PRESS RELEASE
Commissioner Linda Bond Named New World Leader of
The Salvation Army
February 1, 2011 – The Salvation Army has a new world leader: Commissioner Linda Bond.
Commissioner Bond, 64, will lead more than 1 million Salvation Army church members and 100,000 employees in 123 countries. She has 42 years experience of Christian ministry and leadership and is the third woman to hold the post of General during The Salvation Army’s 146-year history.
Commissioner Bond, originally from Canada, currently heads up The Salvation Army’s work in the Australian Eastern Territory. She was elected by The High Council of The Salvation Army this week in England. She will have the title General-elect until she succeeds the current world leader, General Shaw Clifton, who retires at the beginning of April.
“I love the Lord Jesus Christ and pledge my utmost obedience to him,” Commissioner Bond said. “I am absolutely committed to a life of praise and thanksgiving to God. We, The Salvation Army, need to be an Army of praise and thanksgiving to God and we must place our trust in God. We need His Holy Spirit to come mightily on The Salvation Army.”
Commissioner Bond has led The Salvation Army’s work across Eastern Australia since 2008. This includes the recently devastated state of Queensland, where The Salvation Army continues to be heavily involved in assisting victims of widespread flooding.
Prior to her new appointment, the Commissioner worked at Salvation Army International Headquarters (IHQ) in London as the Secretary for Spiritual Life Development and International External Relations. She has spent her career in local corps (church) ministry, on the staff of Salvation Army national and regional (divisional) headquarters and as part of the training staff for new officers in her home territory of Canada and Bermuda. She also served as leader of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda.
During the past five years under the leadership of General Shaw Clifton, the work of The Salvation Army has expanded into 12 new countries. During his term, General Clifton established the Salvation Army’s New York-based International Social Justice Commission, and the Army’s Centre for Spiritual Life Development in London. The General and his wife, Commissioner Helen Clifton, have also actively worked to aid the plight of struggling women and children around the world, including mobilizing The Salvation Army in a concerted effort against human trafficking.
