  We stop looking to our past and look to His future.  Then the godless will be rescued to honour the Lord…

Noland notes that 4 million is a drop in the bucket of the world’s population of 7+ billion.  That isn’t defeatist – it is good perspective.  The thing is, 4 million soldiers is bigger than it sounds.  1.5 million soldiers today comprise The Salvation Army – a movement that famously punches above its weight (see – ‘covenant’).  We’re in 125 countries.  By some measures we’re the world’s largest social service provider (don’t count the UN).  Millions of people get saved each decade in our warfighting.  Nearly tripling the number of soldiers will multiply our impact. 

Hitting 4 million and 100,000 would do more than just hitting those numbers.  It will also likely mean some other important things:

-       we hit the rest of the countries of the world (another 75 to go);

-       we defeat the enemy on many other fronts in cities and neighbourhoods around the globe;

-       we restored covenant of former soldiers and former officers (God loves restoring covenant);

-       we significantly impacted massive issues like poverty and trafficking;

-       we make significant inroads into new people groups and religious groups;

-       many millions more get saved;

-       etc.

These are all worthy accomplishments on the way to winning the world for Jesus (remember our post a few days ago setting that back as the mission)
________________________

Commissioner Knaggs recognizes that getting to 4 million + 100,000 will require massive change.  He even uses the phrase ‘reinventing the movement’.  This isn’t some obscure corps officer with a blog.  This is a two-time TC who was president of the last high council.  And he asks us four questions:

Knaggs - Start with, ‘why do we do what we do?’

COURT – ideally, we’re doing what we’re doing to win the world for Jesus.  We’re evangelizing and discipling.  Everything else we do is meant to enhance those things.  We pray so that we get closer to God and so that we evangelise and disciple better (very crudely put).  We reach out to people and help with physical and social needs to evangelise (so William Booth asserts in IN DARKEST ENGLAND).  We gather together and worship God to please the Lord and help others begin (evangelise) and improve (disciple) relationships with God.

Practically, some of us do some of the things we do out of tradition and habit; some of us do some of the things we do because we’re required to do it;  some of us to come of the things we do because it seems good at the time, because we’re desperate to advance the salvation war and we can’t think of anything better to do…

Knaggs - Then go to, ‘how’s that working out?’

COURT – not well enough.  We praise God for victories here and there – for conversions and markers in discipleship.  Hallelujah.  But we long for the advances we read about in Scripture and in parts of the world today.  God help us.

Knaggs - How does God measure us?

COURT – Great question.  Holiness and covenant?  Converts and disciples?  Soldiers and officers?  I doubt He measures beds offered, coats distributed, meals fed, coffee shared, sobriety established, meetings held, practices attended, people visited, money collected, War Crys sold, tweets retweeted, books written, war room shifts filled, buildings built…

Knaggs - What does He think about us?

COURT – Great question.  I wonder if He doesn’t look with pity on us for when we get things mixed up, when we get fixated on each other instead of ‘others’, when major on tactics instead of strategy, when we major on minors, when we strain for gnats and miss the logs, when we settle for mediocrity, when we imitate the unworthy, when we get squeezed into the world’s mold, etc.  I wonder if He doesn’t grin (to apply Knaggs’s term here) at every incident of holy boldness, acting on conviction, R I S K, obedience, self denial, love, mercy, compassion, benevolence, thoughtfulness, kindness, consolation, heroism, faithfulness, sacrifice, suffering, etc.

Knaggs - Is it possible that our faithfulness to God leans more towards our faithfulness to what we’ve always done?

COURT– Yes.  God, please forgive us for this misalignment. 

That’s the first step toward a reinvention, toward strategizing for world conquest.  Stay tuned…

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