General of The Salvation Army

General of The Salvation Army
File:The Salvation Army - General.svg Rank insignia of General
File:Standard of the Salvation Army.svg Standard of the Salvation Army
File:Lyndon Buckingham at Sunbury Court.png Incumbent Lyndon Buckingham since 3 August 2023
The Salvation Army
Style	General
Type	Chief executive officer
Residence	London, United Kingdom
Appointer	High Council, but must be under 68 years old
Term length	Five years, extendable up to a maximum of seven years
Constituting instrument	The Salvation Army Act 1931 and Salvation Army Act 1980 via the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Formation	2 July 1865
First holder	William Booth
Deputy	Chief of the Staff

General is the title of the international leader and chief executive officer of The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination with extensive charitable social services that gives quasi-military rank to its ministers (who are therefore known as officers). The General is elected by the High Council of The Salvation Army and serves a term of five years, which may be extended to seven years. According to the organization, the General is purported to be chosen by God, and the council identifies that person. The position is roughly equivalent to the position of Archbishop in many other Christian denominations. Lyndon Buckingham is the current General, who assumed office on 3 August 2023 upon the retirement of Brian Peddle. The organization's founder, William Booth, was the first and longest-serving General. There have been 22 Generals as of 2023.

History and procedures for election

Usage of the title "General" within the context of The Salvation Army, began with the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. His wife, Catherine Booth, the organisation's co-founder, became known as the "Mother" of The Salvation Army. General Booth served as General until his death in 1912; Booth selected his son, Bramwell Booth as his successor. It was William Booth's intention to have each General dictate their successor, but the Salvation Army Act 1931 passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom requires that each General is selected by the High Council of The Salvation Army. Every General after Bramwell Booth has been selected by the High Council. In accordance with the Salvation Army Act 1931, a General must retire at age 68 and may serve as long as seven years. The General is elected by the High Council when their predecessor retires or dies (known within the Salvation Army as being promoted to Glory). William Booth was the only General to die in office. The High Council is composed of the Chief of the Staff, all active commissioners, except the spouse of the incumbent General, and all territorial commanders. The High Council may also remove a General from office for violations of their "covenant to God", disability, or the inability to fulfill their duties, though this has never happened.

The officer of the Salvation Army who is elected General is the worldwide spiritual leader of the Salvation Army and the chief executive officer of the organization. The General has a role that is similar to the Pope's role within the Catholic Church. Since The Salvation Army maintains a hierarchical, quasi-military structure, all appointments and regulations are issued under the General's authority.

Three women have been elected General of the Salvation Army: Evangeline Booth, William Booths's daughter, in 1934, Eva Burrows in 1986, and Linda Bond in 2011.

On January 31, 2011, after 10 days of meetings which began on January 21, 2011, the 17th High Council elected Linda Bond as the 19th General of The Salvation Army. Bond was the third woman to hold the post and the fourth Canadian. This election was handled by the largest High Council in history and was especially significant due to the number of women delegates (57) outnumbering the number of men delegates (52).

On 3 August 2013 the then-Commissioner André Cox was elected by the High Council of 2013 as the 20th General of The Salvation Army. The High Council of 2018 selected Brian Peddle as Cox's successor in May 2018; he took office in August 2018.

On 26 May 2023 the High Council of 2023 elected Lyndon Buckingham as Peddle's successor.

Vacancy

In the event of vacancy, either by death or resignation, the Salvation Army Act 1980 requires that the Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army serve as acting General if a successor had not already been elected. The most recent instance of vacancy was in 2013 when Linda Bond retired unexpectedly; Andre Cox served as acting General.

List of living retired Generals

There are three retired Generals living. The most recent General to die was Paul Rader on 18 January 2025.

• Linda Bond
• André Cox
• Brian Peddle

Leadership

The General serves as the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Salvation Army at the international level, but the organization is divided into many subunits controlled by other individuals. For instance, Commissioner Merle Heatwole, appointed by Buckingham, serves as the National Commander of The Salvation Army of the United States.

Generals of The Salvation Army

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office			Nationality	Chief of the Staff
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	File:William Booth.jpg	William Booth OBE (1829–1912)	2 July 1865	20 August 1912 †	47 years, 49 days		Bramwell Booth
2	File:Bramwell Booth 1910-1915.jpg	Bramwell Booth CH (1856–1929)	21 August 1912	13 February 1929	16 years, 176 days		T. Henry Howard
							Edward Higgins
3	File:General Edward Higgins.jpg	Edward Higgins (1864–1947)	14 February 1929	11 November 1934	5 years, 270 days		Henry Mapp
4	File:Evangeline Cory Booth.jpg	Evangeline Booth OF (1865–1950)	11 November 1934	1 November 1939	4 years, 355 days
							John McMillan
							Alfred G. Cunningham
5	File:THE SAVELOY CLUB of the Salvation Army (cropped) George Carpenter.jpg	George Carpenter (1872–1948)	1 November 1939	21 June 1946	6 years, 232 days
							Charles Baugh
6	File:General Albert Orsborn (1951).jpg	Albert Orsborn (1886–1967)	21 June 1946	1 July 1954	8 years, 10 days		John Allan
							Edgar Dibden
7	File:Installatie van Kolonel Palstra tot territoriaal leider van het Leger des Heils,, Bestanddeelnr 911-0245.jpg	Wilfred Kitching CBE (1893–1977)	1 July 1954	23 November 1963	9 years, 145 days
							William J. Dray
							Norman F. Duggins
							Erik Wickberg
8	File:Leger des Heils 80 jaar. Wethouder Jan Tabak van Amsterdam begroet Generaal Fre…, Bestanddeelnr 920-3452.jpg	Frederick Coutts CBE (1899–1986)	23 November 1963	21 September 1969	5 years, 302 days
9		Erik Wickberg (1904–1996)	21 September 1969	6 July 1974	4 years, 288 days		Arnold Brown
10		Clarence Wiseman OC (1907–1985)	6 July 1974	5 July 1977	2 years, 364 days		Arthur E. Carr
11		Arnold Brown OC (1913–2002)	5 July 1977	14 December 1981	4 years, 162 days		W. Stanley Cottrill
12	File:Jarl-Wahlstrom-1960-cropped.jpg	Jarl Wahlström (1918–1999)	14 December 1981	9 July 1986	4 years, 207 days
							Caughey Gauntlett
13	File:GeneralEvaBurrows (cropped).jpg	Eva Burrows AC (1929–2015)	9 July 1986	9 July 1993	7 years, 0 days
							Ron Cox
							Bramwell Tillsley
14		Bramwell Tillsley (1931–2019)	9 July 1993	18 May 1994	313 days		Earle Maxwell
15		Paul Rader (1934–2025)	23 July 1994	23 July 1999	5 years, 0 days
16	File:Gowans Congress.jpg	John Gowans (1934–2012)	23 July 1999	13 November 2002	3 years, 113 days		John Larsson
17		John Larsson (1938–2022)	13 November 2002	2 April 2006	3 years, 140 days		Israel Gaither
18	File:Shaw Clifton 30 juni 2007.jpg	Shaw Clifton (1945–2023)	2 April 2006	2 April 2011	5 years, 0 days		Robin Dunster
							Barry Swanson
19	File:Bond College for Officers training.png	Linda Bond (born 1946)	2 April 2011	13 June 2013	2 years, 72 days
							Andre Cox
20	File:General André Cox.jpg	André Cox (born 1954)	3 August 2013	3 August 2018	5 years, 0 days		William A. Roberts
							Brian Peddle
21	File:Peddle IHQ.png	Brian Peddle (born 1957)	3 August 2018	3 August 2023	5 years, 0 days		Lyndon Buckingham
22	File:Lyndon Buckingham at Sunbury Court.png	Lyndon Buckingham (born 1962)	3 August 2023	Incumbent	2 years, 295 days		Edward Hill

Timeline

Below is a timeline of Salvation Army Generals' terms in office.

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late

DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1865 till:2028 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1865

Colors =

 id:GEN  value:red             legend:Term

Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:40 columnwidth:150

TextData =

 pos:(20,40) textcolor:black fontsize:M
 text:"General:"

BarData =

 barset:PM

PlotData=

 width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
 barset:PM

from: 1865 till: 1912 color:GEN text:"W. Booth" fontsize:10
from: 1912 till: 1929 color:GEN text:"B. Booth" fontsize:10
from: 1929 till: 1934 color:GEN text:"Higgins" fontsize:10
from: 1934 till: 1939 color:GEN text:"E. Booth" fontsize:10
from: 1939 till: 1946 color:GEN text:"Carpenter" fontsize:10
from: 1946 till: 1954 color:GEN text:"Orsborn" fontsize:10
from: 1954 till: 1963 color:GEN text:"Kitching" fontsize:10
from: 1963 till: 1969 color:GEN text:"Coutts" fontsize:10
from: 1969 till: 1974 color:GEN text:"Wickberg" fontsize:10
from: 1974 till: 1977 color:GEN text:"Wiseman" fontsize:10
from: 1977 till: 1981 color:GEN text:"Brown" fontsize:10
from: 1981 till: 1986 color:GEN text:"Wahlstrom" fontsize:10
from: 1986 till: 1993 color:GEN text:"Burrows" fontsize:10
from: 1993 till: 1994 color:GEN text:"Tillsley" fontsize:10
from: 1994 till: 1999 color:GEN text:"Rader" fontsize:10
from: 1999 till: 2002 color:GEN text:"Gowans" fontsize:10
from: 2003 till: 2006 color:GEN text:"Larsson" fontsize:10
from: 2006 till: 2011 color:GEN text:"Clifton" fontsize:10
from: 2011 till: 2013 color:GEN text:"Bond" fontsize:10
from: 2013 till: 2018 color:GEN text:"Cox" fontsize:10 
from: 2018 till: 2023 color:GEN text:"Peddle" fontsize:10
from: 2023 till: 2024 color:GEN text:"Buckingham" fontsize:10

</timeline>

External links

• Official website