On Thursday 29 April, 129 commissioners and territorial and command leaders from around the world will descend on the Hamilton Park Conference Center in New Jersey, USA, for the 2004 International Conference of Leaders (ICL), a 10-day event presided over by the General. Such conferences are held on average every three years. The last three were at Atlanta in 2000, Melbourne in 1998 and Hong Kong in 1995.
The group that gathers will be varied. The trend on the Army’s international scene is towards increased diversity and the fact that there will be simultaneous translation into seven languages is evidence of that.
The New Jersey International Conference of Leaders will be an ICL with a difference. Since the last conference in Atlanta the General’s Consultative Council (GCC) has come into being. Ninety-one of the delegates to the ICL are also members of the General’s Consultative Council, which meets four times a year in London, with the General in the chair. Not all members are physically present for these meetings. All the International Headquarters commissioners attend, together with a number of representative territorial leaders – usually eight – a different group each time. But whether physically present or not, all members of the GCC are part of each meeting through the marvels of modern communication.
The agenda and papers are circulated electronically to all members with input being invited, and following the meeting the minutes are shared by email with all members.
These quarterly meetings of the GCC are therefore like ‘mini international conferences of leaders’. And what makes the New Jersey ICL different from its predecessors is that there is now this regular parallel forum of the GCC for dealing with practical and detailed matters. This enables the agenda for the full International Conference of Leaders to major on large themes – the big issues that face the Army. International conferences of this kind usually lead to a series of recommendations for implementation at international and territorial/command level.
General John Larsson reports: 'The theme of the New Jersey ICL will be "Renewal – See I am Doing a New Thing". As an Army we have much to thank God for. He is doing a new thing in our midst. Many opportunities are opening up for the Army. But we also face many challenges. And the conference will be doing some hard thinking about these as it considers strategies for the future.'
The subjects to be considered are grouped under four headings: Mission, Personnel, Resources and Being, and include the following:
Mission
- How to keep The Salvation Army focused on its mission – an Army that sees itself as existing primarily for those outside of it.
- The challenge of world evangelisation. World evangelisation starts on the doorstep of every Army corps and centre – but it extends to the 200 countries of the world.
- The great opportunities of the two-thirds world. Two-thirds of the Christian Church is now to be found in Africa, Asia and Latin America. What is that saying to the Army?
- The challenge of reaching and holding children and youth for Christ, with special emphasis on 2005 – the Year for Children and Youth.
- New trends in reaching out with the gospel to women, and in ministry by and to women.
- The challenge of combating social evils – with focus on human trafficking.
Personnel
- New trends in training for officership. The lifting of the age limit for training and the introduction of individually-tailored training have brought both opportunities and challenges.
- The continuing development of officers – for their present and future roles.
Resources
- The challenge of finding the financial resources that will enable the Army to sustain its mission.
- The opportunities of the new Partners in Mission scheme whereby territories are linked for their mutual benefit for a period of years.
- Prayer. How to encourage prayer so that it becomes an even greater feature of the corporate life of the Army.
Being
- Internationalism. The challenge for the Army of maintaining unity while promoting greater diversity.
- Leadership. The challenge of leadership for today – and for tomorrow.
- Core values. The challenge of retaining the core values of Salvationism for each succeeding generation.
Five sessions will also focus on the world geographically – the particular opportunities and challenges of mission in Africa, the Americas and Caribbean, Europe, South Asia and the South Pacific and East Asia region. There will also be devotional meetings, periods for Bible study and times set aside for prayer, including a prayer concert on the Sunday.
'Every one of us who has the opportunity to attend such conferences knows what a privilege it is,' says the General. 'These international conferences are times of great personal enrichment, times of sharing and learning, times of inspiration and of warm fellowship. They are also occasions for the renewal of our corporate vision for the Army and our personal vision for our own ministry.
'But all delegates also know that they are not there primarily for their own personal renewal. They are there for the renewal of the Army as a whole – and they know that when they think, speak and pray they are bringing before God and the conference the hopes and visions and indeed dreams of 25,000 officers and over a million soldiers. It is a huge responsibility. And making the dreams come true remains the ultimate challenge.
'In a recent letter to the delegates I wrote: "The law of expectation will be at work when it comes to the conference. It will be according to our expectations that we will receive. Let’s therefore expect great things from God – and pray that God will use our time together to bring further renewal to his Army."
'Thank you in anticipation for your faith and prayers and expectations to add to ours.'
