Church Army Chief Executive Commissioned by Archbishop of Canterbury

The youngest ever Chief Executive of the Church Army has been commissioned recently by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

Mark Russell, 32, became the eighth man to hold the office of Chief Executive of Church Army since it was founded by Rev Wilson Carlile in 1882.

A packed service at St Michael's Church, Chester Square in London on 9 November, heard the Archbishop commission Russell with a request that God would "stir up in him the gifts of God's grace and be enflamed by the power of the Holy Spirit".

Russell is also the first person neither ordained nor a Church Army officer to hold the office. A highly regarded member of the Archbishops' Council and General Synod of the Church of England, the former youth minister succeeds Captain Philip Johanson OBE who has gone on to head up Church Army International as International Secretary.

Earlier, Russell told Church Army evangelists and staff that he was overwhelmed and inspired by the excellent work Church Army is doing in some challenging situations and spoke of stepping into his own shoes rather than trying to fill those of his predecessors.

He pledged to keep the society up to date with his reflections through a new weblog at russellmark.blogspot.com where, on the eve of his commissioning, he had written: "My prayer is that Church Army well help to turn the church inside out, to see the church become more and more mission-shaped, more real, more welcoming, more relevant, and I hope more fun!"