High Council of The Salvation Army

The High Council of The Salvation Army is the governing body made up of the Chief of the Staff, all active (non retired) Commissioners, except the spouse of the General, and all active Territorial Commanders, that votes in a new General when the job is vacant. They can also remove a General when he or she can no longer fulfill their duties.

History

The High Council was established by William Booth in 1904. It originally could only remove a General if the General could no longer fulfill the duties of office. Then the Chief of the Staff could call in the Commissioners to vote on the issue, and if they found that the General was not up to the job, then the General would choose his successor. Only one General was chosen by the previous General, and that was the 2nd General of The Salvation Army, Bramwell Booth, who was selected by William Booth to succeed him upon his death in 1912.

Related Topics:
William Booth - 1904 - Bramwell Booth - 1912

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In November 1928, General Bramwell Booth was away from International Headquarters for several months due to illness. He was asked to resign, but refused. On January 8, 1929, the High Council got together for the first time and voted 55 to 8 to depose the 73 year old ill General.

Related Topics:
1928 - January 8 - 1929

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When they voted him out of office, General Booth took his case to courts, and this lost him a great deal of respect. The Proceedings were further held up by the death of Lieut-Commissioner William J. Haines, Vice-President of the High Council, who collapsed during deliberations of the court hearings and died 45 minutes later.

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After over 2 months of deliberations, the courts ruled in favour of the High Council. The High Council got together on February 13, 1929, and elected General Booth's Chief of the Staff Edward Higgins as the new General of The Salvation Army. This marked the first time that the General was elected.

Related Topics:
February 13 - 1929 - Edward Higgins

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In 1931, the High Council agreed to no longer allow the General to choose his or her successor, fixed an age limit for the retirement of the General (age 70), and created a trustee company to hold the properties and other capital assets of The Salvation Army instead of the sole trusteeship of the General. This was passed into law by the British Parliament later that year.

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High Councils have since been held in 1934, 1939, 1946, 1954, 1963, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2002 to elect a new general.

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