| Post: | General |
| Body: | The Salvation Army |
| Insignia: | The Salvation Army - General.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 50 |
| Insigniacaption: | Rank insignia of General |
| Flag: | Standard of the Salvation Army.svg |
| Flagcaption: | Standard of the Salvation Army |
| Incumbentsince: | 3 August 2023 |
| Department: | The Salvation Army |
| Style: | General |
| Type: | Chief Executive Officer |
| Residence: | London, United Kingdom |
| Appointer: | High Council, |
| Appointer Qualified: | but must be under 68 years old |
| Termlength: | Five years, |
| Termlength Qualified: | 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: | 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.[1] 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.
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.[2] In accordance with the Salvation Army Act 1931, a General must retire at age 68 and may serve as long as seven years.[3] 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).[4]
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.[5] 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.
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.[6] The most recent instance of vacancy was in 2013 when Linda Bond retired unexpectedly; Andre Cox served as acting general.
There are four retired generals living. The most recent general to die was Shaw Clifton on 29 May 2023.
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 Kenneth Hodder, appointed by Peddle, serves as the National Commander of The Salvation Army of the United States.
| Portrait | Name | Term of office | Nationality | Chief of the Staff | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | William Booth | 2 July 1865 | 20 August 1912 † | Bramwell Booth | ||||
| 2 | Bramwell Booth | 21 August 1912 | 13 February 1929 | T. Henry Howard | ||||
| Edward Higgins | ||||||||
| 3 | Edward Higgins | 14 February 1929 | 11 November 1934 | Henry Mapp | ||||
| 4 | Evangeline Booth | 11 November 1934 | 1 November 1939 |  | ||||
| John McMillan | ||||||||
| Alfred G. Cunningham | ||||||||
| 5 | George Carpenter | 1 November 1939 | 21 June 1946 |  | ||||
| Charles Baugh | ||||||||
| 6 | Albert Orsborn | 21 June 1946 | 1 July 1954 | John Allan | ||||
| Edgar Dibden | ||||||||
| 7 | Wilfred Kitching | 1 July 1954 | 23 November 1963 | |||||
| William J. Dray | ||||||||
| Norman F. Duggins | ||||||||
| Erik Wickberg | ||||||||
| 8 | Frederick Coutts | 23 November 1963 | 21 September 1969 | |||||
| 9 | Erik Wickberg | 21 September 1969 | 6 July 1974 |  | Arnold Brown | |||
| 10 | Clarence Wiseman | 6 July 1974 | 5 July 1977 |  | Arthur E. Carr | |||
| 11 | Arnold Brown | 5 July 1977 | 14 December 1981 | | W. Stanley Cottrill | |||
| 12 | Jarl Wahlström | 14 December 1981 | 9 July 1986 |  | ||||
| Caughey Gauntlett | ||||||||
| 13 | Eva Burrows | 9 July 1986 | 9 July 1993 | | ||||
| Ron Cox | ||||||||
| Bramwell Tillsley | ||||||||
| 14 | Bramwell Tillsley | 9 July 1993 | 18 May 1994 | | Earle Maxwell | |||
| 15 | Paul Rader | 23 July 1994 | 23 July 1999 | | ||||
| 16 | John Gowans | 23 July 1999 | 13 November 2002 | John Larsson | ||||
| 17 | John Larsson | 13 November 2002 | 2 April 2006 | | Israel Gaither | |||
| 18 | Shaw Clifton | 2 April 2006 | 2 April 2011 |  | Robin Dunster | |||
| Barry Swanson | ||||||||
| 19 | Linda Bond | 2 April 2011 | 13 June 2013 | | ||||
| Andre Cox | ||||||||
| 20 | André Cox | 3 August 2013 | 3 August 2018 |  | William A. Roberts | |||
| Brian Peddle | ||||||||
| 21 | Brian Peddle | 3 August 2018 | 3 August 2023 | | Lyndon Buckingham | |||
| 22 | Lyndon Buckingham (born 1962) | 3 August 2023 | Incumbent | |||||
Below is a timeline of Salvation Army Generals' terms in office.
DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1865 till:2028TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = 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