Interview: Salvation Army's Newly Elected General-Elect, Commissioner Shaw Clifton

The Salvation Army has announced that its new International leader, and 18th General will be current UK leader, Commissioner Shaw Clifton.

|PIC1|The announcement came after Clifton was elected by the High Council of The Salvation Army, which is made up of senior Salvation Army leaders from across the world, last week in Sunbury-on-Thames.

Current leader General John Larsson will step down from his position when he retires in April 2006. The move will now see Commissioner Clifton become head of the international evangelical church, which has 1.5 million members in 111 countries across the globe.

Commissioner Clifton will become the General and will be the ninth British General of the Salvation Army.

In an exclusive interview with Christian Today, General Commissioner Shaw Clifton gave an insight into his feelings about his historical appointment and his hopes for the future of The Salvation Army. The full interview is available below:

How do you feel about your new appointment?

I feel deeply honoured to be elected by the international leadership of The Salvation Army. I feel unworthy for such a significant role in spiritual leadership, and at the same time I'm excited, with a sense of anticipation.

In addition to all that, a strong sense of trusting God to help me, this church, the duties of this whole office comes.

It would be a dreadful mistake to come into this thinking that one is adequate. So I come to it very aware of my frailties, but equally aware of God's rich grace. The scripture promised that when I am weak, then He is strong.

How has The Salvation Army progressed in the past years according to your observation?

The Salvation Army today is in 111 countries and we are growing numerically - thank God - therefore growing the Kingdom. The army was raised up not so much to grow the army but to grow the Kingdom. We are at God's disposal.

The Army is bigger than it's ever been since its coming into being in 1865. We struggle in some parts of the world in terms of evangelistic results, not least in Europe, in some other parts in the world where there are western cultures - we're impacted - as other denominations are - with post modern attitudes and secularism.

But in some of those places, the attendances in Salvation Army worship services are going up. In Africa and South Asia, we are seeing very rapid growth. The global picture is a varied, patchy one.

When it comes to the social service expression, which is what the Army is known for, that just grows and grows all the time. Because need grows almost exponentially. It's not possible to keep up with it all, but our programmes continue to be innovative and imaginative.

While some needs remain constant - homelessness, hunger, poverty - there are new phenomena that come up on the scene. Recently the human trafficking situation has been laying heavily in our hearts as a worldwide Salvation Army, and especially here in the United Kingdom.

How will you prepare for future unexpected disasters?

The Army has been deeply caught up in all of those. We're usually the first on the scene. I hope it doesn't sound like boasting! It's just a statement and a simple fact. We are an army - therefore we can mobilise very rapidly. We don't live by committees. We have a structure, which I suppose we'll describe as autocratic. So it is possible to respond rapidly.

Here in London for example, on July 7th, when the explosion took place on the transportation system, the army was the first on the scene and stayed throughout. The mass fatality response that swung into action then was written by a Salvation Army officer who specialises in that field of human service. So we felt really proud about that.

The Tsunami stretched our resources considerably. We are networked globally, so we can all turn to where the point of need is. The Salvation Army in this country raised well over 2 million U.S dollars in two or three weeks, which was devoted entirely to that, and contributions were taken from the Army worldwide. It was phenomenally impressive.

Currently The Salvation Army operates in 111 countries. As you prepare for office, do you plan on expanding the territory beyond this, and if so, which countries spring to mind?

There are certain sensitivities that exist where an organisation like The Salvation Army is considering starting work in a country where we haven't been present.

First of all, what would the existing churches in that country feel about the arrival of The Salvation Army? Or to put that in another way, are we needed?

Are we the right people? What would be our legal status? Will the government be welcoming towards us?

For example, we have a very high number of community projects in China, but we are not allowed to function as an evangelical mission in China. We are happy with that situation in China for now. However, we do prefer to be able to express the totality of the gospel and openly preach the word of God as well as serving the needs of humanity.

We are constantly reviewing the numbers of countries in which we do different works. The crucial fact is, of course, financial resources for such work, before it eventually becomes self-supporting.

There are parts of Europe, the far-east and particularly certain non-Christian cultures that we would like to get a foot hold in. I think the key thing is to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. If the opening of the door is of God, the resources will follow.

We also have to be careful. If God opens a door of opportunity to us and we refuse to take it because our judgment is in error, then He will close it to us and maybe open it to others. So I want to be very sensitive to God in these matters.

When you take up your new position in April, what new projects or plans have you got in your mind for The Salvation Army internationally?

In 2007 we will celebrate the centenary of Salvation Army evangelical work amongst woman. I actually want to reaffirm authentic ministry by the women and evangelical outreach to women and children and families. That will be a global emphasis of 2007.

The Salvation Army is noted for the freedom and the quality it gives to women in Christian leadership. My wife is a fully ordained and commissioned Salvation Army officer in her own right. I want to place strong emphasis on winning children to Jesus Christ.

I was saved when I was a child. My own sense of spiritual vocation for full-time ministry, I can trace back to when I was 12 years of age. I didn't fully understand it then. As I grew older, I pursued my education and other professional opportunities came my way and going into full-time ministry lost its attraction. But God has not changed His mind about that. He pursued me with love, whispering into my heart as a young lawyer, saying, "Shaw, you're living a good life, I know that you love me with all your heart but you're not to be seduced by the legal profession."

I was actually teaching in a university at that time in a law faculty. So in my mid-twenties I had to face up to the same vocation which I was aware of as a 12-year-old. Of course by then I had married Helen. It became clear that we were equally convinced.

She was teaching in school, and we were both very fulfilled. But you have to say yes to God, or settle to be quietly dissatisfied for the rest of your life, and we were not going to settle for that, so we offered ourselves to The Salvation Army for full-time service.

The Army was our spiritual home, we came from Salvation Army families. As I look back at that now,
I've been elected to the officer of General. I marvel and wonder at God's planning and the way He guides you throughout the years. So when privileged tasks like this one are placed before you, you can see how He has been preparing you. It's a humbling and deeply moving experience.

Are there any hopes that you have for this organisation personally?

I want The Salvation Army to be everything God raised it up to be. That is to win men, women, as well as boys and girls to Christ and meet human needs, in varied forms, without discrimination and no strings attached. The Army never said we will help if you believe, we simply say we will help you. If interest is expressed in why we are helping, we'll talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. We will give our word of witness to faith.

Sometimes in some parts of the world, we get really sophisticated. We get fascinated by information technology and we get fascinated by our own reputations. We get caught up in systems and processes and methods and structures...these are all very interesting. But at the end of the day, they're not that important. It's obedience to God that matters. And I want an obedient Salvation Army.

I want to be the kind of world leader of The Salvation Army that will help Salvationists in every corner of the globe to capture a new vision, of a needy world where although sin is always rampant, the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ is even more powerful.

To see people coming to the cross and yielding to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what thrills us, and that is why we were raised up.