Through crisis and new beginnings
- deansimpson7
- Aug 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 26
In a candid interview with Salvos Online journalist LAUREN MARTIN, outgoing Chief Secretary Colonel Winsome Merrett discusses women in leadership, her ‘biggest regret’ and the music she’ll be playing in retirement.
Ever since she was appointed Chief Secretary of the Australia Territory in January 2020, Colonel Winsome Merrett has both intrigued and inspired me.
There was something about the enormity of her role in overseeing operations of The Salvation Army across the whole of Australia, and the way that she seemed to be able to hold such responsibility with razor-sharp focus and clarity of vision.
Whenever I had a chance, I would go out of my way to strike up a conversation and get to know the woman behind the leadership bulletins. So, when the opportunity arose to interview her on the eve of her retirement, it was a pleasure to sit down for a coffee and a yarn with the ‘Chief’.
The interview
Lauren: Winsome, it’s going to feel weird without you as Chief Secretary, you’ve been in the position for so long! But obviously, this has just been the final appointment of your Salvation Army ministry, and there have been so many others. Have you had a favourite, or a highlight appointment?
Winsome: Yes, probably two. I think our six years in Darwin would have been a highlight for both of us [herself and husband, Colonel Kelvin Merrett], but certainly for me. And then Eastern Victoria Division, when I was Divisional Commander for five and a half years.
Lauren: I did expect that it would be Darwin, having your roots in Alice Springs as a child and also in Darwin as well, but what about being the Divisional Commander, what was happening that was so exciting in that space?
Winsome: I think I learned lots. I had a really good team, and we started a strategy to try and actually, really interesting [when you look at the direction that the Army is going now], it was a strategy to get corps and social connecting – this whole integrated mission concept. And it was very, very early days; we are so much more advanced now.
You know, that was 15 years ago, and the TC (Territorial Commander) took a chance on me as a woman in leadership. Both of us were in another division, Kelvin was the Divisional Commander, and I was the Divisional Director of Women’s Ministries, and then we swapped [the DC role] over. And Kelvin’s a great DC – he is a leader, he is quite apostolic, often understated. He could have gone on, and he could have done that next role [as Divisional Commander]. But the TC, I assume, saw something in me and wanted to help women be seen. I think it takes courage to do that.
Lauren: As a woman in leadership, you’re inspiring to a lot of people. What advice do you have for other women, particularly in The Salvation Army?
Winsome: I think we are better together, women and men. God made people different. And I think diversity challenges us, but it also refines us and gives us an appreciation for the other. So, I am highly motivated about the capacity and capability of women to lead. I would hope that my role as Chief (Secretary), as a married woman, is certainly not the last, not only in Australia but across the world. To women, I would say – believe in who God created you to be and the gifts he has given you and steward them well.
I still believe that for women, you actually have to work harder – not necessarily to prove yourself – but to actually be seen. And how we do that without being aggressive, but to be validly seen, I think, is a challenge for women that is not a challenge for men. We do have some amazing women officers who are passionate, who are highly capable, who are already demonstrating beautiful spiritual leadership and other forms of leadership, and it’s not only how we see them but how we then equip them and how we place them in roles.
“I still believe that for women, you actually have to work harder– not necessarily to prove yourself – but to actually be seen.”
Lauren: You became Chief Secretary just after the Australia One project [merging The Salvation Army in Australia into one territory) and just before the COVID-19 outbreak. That’s a rough first year!
Winsome: Yes, it was the beginning of 2020. It was pretty full on! I think, though, the most challenging year was probably 2018, when I was Assistant Chief Secretary and all the changes were being made, bringing the two territories together. That was really high intensity, and a huge volume of work. So, anything pales in comparison to 2018, really!
But, sure, 2020 and 2021 were really challenging because we were in COVID and we were in Victoria, so lockdowns were hard, but I just look back at that and I see God’s amazing provision. Our IT team was able to enable Microsoft Teams [online meeting technology] within a really short timeframe. If we didn’t have that, I don’t even want to think about what things would have been like. We could continue the work; we just had to learn how to do it a different way. There was a lot of change management, and we were trying to keep our people safe and give them guidance, so it was really high intensity and trying to get communications out just to keep everyone on the same page and keep them focused on the mission. It was intense, but again, we had this amazing team. They were just incredible, they were professional, they were responsive, they wanted the best for the Army, and people worked their butts off to ensure that we had what we needed to be able to move forward in every way.
Lauren: You have mentioned ‘team’ a few times in our chat, that you had a great team in Darwin and at the Eastern Victoria Division. The truth is that leadership can be very isolating. Who have been the people throughout this time that have had your back?
Winsome: There are a few portfolio leads who have really been more than just the professional relationship; they have been actually checking in. There was one in particular I could say anything to and knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. And I have a fantastic husband. Kelvin is amazing. Our kids are very encouraging and supportive, too. And my mum – until a few years ago – my mum was an intercessor, so I knew I was being prayed for regardless of how well or not she was, I knew I was being prayed for.
Lauren: You will be leaving The Salvation Army in a much better financial position – I know you have been very passionate about that in your role as Chief Secretary.
Winsome: I am passionate about sustainability, not just our finances, but our personnel, in terms of the whole Army. We talk about legacy … and one of the regrets, if you like, is that I haven’t been able to move the Army through to a budget that is net-zero. I would love to have landed that.
We have got to bring our deficit down, otherwise we won’t’ be around in 15 years’ time. We can’t keep pulling down on reserves. We can’t help and support the people that God has called us to help and support if we’re not around. I’d rather be known for being prepared to make the tough call than be the ‘nice person’ at the end, but actually be leaving a deficit that I could have changed.
“I’d rather be known for being prepared to make the tough call, than be the ‘nice person’ at the end, but actually be leaving a deficit that I could have changed.”
Lauren: How has your relationship with God changed or deepened through what are really, really hard decisions that do end up resting on you? I know you have a great team, but as Chief Secretary, the buck stops with you for all operational decisions.
Winsome: I could not do this if I didn’t have a deep, healthy relationship with the Lord. In ways that I can’t even explain, God sustains me. So, I have a daily quiet time with the Lord. When I walk, I usually pray. Even Kelvin and I, when we walk, we sort of natter away for the first half and then the rest we are silent, we are deep in thought, and we are probably both praying, or God is ‘de-fragging’ the brain and bringing the things to the fore that he wants to remind us about. At the pointy end, it’s about spiritual leadership. You can’t lead a movement or the organisational operations unless you are deeply connected to the source of the one who created that movement.
Lauren: What are you most looking forward to about not putting on the uniform every day and actually being retired?
Winsome: I think not having to look at my emails! I’m going to look forward to not having 20 balls in the air and making sure I keep them all in the air and catch them! In our retirement home, we are setting up one of the rooms to be my piano room. I play piano, but I haven’t played properly for years. So, I am going to go back to scales and get my fingers nimble again! There are a number of other things I think about, but I don’t know if I will do them. I might find a community choir!
Lauren: Anything is possible!
Winsome: Yes, and that’s just it. It’s about doing it because I choose, within the context of responding to the Holy Spirit’s leading.
Lauren: How do you see the health of our organisation as you’re leaving it, and what are your words for us?
Winsome: I really think we are well-positioned to do what God calls us to. That always requires individual response and engagement. God needs God’s people to be doing what he calls them to do. I think The Salvation Army’s vision has really helped me. This ‘transforming Australia one life at a time with the love of Jesus.’ That one phrase is really packed with meaning. Our mission is to share the love of Jesus. We are The Salvation Army, and this is what God has called us to do. To be with the poor and vulnerable, those experiencing hardship and injustice, and he has called us to present the Gospel really clearly, to point people to Jesus as the hope, and then to help them grow in that understanding so that they then go and do the same. It sounds simple, but it’s really challenging sometimes to get the cut-through and get people to understand how simple yet profound that is! But if you don’t keep that at the forefront, you can get terribly distracted by a lot of things.
