Countdown to the 2023 High Council

Three quarters of 2023 High Council members have not previously been part of a High Council.

We can all support the members of High Council through prayer. You may like to use the Praying for Leaders resource to guide your prayers.

To be elected as the next General, a candidate needs the vote of more than two thirds of High Council members. After three ballots this is reduced to more than 50% of members.

See A Guide to a High Council for more information on the council's membership and processes.

Major Esther Munkombwe, Under Secretary for Africa (Personnel) at International Headquarters, shares a prayer for the High Council.

The Africa Zone includes 16 territories and one region.

In 1929 Salvation Army leaders met "with all secrecy of a papal conclave" for the very first High Council.

Watch the delegates arriving at Sunbury Court in this film from British Pathé: Salvation Army High Council (1929)

Captain Daria Bessmolnaya, Divisional Project Officer - Ukraine, shares her thoughts on the upcoming High Council.

The 2023 High Council takes place in May, with 112 Salvation Army officers summoned to attend.

The 2023 High Council is made up of 112 Salvation Army leaders, including:

• Active commissioners who are territorial commanders or who hold an international or national headquarters or territorial leadership appointment (excluding the spouse of the General)
• Territorial commanders with the rank of colonel
• Territorial leaders with the rank of colonel

See the full list of High Council members.

The election of the next General is a task for both the heart and the head. Not only for the members of the High Council, but for us as a global church as we support them in prayer and in our encouraging conversations.

Retired General John Larsson wrote:

‘As voting time draws near, a sense of guidance, flowing from the Holy Spirit’s presence, possesses the delegates’ minds and hearts. St Augustine’s famous saying that ‘without God we cannot, but without us God will not’ applies also to the task of a High Council. Those taking part in an exercise of spiritual discernment must apply their minds as well as their hearts to the task before them.’

Major Meaghan Gallagher, Assistant Under Secretary for South Pacific and East Asia at International Headquarters, shares a prayer for the High Council.

One of the first tasks of the High Council is to elect a President, a Vice-President and a Chaplain.

The President, with assistance from the Vice-President, takes over leadership of the High Council from the Chief of the Staff. The Chaplain's role is to arrange worship meetings and times of prayer.

See A Guide to a High Council for more information on the council's membership and processes.

Retired General John Larsson wrote:

‘Having the making of a General depends on a mix of factors that are almost impossible to define. These have to do with qualities of heart, mind, and spirit, with giftedness and ability for the task, and with experience and achievements.

'As the High Council cannot meld their best qualities into a single perfect candidate who has everything, it finds itself having to make a choice between people with very different gifts – but who each has the potential to be General.’

Let’s bring our hearts and minds together today and ask ourselves what qualities we wish to see in the next General, and to speak Jesus’ life over the future of his or her life.

After agreeing Orders of Procedure and completing any Committee of the Whole discussions, the High Council moves on to nominations.

Every member of the High Council can nominate someone as a candidate for General, and any active Salvation Army officer can be nominated. Any officer who receives three or more nominations can choose to become a candidate.

Candidates then have time to respond to the questions from the High Council and to prepare their speeches. Questions usually cover a candidate’s vision for The Salvation Army, their approach to leadership and their thinking on belief and practice.

Find out more in A Guide to a High Council.

Captain Christopher Macwan, Assistant Under Secretary for South Asia at International Headquarters, shares a prayer for the High Council.

The South Asia Zone includes nine territories and one region.

Major Ionel Sandu, Divisional Leader for Romania, shares his thoughts on the upcoming High Council.

Join Salvationists from all around the world at the Welcome to the 2023 High Council on Saturday 20 May. Book a free ticket to attend the event in London or join us online to watch the livestream.

Extracts from some of the election speeches given by candidates who later became Generals. Read more in Retired General John Larsson's book Inside a High Council.

If you had to give a speech about your life to serve God’s Kingdom, what would that be? How can you inspire others?

Each council member votes in turn, going to one of the private voting rooms to mark their ballot paper. Members vote for a single candidate.

When a new General has been elected, the doors of Sunbury Court are opened and the President announces the new General-elect. The news is livestreamed around the world. Watch live at sar.my/highcouncil.

General Albert Orsborn shares his thoughts with us in his book, ‘The House of my Pilgrimage’:

‘Only a conviction that I must accept nomination, carried me forward. In my life I have heard a great deal about people receiving absolute divine guidance and assurance in coming to decisions. I cannot truly say things have gone like that with me. Often, it has seemed that God drove me back upon my own knowledge of the facts, and upon my own willingness to take a decision, and step out of faith.’

Have you ever felt connected to what he said?

We want to encourage you to pray for these moments inside the 2023 High Council. For the members and the nominees, we are aware it’s a time where God’s guidance is needed. Pray for encouragement, wisdom, and conviction to take the right decisions.

Thanks to Colonel Geoff Webb for reading this reflection.

Every High Council is free to decide how it will go about its business, as long as it adheres to everything set out in the Schedule 4 of the Salvation Army Act (1980).

In practice, each High Council usually adapts the Orders of Procedure from the previous council, agreeing any changes needed.

This freedom has both disadvantages and advantages. A disadvantage is that until a High Council meets and a President is elected it does not exist. Of necessity the Chief of the Staff must make practical arrangements, but there is no one the General or anyone else can talk to beforehand. This makes the kind of creative in-depth thinking about the way a High Council functions that might be undertaken in advance challenging. Once a High Council has convened, the time pressure is too great for it to stand back and take a philosophical overview of how it functions.

Source: Inside a High Council by John Larsson

Lieut-Colonel Judith Schultz, Under Secretary for Europe at International Headquarters, shares a prayer for the High Council.

The Europe Zone includes 13 territories.

We hope you have been encouraged to pray for the 2023 High Council. You can let the council members know how you are praying for them by sharing your prayer here or by using #PrayForHighCouncil on social media.

The history of the High Council is very important for The Salvation Army. We have seen in previous posts the importance of praying for the election of the next General, for wisdom and direction for the members of the High Council. We have seen the intentions of their hearts and the thoughts of previous Generals through the speeches. 

Let us not forget this is an opportunity for fellowship, whether you attend the Welcome to the 2023 High Council and Farewell to the General and Commissioner Rosalie Peddle or follow updates online. It’s a time of global union.

Colonel Stuart Evans, Assistant Chief Secretary in The Netherlands, Czech Republic and Slovakia Territory, shares his thoughts on the upcoming High Council.

Salvationists and supporters all around the world are praying for the 2023 High Council. Share your prayer here: Pray for High Council.

Captain Sergio Garcia, Under Secretary for the Americas and Caribbean at International Headquarters, shares a prayer for the High Council.

The Americas and Caribbean Zone includes 11 territories.

Our faithful, all-knowing God hears the prayers of his people when we pray full of faith.

Download A Guide to Praying for the 2023 High Council for creative ways to pray personally, in small groups and as a church family.

Where does the High Council meet? Who can be nominated as a candidate for General? How does the election work?

Find the answers in A Guide to a High Council, available to download in seven languages.

Watch live from 3.30pm UTC+1: sar.my/welcome.

Wherever you are in the world, join us for the official welcome to the 2023 High Council on Saturday 20 May.

Featuring the International Staff Band and Songsters, African Praise Zimbabwe and Konverse Dance Crews, the event is an opportunity to worship together and pray for the upcoming High Council.