WHO WILL SING MY SONG?

Subsequent to reading a book about The Salvation Army, years ago, I began attending Sunday Meetings at a local corps. However, the book’s inspiration was more than one of simply moving me to attend services, it spoke deeply to my heart and “called” me to become an officer even before knowing much about the army.

I wrote to IHQ, seeking information about becoming an officer and was answered by the PR Officer, who later was to be my Training Principal. As suggested by him, I spoke to the CO of the corps I was visiting regularly and began attending the recruit classes and subsequently became a Soldier. My “calling” became ever stronger and it was unique in that I sensed God leading me to the mission field; Russia to be specific. God’s call and claim on my life came to me from reading Russian and SA history. My interest was also piqued by reading about persecuted Christians in Russia and other communist countries. In preparation to follow His lead I began studying the Russian language. It’s noteworthy that The SA work had yet to be reestablished in Russia. Nonetheless, I was certain that I was called to serve there as a SA officer.

My husband and I met as Candidates bound for Denmark Hill. He shared early in our courtship, and often, that his calling was to social services, an area where he had already worked. Throughout our “training” days my call to Russia remained vibrant, however, any desire or willingness to follow God’s leading to serve in Russia was out of the question in the late 70’s; it would be another 15 years before the army’s return there. I not only put that notion out of my head, but also convinced myself that God had “told” me that we were meant to go into Training as “marrieds”, and that my calling to Field and mission work should give way to my husband’s for other areas of work. It seemed so right at the time, but only later have I come to realise that we each had our own individual callings, and we should have remained loyal to them; perhaps sought a possible solution through channels.

We served side by side for many years and left the work mainly because of health reasons; my husband’s health was the over-riding one. We worked in various “helping” jobs after leaving residential work until 1987, but still moved a few times! Subsequently, he became disabled.

I’d always felt that I wasn’t true to my calling and when the work recommenced in Russia in 1991 I understood the call to mission fully. I followed the re-opening of the army’s work in Russia keenly; it was “my” mission field, the place where God had wanted me to go. As I read about those SA pioneers working in Russia I envied them. For a while I felt that God was getting his own back, and I had to remind myself that God’s not like that. I now realise that the way my life unfolded is the consequence of my own decisions, and I can’t blame anyone but myself. When we hear from Session mates, even those having difficult times and/or from those working in third world countries, I know full well who are happier and fulfilled… those who remained true to their call.

So I still have my calling, but can no longer fulfill it. The moral is obviously that, by doing the right thing in a wrong way, I didn’t do the right thing at all,. And by deciding for myself what God wanted, instead of having faith to wait for Him to facilitate the outworking of the calling He gave me, I didn’t do His will. Having said that, I could live with it more easily if we were still Officers, given that as above, I know He called me to the Army to be an Officer, but it can’t be, even in these days of Single spouse Officership; I’m not in a position to go back. We certainly aren’t able to as a couple.

Following our resignation we visited other churches but couldn’t settle anywhere so we remained loyal as soldiers and faithfully serve in a UK corps.

In closing I wonder if other former officers can relate… Often as songs are sung in our corps’ Meetings I come across a line in the verse or chorus and I don't feel I can sing them, those that speak about always doing whatever God asks me to do; making certain promises, etc., as it's those things I didn't/can't/won't be able to do - I'm sure you all know the ones I mean. They are the words in the songs that bring remorse and cause us to reflect anew on a “calling” we left, and through stifled tears our voices go silent… . Quite awkward when someone asks, “why I wasn't singing” - sometimes I have to mime, but I can't sing what's not true as I think it's dishonouring to God; to He who called me to serve…and how many went astray because I didn't go?

God bless.

Former Officer

UKT

NEW OUTREACH TO BOOST SAGGING RESPONSE Part Two

Nearly four years ago my life took a very different and unexpected turn.  Up until that point I was single, happily single, fulfilled in ministry, fulfilled in life, fulfilled in myself as a person and was not looking for or expecting anything else.  I loved my then appointment as Corps Officer at Exeter Temple and was thoroughly enjoying being able to put everything I could into it.  Then, right out of the blue I met a man and fell in love.  If anyone had told me I would have met my future husband on Facebook I would have laughed at them in total disbelief.  If it had been suggested to me I would marry a divorced man my response would have been, ‘Never in a million years’.  If someone then added this man would have been in the USA and me in the UK I would have been absolutely convinced this was not me they were talking about and had got it completely wrong.  And yet, I found myself in all of those settings that were totally foreign to anything I would ever have imagined of me.   



Initially Sven and I had hoped and planned to be involved in ministry together as Salvation Army Officers, Sven was a former officer and had served in 4 countries. He is also a highly respected professor having been voted among the top three faculty members out of a total 1,200 professors at a USA state university. He earned his PhD in Moscow, Russia.

There was a slight issue of age as he is 19 years older than me, but initially that did not appear to be a huge problem.  And so we hoped, and planned and prayed about what we imagined our future life together to look like.  How wrong we were.  

Sven and I got engaged on the 15^th April, 2008 and on the 22^nd he had a massive stroke that has now left him disabled and life has turned out to be very different to what we had expected.  Fortunately Sven is stubborn and determined and hasn’t allowed this to get him down and although the hospital told us he would never walk again, his response was:  ‘watch me’! And now three and a half years later he continues to push himself as far as possible, physically, mentally and spiritually.  

Today one of Sven’s main thrusts of ministry is through a blog he writes and keeps for former Officers in a bid to support and encourage them, and I now find myself as a ‘single spouse’  Officer and a fulltime carer.  This is something else I had never envisioned for me.  Previously I had thought single spouse was a great concept for others, but not for me.  I could never have imagined myself not being married to anyone who was not an Officer and not a 100% committed to the same thing I am committed to.  However, I am learning God ‘laughs at impossibilities, and says, ‘It shall be done’. 

Throughout twenty seven years of Officership my ministry has taken me into England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  It has been vast and varied with much of it spent in Corps appointments and seven years on the youth department.  Our marriage though has taken me/us into Eastern Europe, particularly Latvia where we have conducted mission trips for the last three years and I have had my eyes opened to the plight of those in some of these hard and struggling countries.  

Sven, very much has a passion and a heart for Eastern Europe after having pioneered the work of The Salvation Army in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova and his Grandparents before him, initially taking the work into Russia at the beginning of the 20^th century and literally risking their lives to do so. 

It was with this knowledge and some of Sven’s life stories and Grandparents’ stories having deeply moved me and ringing in my ears that we married.  When eventually Sven was due to move to the UK I recall him asking me what I wanted him to bring with him for ‘our’ home.  There was no hesitation in my response as immediately I said:  ‘Your spear … ‘the’ rug … and yourself.   


Will tell you why in part three…

Major Glad Ljungholm

DHQ Liverpool

A NEW OUTREACH INITIATIVE Part One

Dear Friends, 



I thought now that this new blog initiative has been up and running for two weeks it was time for me to introduce myself to you and share with you something of ‘my story’.  

At the moment I find myself in what must be the best appointment in the Salvation Army world;  Divisional Candidates Officer for the North Western Division of the UK Territory.  

I have only been in this appointment for six weeks and have already been excited and blessed to hear some of your stories as you explore as to whether or not Officership is God’s will for your life. 

This is my home division and it is wonderful to be back here working with candidates and prospective candidates in the place my spiritual and ministerial journey began. 

I grew up in the Corps at Southport having been taken to the Salvation Army at the age of five by my grandmother.  Immediately I felt at home and loved all that was going on.  Numerous families within the Corps took this ‘non-Army’ child under their wings, brought, fetched and carried me, and in countless ways showed me Jesus.  

As a seven year old I was encouraged to ‘give my heart to Jesus’.  I remember it clearly, almost as if it was yesterday.  We had about 200 young people in our Sunday School at the time and when the invitation was extended to ‘come and meet Jesus’ many were making their way to the mercy seat to make their prayers of commitment and dedication.  I desperately wanted to do so as well, but being painfully shy couldn’t pluck up the courage to leave my chair and make my way forward. However, after a few nudges from an understanding and compassionate teacher I eventually made my way to the mercy seat; by this time nearly everyone else was back in their seats.  The YPSM of the time came and knelt alongside me.  I have no idea what he said or what he prayed but I knew something very real was happening, something very important that was going to stay with me for the rest of my life.  It was so real that this very shy child couldn’t wait to get home and share what had happened, and then I even ran and told our neighbours who I now imagine were possibly left somewhat bemused by this very excited and enthusiastic child sharing her testimony. 



Sunday School teachers taught and trained me in the ways of God.  They encouraged me to pray and read my Bible daily and really mean it when we sang: 



‘I want to do something for Jesus 


E’en though but a child I may be 


I’d love, yes I’d love to do something 


Because He did so much for me’ 



And so from a very early age I was taught to believe and know that God expected something from me, something special, and everything within me wanted to be what God wanted me to be.

I was told on my Candidate’s farewell Sunday by a little old lady who used to sit on the back row of our hall that even before I was made a Junior Soldier I had told her that, “God wants me to be a Salvation Army Officer and that is what I am going to be”.  It was almost as if hand-in-hand this is what God and I were going to do with my life.  I always ‘knew’ and still know that this is what God requires of me.  There is something deep within me that believes I was born to be a Salvation Army Officer; this is my purpose in life and now 27 years since my Commissioning and Ordination I still firmly believe this is who I am and who I am meant to be.

Saying farewell in Ex

Major Glad Ljungholm

DHQ Liverpool

Re-Entering the Ministry As Camas Friends New Pastor

(From a Friend's - Quaker's- perspective)

I have felt called to ministry ever since I was in high school. I remember, at one point, my youth pastor telling me he’d like to go with me to the downtown where we lived, soap-box in hand and let me have at it. Things have in some ways changed a lot since then, you won’t find me on a real soap-box anytime soon but I guess starting this blog five years ago is not far from this idea. I have always loved sharing ideas and teaching, I love it when I see people light up and get excited about theological and philosophical topics.

I decided to study Bible and Theology in undergrad because I wanted to go into ministry, I had helped lead my youth group while I was still in high school and really enjoyed that process, plus I felt God had a clear call on my life to pastor, so Theology was for me. After some prodding I decided to try my hands at youth ministry, which I really enjoyed doing. This was not only my entry point into doing ministry as a career option but it was also the entry point for me into the Quaker world. I began the recording process (similar to ordination) with the Evangelical Friends in Ohio but never finished because of our move out the LA.  After moving to Southern California in 2003, I started working with Young Life and did that for two years before decided to focus more heavily on my studies.

I’ve gone through points where I haven’t wanted to pastor, where I wasn’t sure I was cut out for it (that remains to be seen) and whether it was the avenue I really wanted to pursue. Thus, I began a PhD because I know I like to teach, work with people and research. My most common feeling has been that I want to do both teaching and pastoral ministry, that I feel called to bridge the gap between the congregation and the “ivory tower.” And that for me both of these areas are integral to who I am. As Emily once said, she feels I’d be a pastoral teacher or a teaching pastor. Over the course of this past year or two I started thinking about pastoral ministry again, that I miss all the things (or at least most) that come with territory, but also that my own theological understanding is lacking the other side of who I am.

This past October Colin Saxton, the superintendent of Northwest Yearly Meeting, wrote an email to me suggesting I apply for a recent pastoral opening at Camas Friends Church in Camas Washington. I had recently told him  about how busy I was in school and how I was trying to remain focused at the task at hand, but alas he felt this was an opportunity I would want to know about. He was right. I read through the information sheet on Camas and found that it sounded a lot like my kind of Quaker meeting. Here is one statement that stood out to me:

We are a Quaker Meeting intending to reach out and serve our community. Our goals are to continue the spiritual and physical growth of our congregation as we journey together as a community. We wish to serve as a witness of Quaker testimonies to our greater community. We are here to love God and love people.

Here is an evangelical Friends meeting that’s not only comfortable with identifying as Quaker, but are outward focused (to their community) and see this witness as rooted in Quaker testimonies. This sounded, along with the rest of the information I read, very intriguing. So I sent in my CV and resume, filled out their questionnaire and wrote a short letter describing where I stood on important theological matters.

I had a phone interview with the search committee in November and then they took the holidays off to pray and discern their next steps. While I was in Philadelphia for the peace gathering, with a crew from the Northwest Yearly Meeting, I got a call from a member of the search committee asking if they could fly the three of us up to Washington for a weekend visit. That sounded good to us so in February we visited Camas, as well as Portland (about 20 min away), and had a great time. Everyone in the meting made us feel really welcomed. My initial inclination that this was a community I’d like were confirmed by our visit. Emily and I both, upon leaving, felt this was a Quaker meeting we’d attend if we lived in the area (I also preached my first sermon in about 7 years that Sunday during our visit, which was quite an event).

And as some of you who follow me on twitter already know, this past week Camas Friends called me to be their next pastor, and after a weekend of discussing it with family and friends we accepted the call on Monday. Yes, my doctorate is looming large, but the church is excited and supportive of this process. I’m at the point now in my studies were the rest of what I need to do is independent studies that I can do from a distance and if I can stay on task I hope to wrap things up in 2011-12.

We will be moving to the North in May and leaving behind wonderful friends, a great church community, and 6 years of our lives being around Fuller and working in the area. It also means that we’re not moving closer to Ohio anytime soon, a hard fact for us to face especially since we now have a child. But we’re really excited about this opportunity as well, a feel the Lord has opened way for us. We are also excited to be living in the Northwest, and so close to Portland! I have long admired the reputation of the Northwest Yearly Meeting as evangelical Quakers who are unashamedly Christian yet work with other Quakers across spectrums and are committed to their tradition. I really look forward to getting back into the swing of things with ministry and dreaming with the people at Camas Friends about the ways in which we can help be a witness to God’s kingdom in that place.

Has God Called You? Discerning the Call to Preach

• 
  Albert Mohler, President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
• Thursday, February 14, 2008

8

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Has God called you to ministry? Though all Christians are called to serve the cause of Christ, God calls certain persons to serve the Church as pastors and other ministers. Writing to young Timothy, the Apostle Paul confirmed that if a man aspires to be a pastor, "it is a fine work he aspires to do." [I Timothy 3:1, NASB] Likewise, it is a high honor to be called of God into the ministry of the Church. How do you know if God is calling you?

First, there is an inward call. Through His Spirit, God speaks to those persons He has called to serve as pastors and ministers of His Church. The great Reformer Martin Luther described this inward call as "God's voice heard by faith." Those whom God has called know this call by a sense of leading, purpose, and growing commitment.

Charles Spurgeon identified the first sign of God's call to the ministry as "an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work." Those called by God sense a growing compulsion to preach and teach the Word, and to minister to the people of God.

This sense of compulsion should prompt the believer to consider whether God may be calling him to the ministry. Has God gifted you with the fervent desire to preach? Has He equipped you with the gifts necessary for ministry? Do you love God's Word and feel called to teach? Spurgeon warned those who sought his counsel not to preach if they could help it. "But," Spurgeon continued, "if he cannot help it, and he must preach or die, then he is the man." That sense of urgent commission is one of the central marks of an authentic call.

Second, there is the external call. Baptists believe that God uses the congregation to "call out the called" to ministry. The congregation must evaluate and affirm the calling and gifts of the believer who feels called to the ministry. As a family of faith, the congregation should recognize and celebrate the gifts of ministry given to its members, and take responsibility to encourage those whom God has called to respond to that call with joy and submission.

These days, many persons think of careers rather than callings. The biblical challenge to "consider your call" should be extended from the call to salvation to the call to the ministry.

John Newton, famous for writing "Amazing Grace," once remarked that "None but He who made the world can make a Minister of the Gospel." Only God can call a true minister, and only He can grant the minister the gifts necessary for service. But the great promise of Scripture is that God does call ministers, and presents these servants as gifts to the Church.

One key issue here is a common misunderstanding about the will of God. Some models of evangelical piety imply that God's will is something difficult for us to accept. We sometimes confuse this further by talking about "surrendering" to the will of God. As Paul makes clear in Romans 12:2, the will of God is good, worthy of eager acceptance, and perfect. Those called by God to preach will be given a desire to preach as well as the gifts of preaching. Beyond this, the God-called preacher will feel the same compulsion as the great Apostle, who said, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" [1 Corinthians 9:16, ESV]

Consider your calling. Do you sense that God is calling you to ministry, whether as pastor or another servant of the Church? Do you burn with a compulsion to proclaim the Word, share the Gospel, and care for God's flock? Has this call been confirmed and encouraged by those Christians who know you best?

God still calls... has He called you?

© All rights reserved, www.AlbertMohler.com. Used with permission.

Ministry and Leadership

The strength of any army is its people!  Operations of The Salvation Army are supervised by trained, commissioned officers.  

Members who subscribe to the doctrines of The Salvation Army are called soldiers.  Some are employed by the Army in clerical, technical and professional roles.  Many provide voluntary lay leadership of adult and youth programs and serve aslocal officers.

Just as preparation for battle is essential, training and development of current and future leaders is vital.  The Salvation Army places high priority on the quality of its service, because we minister in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.

Today's Salvationists (officers and soldiers) find unlimited opportunities to serve and to live out the spiritual ministry they've been called to, winning people to Christ and creating genuine change in their lives.


Officership
                   

The Salvation Army needs officers - people called by God into this unique life ministry.

All around you see faces filled with despair, hear conversations laced with frustration about circumstances.  

Do you find yourself wanting to do something to help?  Do you ask yourself, 'can anyone really make a difference'?

The answer is a resounding yes!  The Salvation Army has many opportunities for you to follow Christ, bringing His hope and light to a hurting world.

Across the United States and around the world, thousands of individuals just like you have found their place in ministry as officers in The Salvation Army.  Men and women sold out to Christ, mission-minded and action-oriented, can find amazing fulfillment in full-time ministry as officers.  The need for effective, servant-leaders is greater than ever.  The opportunities for service as an officer are endless.

Salvation Army officership is...

•                Helping someone find a personal relationship with     Jesus Christ

•                Providing meals for someone in need

•                Giving comfort to someone after a natural disaster

•                Teaching a child to read

•                Helping a teen or young adult discover God's plan for their life

•                Leading worship

•                Teaching a Sunday school class

•                Helping people discover more about God

•                Giving love unconditionally

•                Participating in community projects that provide a better life for many

•                Leading a community based and respected ministry organization

•                Providing joy for children and adults at Christmas time

•                Chatting with a shut-in

•                Visiting those in prison

•                Pointing someone to help for their addictive behaviors

•                Ministering to people of other cultures

•                Serving God in a foreign land

•                Helping to change lives

•                Participating in God's work

•                Being His hands, His feet, His heart in a hurting world

Each Salvation Army officer is called by God for a unique ministry.  This calling may take many forms, but in all cases it is an inner conviction that it is God's plan for you to serve Him fully as an officer in The Salvation Army.  He speaks through the Scriptures, through other people, through our circumstances and character and through the Holy Spirit.  It is God who calls and then equips those who minister in this manner.

Men and women desiring to become Salvation Army officers must be born-again Christians, believe they are called to full-time ministry, be Salvation Army soldiers (members of the church) endorsed for officership and complete two years of training.  They must be fully supportive of the ministry and doctrines of The Salvation Army.  They must possess a sincere love for and understanding of people and be willing to work in demanding situations upon completion of their training.

Do you believe you have a call to officership?

Your corps officer can provide you with information, and assist you with the preparation and application process. If you reside in the North Western Division, contact your CO or Major Glad at DHQ or at glad.ljungholm@salvationarmy.org.uk 

This Commission Can Not Be Delegated

There are certain distinct scents that move our senses to recollect memorable experiences, sometimes many decade's old...

Last week I was busy cleaning house, packing up family heirlooms and things collected while stationed and working on four different continents. Among the items selected to gift to my children and grandchildren was a family seal that was used many years ago. With it was a wax stick that one lit to cause it to drip on a letter or envelope. Prior to the melted wax turning cold and brittle the seal's impression was pressed firmly in the wax to clearly identify the sender and to maintain the identity and integrity of the message. I was in one of those quirky moods, alone enough to have a child "fun" moment and lit the wax, and as the smoke and aroma rose from it, my mind went back to 1948- more than sixty years ago...

My father, prior to his answering the 'call' to officership, was an aeronautical engineer, employed by SAAB aircraft at their head office in Linkoping, Sweden. We had a large apartment and in it a spacious closet that dad designated as his "home office". Due the secrecy of SAAB's aircraft design work in post- WWII Sweden, he installed two padlocks to ensure that my brothers and I, curious as we were about the aircraft photos pinned to the closet walls, didn't find access to the blueprints and using our own creative flair add more engines, wings, and landing gear.

Each evening following dinner my father would check the integrity of the locks, take the keys from a small chain fixed to his waist belt, open the closet door and enter, carrying a bulging brown weathered briefcase- I see it as clearly today as all those many years ago. He would remove large yellow packets from his briefcase, each of them sealed. Across the flap, in wax, was the Royal Swedish military insignia and stamped in large letters in Swedish were the words: 'The enclosed assignment cannot be delegated' .  In a rather lofty way one could translate the message, shared as it was during the war era as; 'The Kingdom's future depends on you and how you handle this commission'.

He worked each evening huddled over the blueprints, often well into the night before turning off the closet lights. On locking up for the evening the blueprints would be replaced in the envelopes, and then he would take out his small seal with his unique identity, light the red wax stick, drip wax on the envelope lip and then place his seal to the wax. The following morning the sealed envelopes would be returned to the appropriate responsible party in the engineering department. It was understood that, as the envelopes had been sealed in wax, with the Royal insignia, the commission had not been compromised by delegating responsibility to others...

As I reflected on that experience last week my thought went to another seal, one that you and I have experienced and share. We have no doubt all sung the chorus: 'He writes the pardon on my heart' : a Royal pardon.

'Sealed again is all the sealing

Pledged again my willing heart

First to know Thee, then to serve Thee,

Then to see Thee as Thou art' (SA Song Book 591 ) Albert Orsborn

'Sealed by Thy Spirit, sealed by Thy Spirit,

Sealed by Thy Spirit eternally Thine;

Thus would I be to Thy service devoted;

Sealed by Thy Spirit, eternally Thine.'

(SA chorus section 52)

Twice in the last few days the text of Saint Irenaeus: "The glory of God is man fully alive”, has been cast in front of me in rather strange ways… I must admit that Irenaeus and his words were only vaguely known to me, but hearing them twice in the space of 4 days piqued my interest and I reflected on the words and how they relate to my own spiritual experience and expression. And I asked myself, ‘Am I fully alive to the glory of God’ living, sealed in His love to serve…as fully alive as when first marching forward with red epaulets, or when opening fire in Moscow and a few years later, in Ukraine? 

The cross of Christ was both the seal that signaled to me my responsibility then and now, although there have been times when I have not been ‘fully alive to the glory of God’.

Do you remember sharing in a declaration of faith when being commissioned? The Territorial Commander or Training College Principle would have asked: ‘Do you promise faithfully to maintain and proclaim these truths?’ (the truths and principles of the old and new testament and your responsibility in proclaiming them) I would maintain that the promises made were eternal and could not then nor can they now be delegated to others. Regardless of where we worship and serve today we undertook a very special and unique responsibility on the day of our commissioning, sealed by God the Holy Spirit, one that can not be delegated.

Dr. Sven Ljungholm

Liverpool UKT