Inside a High Council text pages_Layout 1 25/10/2013 11:59 Page 98
creative response to the AIDS pandemic;…forward in our efforts to find and enfold the lost and then enlist them in our great cause;…forward in aggressive and innovative approaches to evangelism;…forward in our efforts to sensitise and mobilise our people to confront the moral crises in our communities;…forward in our commitment as an Army – east and west, north and south – to world evangelisation. We must advance in a continuing renewal of faith and spiritual vigour…We must move forward together in all our rich cultural diversity…We must share a common strategic vision as we move aggressively toward the 21st century.11
In 1999 Commissioner John Gowans began his speech in characteristic style: Did you ever find yourself in a particular place and get the feeling that you have been there before? This is the third time I have been called upon to make this kind of speech, and the elder statesmen among us may well be wondering why I am presenting myself as a candidate once again. ‘Can’t the man take no for an answer?’ they may well be justified in asking! I have the temerity to speak to this High Council of my peers simply because, whilst many things have changed since last this Council gathered, two things have not changed: my dedication to God and my availability to his Salvation Army. I have sometimes been tempted to do so, but I have never refused any appointment which my leaders thought good to entrust to me. In this situation you are my leaders. I will do what you tell me. If you decide under the guidance of God that I am the person to lead The Salvation Army into the 21st century I shall be proud to accept that honour. If you decide that I should quietly prepare for retirement I will accept that honour with equal cheerfulness.12
In my own speech to the 2002 High Council I shared with members that one of my chief aims if elected as General would be to encourage the process of renewal which I believed God was 98