Leadership Book Review
- Leadership in The Salvation Army
by Commissioner Wesley Harris
BOOKS about leadership multiply upon book
shelves as the need for good leaders becomes ever more
apparent. Two such books, (‘Leadership in The Salvation Army’
and ‘Man with a Mission’) coming out of a Salvation Army
context deserve wide readership.
‘Leadership in The Salvation Army’ is a case study in
clericalisation by Major Harold Hill of New Zealand. This is a
scholarly work and deals with a perceived tension between the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and the specialist
role of officers in our movement.
The author recalls that in 1978 General Arnold Brown provided
for the word ‘ordain’ to be used in the commissioning of
officers and the fact that some expressed reservations because
of the eccelesiastical baggage the term might carry with it.
(Did those of us commissioned earlier than 1978 lack anything
essential provided by the introduction of the term? Or was it
something cosmetic and in line with a developing preference
for ‘churchy’ terminology in the Army?)
Major Hill draws upon an extensive knowledge of Army history
as well as practices in other branches of the Body of Christ
as he ponders the basic question, what is the difference
between the officer and the non-officer? Perhaps he gives too
little weight to the enormous influence of local officers in
the Army from its inception and the growing authority of
non-commissioned employees in our administration in modern
times. Be that as it may be, questions about the unique
position of officers still remain.
The opinion of this reviewer is that the essential difference
is not in character or status but in availability, a readiness
to go wherever their service can be best deployed.
Availability is what gives officer-service added value. That
is one of the many perceptions shared in a book which is
certainly thought provoking.
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