Meet the Retired Officers – Commissioners Peter and Jenny Walker
Commissioners Peter and Jenny Walker retired from active officership in 2020.
1. Which corps do you both currently attend, and how are you involved?
We attend the Perth Fortress Corps and find great fulfilment in our roles there. We both participate in the musical sections, together as songsters and Peter in the brass band. We also provide spiritual counsel to these groups, as songster sergeant and deputy band sergeant. We regularly participate in a small group Bible study. And Jenny is part of the pastoral care team and often visits elderly corps members either in aged care centres or their homes.
2. When did you both attend training college, and what was your sessional name? Did you like that name (why or why not)?
We were fortunate to be part of the God’s Soldiers session that trained from 1980 to 1982. This was the first session to complete their training at the newly purchased training college in Parkville, Melbourne. We were very proud of our name and believe the Holy Spirit anointed us to be ‘soldiers’ at the forefront of spiritual warfare in every appointment. We love singing the song, ‘God’s Soldier’, as it fits perfectly with our calling and commission as officers.
3. Looking back on your years as active officers, was there a particularly memorable appointment, and why?
Jenny: There have been many fulfilling and memorable appointments; however, I mention just two. The first was our term at the Hobart Citadel Corps (1997-2006), where we saw much numerical and spiritual growth in the congregation as well as meaningful and lifelong friendships develop. Our two sons remained in Hobart and have established their families and vocations there, so we visit (from Perth WA) at least once a year.
The second was our term as Territorial Leaders in the Indonesia Territory (2015-2019). The experiences and learnings during that period transformed our values and faith in a God who can do the impossible. The Salvation Army in Indonesia (called Bala Keselmatan) is a vibrant, youthful and growing Army. The Salvationists have an enormous capacity for prayer, an unrelenting trust in an Almighty God, and demonstrate a tremendous resilience, especially in the face of adversity.
One particularly memorable event happened in 2019, shortly after a devastating earthquake, tsunami and soil liquefaction that occurred in central Sulawesi. Thousands of people died and are still missing to this day. Hundreds of homes and buildings were completely destroyed (including corps buildings and officers’ quarters). A few months after this traumatic event, General Brian and Commissioner Rosalie Peddle visited the city of Palu to offer support and encouragement to the Salvationists in that region. Early on a Friday morning, 17,000 Salvationists gathered together on a crude oval outside the city for that meeting and following the General’s talk, hundreds of people literally ran past us to the front of the podium, seeking prayer for healing and restoration and rededicating their lives to God. It was truly an amazing sight and soul-stirring moment!
Peter: My thoughts very much align with Jenny’s. We spent nearly 10 years at Hobart Corps, and I learned to become much more dependent on God during that time. We saw God working in so many individual lives and in the corps as a whole, and we also developed a philosophy of leadership and ministry that focused on discipleship and spiritual growth. We spent the next 10 years in leadership roles before the appointment to Indonesia. I will always be grateful to God for the experiences there. It was and still is a large and growing Salvation Army, with 45,000 soldiers, most under the age of 40, and many corps, schools, hospitals, clinics and children’s homes. The genuine faith and enthusiasm of the people for God was a tonic for my heart.
Peter and Jenny Walker during their time serving in Indonesia and Malaysia.
4. Is there a specific Bible verse or passage, or even a song, that has anchored your spiritual lives over the years, and if so, why?
Jenny: After returning to Australia from an appointment in Malaysia (1994) due to health reasons, we received three consecutive appointments, 12 months apart, and lived in three different homes during that time! It was a difficult period that included treatment for cancer. Finally, when the third appointment came that required us to relocate from Perth to Hobart, I was completely devastated. However, it was the Holy Spirit that spoke Romans 8:28 into my heart and promised that “All things will work together for good”. He was not wrong, and as you have already read, our time in Hobart was a rewarding and fruitful time for our lives and ministry. The verse has become my mantra through life, and I pray and speak those words over my family every week.
My favourite chapter in the Bible is Psalm 34, full of so many meaningful verses. A verse in the Psalm became my reality during our term in Malaysia when I was attacked in the town centre by a man. After he grabbed hold of me, I screamed, and he immediately released his hold on me and quickly ran away. The verse I often quote is, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them” (Psalm 34:7). I honestly believe an angel of the Lord rescued me during that horrific incident.
Peter: 2 Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” This verse came to me after a time of personal trial, and it served as a call to give myself more fully to God. I have it written inside the cover of my Bible, and it is a reminder that we serve an active God who is searching for people who are devoted to his cause, to strengthen and use them.
5. If you were speaking to a young Salvationist who asked whether you would recommend officership, what would you say?
Jenny: You need to be thoroughly convinced that God has placed a calling and anointing on your life for full-timeministry because it is a supernatural task. Secondly, obedience to the call equates to inner peace and fulfilment. From experience, I can say that God will keep pursuing you if you choose to deny his call on your life. Finally, if you feel inadequate to the task, God is faithful and will equip and strengthen you in ways you never thought possible!
Peter: Officership is a calling that comes from God for leadership in his church. The world has changed incredibly since we answered that call in 1979, but God still needs leaders for his church, and while today there are many different ways available to serve, I still see a need for that open-hearted response that simply says, “Speak Lord, for your servant heareth …”.
