High Council of The Salvation Army

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The High Council of The Salvation Army is the body made up of the Chief of the Staff, all active (non retired) Commissioners, except the spouse of the General, and all active Territorial Commanders, that elects a new General in the event of a vacancy or prior to the retirement of the existing office holder. They can also remove a General when he or she can no longer fulfill their duties. The High Council has only these functions and is in no way a governing body of the Salvation Army. It only exists to elect a new General or to adjudicate on the current General's fitness for office. It is regarded as having no continuity of existence between meetings.

1 History
2 Who can be a General?
3 How the High Council works
4 High Council of The Salvation Army, 2006
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

The High Council was established by William Booth in 1904. It originally could only remove a General if the General could no longer fulfill the duties of office. Then the Chief of the Staff could call in the Commissioners to vote on the issue, and if they found that the General was not up to the job, then they would choose his successor. It was, however, intended that in normal circumstances each General would name his successor. However only one General was chosen by the previous General, and that was the 2nd General of The Salvation Army, Bramwell Booth, who was selected by William Booth to succeed him upon his death in 1912.

In November 1928, General Bramwell Booth was away from International Headquarters for several months due to illness. He was asked to resign, but refused. On January 8, 1929, the High Council got together for the first time and voted 55 to 8 to depose the 73 year old ill General.

When they voted him out of office, General Booth took his case to courts, and this lost him a great deal of respect. The Proceedings were further held up by the death of Lieut-Commissioner William J. Haines, Vice-President of the High Council, who collapsed during deliberations of the court hearings and died 45 minutes later.

After over 2 months of deliberations, the courts ruled in favour of the High Council. The High Council got together on February 13, 1929, and elected General Booth's Chief of the Staff Edward Higgins as the new General of The Salvation Army. This marked the first time that the General was elected.

In 1931 the Salvation Army Act of the British Parliament was passed, with the support of General Higgins. The effects of this were that the General lost the power to choose his or her successor, fixed an age limit for the retirement of the General (age 70), and created a trustee company to hold the properties and other capital assets of The Salvation Army instead of the sole trusteeship of the General.

High Councils have since been held in 1934, 1939, 1946, 1954, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2002 and 2006 to elect a new general.

[edit] Who can be a General?

Any active officer of The Salvation Army can be elected, even a Captain. However, no General has ever been elected without being a member of the High Council.

[edit] How the High Council works

First, the High Council selects nominees. Each nominee addresses the council, and then the votes are held. Second, the final voting is held in secret. In order to be elected General, that officer must win 2/3 the votes on the first, second or third ballots. If there is no officer who gets 2/3 of the votes, then a forth ballot will take place. All that is needed on the fourth ballot to become General is a simple majority.

[edit] High Council of The Salvation Army, 2006

The High Council of The Salvation Army convened at Sunbury Court on January 20, 2006 to elect the 18th General of The Salvation Army. General John Larsson, retired at midnight on April 1, 2006. The High Council convened at Sunbury Court in the United Kingdom, on Friday, January 20, 2006.

The Chief of the Staff issued summonses on December 1, 2005 to all who qualify as members on that date. All active commissioners and all territorial commanders were eligible to vote in the High Council. The 2006 High Council will is the largest-ever, with a membership of 100.

The 2006 High Council members met at Sunbury Court from January 17, until January 19 for a pre-High Council Conference led by the General. The Public Welcome to the High Council took place on January 20 at the Westminster Central Hall in London. This gathering also incorporated a Farewell Salute to General John Larsson and Commissioner Freda Larsson.

On January 28, 2006, Shaw Clifton was elected the 18th General of The Salvation Army. He took office on April 2, 2006.