To read Patricia’s promoted to glory notice, click here

Australia Territory appointment changes for the Office of the Territorial Commander and Office of the Chief Secretary, effective from 8 January 2025 (unless otherwise stated), have been released.   General Lyndon Buckingham has approved the following appointments, which have been announced by Territorial Commander Commissioner Miriam Gluyas. To view a PDF of the appointments, click here

To read Pamela’s promoted to glory notice, click here

To read Norman’s promoted to glory notice, click here

On the desk in my office is a small rocking horse. No, not an anxious Shetland pony – a hand-sized, wooden, rocking horse toy.   It’s the result of a book I read years ago on management, and the toy reminds me that working harder does not always equate to greater success. You can rock and rock all day on a rocking horse, raise a real sweat – and go absolutely nowhere. It’s about working smarter not harder.   So, the small toy on my desk serves as a visual reminder of how I should be working. It’s not to say I don’t work hard or disapprove of those who do; it just reminds me to work in a smart way and keep my brain switched on.   I think the move from the toy horse to what it symbolises is a straightforward step to take. Over the years, however, I’ve heard some preachers, especially, make some interesting leaps in symbolic messages. At this point, I should declare that I’m not a huge fan of symbolism (despite my toy horse); I’m too much of a realist and very pragmatic.   One officer was preaching on Lamentations and read a sad passage before laying a black silk scarf across the lectern and saying that it represented the sorrow of the Israelites. In my mind, I said, “No, it’s a black scarf.”   When I was a teen, I listened to my corps officer preach about giving God control in our lives. He compared it to giving God the steering wheel and letting him ‘drive’. He then spent the next few minutes speaking while bouncing up and down and side to side, pretending to hold and turn a steering wheel. I couldn’t listen to what he was saying, as I thought we were about to crash.   When people do the ‘fake driving’ thing, they don’t tend to hold the wheel still like they’re driving straight down a road, they turn the wheel from side to side like they’re zig-zagging wildly all over the place. His message said to me: God’s driving us in a dodgem car!   Another officer declared that we were all butterflies God was preparing (in a cocoon?) to be beautiful, free, soaring creatures for him. It was a little cliched, but I appreciated her point. Then she asked us all to stand (I thought, ‘Uh, oh, here we go’), and she instructed us to flap our arms as we turned around and around, pretending to be butterflies.   Maybe it’s a gender thing, but you’ve never seen a room of more embarrassed men. We flittered, fluttered, spun and waved and tried not to make eye contact. That is, apart from one older soldier who refused to stand and sat there with his arms crossed – still, I concluded, in his cocoon.   And, finally, there was the officer who was leading a Good Friday service and invited us to step forward and hammer a nail into a wooden cross resting on the floor, something many preachers have done over the years. It was meant to symbolise how it was our sinful state and, in some way, us who nailed Christ to the cross.   What he didn’t count on was the Roberts boys. While one was hammering in his nail, the other began hammering him. Screams and threats ensued as one hammer-holding brother chased the other hammer-holding brother. The boys were okay, the screams and threats were from their mother, who was having not-such-a-good Friday!   –      Major Mal Davies is Assistant Divisional Commander for the Victoria Division.

“Without the rain, there can be no rainbow,” says Renato. Here he shares his amazing story of moving from addiction and broken relationships to going through rehab, becoming a support worker, and now the AOD Intensive Services Manager at Bendigo Salvos. Renato’s lived experience means that he can build rapport with people experiencing crisis, and he says that Bendigo is about building healthy communities, caring for people, and giving support when people have nothing left. For more information and resources on International Overdose Awareness Day, click here

To read Patricia’s promoted to glory notice, click here

I’ve attended several corps that produce an annual ‘corps directory’, a listing of people who are regular members of the corps and their contact details. Some directories also include a photo of the person listed.   While adding the photo necessitates an extra step for admin purposes (i.e. seeking the person’s permission to include their photo), it can be a very helpful addition, especially for new people joining the corps who may be struggling to put a face to a name. It also comes in handy – and I speak from experience – for new corps officers as they try to sort out who’s who in the zoo.   Just like a terrible photo on a driver’s licence or in a passport, some corps directory photos are quite amusing.   Here’s Mr C. looking like he’s just about to sneeze. Mrs H. seems to have just sucked on a lemon or tasted something sour. Mrs T. appears to have closed her eyes or blinked just as the photo was taken. Mrs H. seems to have neither brushed her hair nor looked in a mirror because she appears to have just emerged from some sort of hostage situation.   And what is the story with the Petersons? Are those weird smiles because they’re newly married, or has someone spiked their breakfast juice? They look positively delirious. Maybe it’s just the glow of young love.   Mr. B.’s photo seems to confirm he’s on the run from either an ex or the police. Who takes a photo by giving a sideways glance at the camera and looking scared? What’s so hard about a good old front-on smiling face? It looks like a mug shot from a wanted poster.   Mr and Mrs Jones clearly came to the photo shoot with different ideas of what they were doing. He’s in a Coke t-shirt and hasn’t shaved for a few days; she’s in full make-up and a pearl necklace and a dress with a neckline that plunges slightly too low for a church directory photo.   Young Matt Michaelson looks thrilled. At 13, he’s finally old enough to request his own entry and photo in the corps directory, so he’s got a huge grin on his face. Meanwhile, in the entry above, Mr and Mrs Michaelson look slightly sad and lost. Mind you, that’s how they normally look, so we can understand why Matt is happy to finally do his own thing.   There are a lot of photos where the photographer has clearly said, ‘Say cheese’, and then he’s taken the photos not on the ‘eese’ expression but on the ‘ch’ face.   Sadly, there are also a lot of people not really showing the joy of being saved and redeemed by Christ. They look, rather, like they’ve just stubbed a toe.   Imagine if someone based their decision on whether they attended your corps or not by looking at the faces in your corps directory. Would they choose to join, or would they later endure a sleepless night haunted by the images?   I hope you have a nice photo in your corps directory – smiling just enough to look happy but not so much as to suggest you need a stronger form of medication.   –      Major Mal Davies is Assistant Divisional Commander for the Victoria Division.

In the Bible, we learn that the covenant relationship is initiated by God and responded to by us. In Episode 4 of Conversations with the General, Commissioner Ted Horwood, (International Secretary for Program Resources) sits down with General Lyndon Buckingham to discuss a crucial aspect of the Global Strategic Framework: covenant-making and covenant-keeping. Information on the General’s visit to Australia can be found here

Tuesday Toasties at Marion Corps (SA) began as a one-off event for Anti-Poverty Week and has evolved into a beloved weekly program, bringing together people from all walks of life over delicious cheese toasties and barista-made coffee. “Tuesday cheese toasties has taught me that it is so important just to sit and to listen,” says Major Chris Clarke (Corps Officer, Marion). “It is a time to clear the calendar and engage with people, and this has been life-giving.”

BY LAUREN MARTIN   General Lyndon Buckingham has told Australia’s Territorial Commander, Commissioner Miriam Gluyas, that The Salvation Army world needs to “get on with” the job of being the Army that God raised it up to be.   The General and Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham will tour Australia from 26 August to 2 September and will address Salvationists, officers, staff and volunteers in each division.   During a recent visit to London, Miriam called in on the General at International Headquarters.   They spoke about God’s vision for the Army in Australia – ‘Jesus-centred, Spirit-led, hope revealed’ – and agreed that it synergised with God’s message for Salvationists around the world.   “These are exciting days for the movement,” General Buckingham said.   “I feel like the Lord is saying, ‘Hey, hey, hey! No need to apologise, you are The Salvation Army, you’ve been entrusted with a beautiful message, and a wonderful ministry and a call to be the people of God. Get on with it.’”   To find out more about the General and Commissioner’s visit, including their itinerary, resources, promotional materials and how to register for events, click on MySalvos   The General’s message:   Commissioner Miriam Gluyas’ chat with the General: Information on the General’s visit to Australia can be found here

General Lyndon Buckingham recorded his June devotional at the end of the commissioning and ordination ceremony for the Defenders of Justice session in Jakarta, Indonesia. “It was an incredibly uplifting experience,” he shared.   “As we thank God for the new lieutenants, we are inspired by their role as servant leaders, setting a powerful example for us all in the mission and ministry of the entire Salvation Army.”   To view the message, click here , or on the video below. Information on the General’s visit to Australia can be found here