Some thoughts on officership - Part One

From FSAOF.blogspot.com

 

Chosen by her husband, General Shaw Clifton (Retired), this compilation represents writings from almost every phase of Commissioner Helen Clifton's influential service as a Salvation Army officer - including testimonies, personal insights from her prayer journals, and material from her time as World President of Women's Ministries.

Some thoughts on officership
"The first weekend in April 2001 saw the commissioning in Lahore of the Ambassadors of Grace session of cadets. There were forty of them, the maximum the training college could hold. It was a happy day and ended with us attending the wedding of Lieutenant Sughra and newly commissioned Lieutenant Sharkat in the Lahore Central Hall. Because the commissioning brought all the senior officers in the territory to Lahore, the ensuing days were devoted to the Executive Officers’ Conference. We met in the Conference Room at Territorial Headquarters...
It was on the first day of the Conference, 2 April, 2001 that Helen spoke to us, with translation, about officership."
General Shaw Clifton (R)

It is good to think theologically about officership. There is room for personal views about each of our callings. However, we do need to have agreed theological insights about this sacred vocation in order to teach others and to train the cadets properly.

It becomes important also when we sit down in the boardroom as a Territorial Candidates’ Council. That is when we carry out the sacred task of selecting, deferring or rejecting. We seek humbly to test the strength of each person’s calling. To do this we need to have a clear standard to use as a measure.

We can start by looking at the Officer’s Covenant. This is a formal statement of a theological nature. It needs to be identical all over the Army world. It must state the deep things  of the Spirit that bind us together in sacred service. We are called: to preach and to serve; to love God supremely; to make the salvation of the lost the highest ambition of our lives; to live for souls.

Where does all this come from? It comes from the long and deep traditions found in the Bible. It comes from God’s planning for us, from even before we are born (like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Paul). It can become a reality for us when we are still in childhood (like Samuel, and like my husband). Or when we are in the middle of a well-paid career (like Matthew). It can come to a man (Romans 16 names eighteen of them). It can come to a woman (Romans 16 mentions nine, remarkable for that ancient culture!). Note too that God’s call can come to married couples together (Priscilla and Aquila).

The call can be delivered to a person by name (Saul). Or it can reach us through a wider cry from God (Isaiah heard, ‘Whom shall I send and who will go for us?’). Also it can be made through the consensus of the leaders of the congregation (as for Stephen or Barnabas).

It is a powerful calling. It can keep a person faithful even unto death (like Stephen). It can impact someone who witnesses the fidelity of another who is called (like Saul who watched Stephen die). The call might tell you that you are to be a prophet (Amos), or a priest (Zechariah), or a pastor (Timothy). That same divine voice can tell you to leave your  nets, your secular work (James and John).

Part One
Commissioner Helen Clifton