Salvation Army Holds First International Congress Outside Britain in Atlanta, Georgia

Some 136 years after Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s army left Atlanta charred, the city is hosting another gathering of a different kind. This week more than 20,000 soldiers and officers of The Salvation Army are meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center and Philips Arena for the first International Congress of the Salvation Army to be held outside its headquarters in Great Britain. The army, which was founded in London by Gen. William Booth and his wife, Catherine, now numbers about 1 million members in 107 countries.

Musicians from the army’s brass bands have been performing around the city. The Hendon Band of London, one of the army’s premier brass bands, played to a lunchtime crowd at the CNN Center. Its program included the old hymn “This Is My Story” and a medley called “The Gowans and Larson Overture, Too,” drawn from the 10 musicals written by the army’s present leader, Gen. John Gowans, and his second-in-command, John Larson.

Speaking at the Marriott Marquis on behalf of the metro Atlanta army, Gowans focused his remarks on the women of the Salvation Army. He quoted founder Booth, who reportedly said, “Some of my best men are women.” Gowans also described the musical partnership with Larson with a joke, saying, “He’s Sullivan. I’m definitely Gilbert.”

Gowans said the congress gives army personnel a chance to celebrate and to refocus on the basics of their faith, and he called the event itself a “miracle.” The Salvation Army in wealthier parts of the world helps subsidize or fully fund travel for people from impoverished areas so they can attend. “It’s a good investment,” Gowans said. “If the Salvationists go home with a clearer idea of what they’re doing and a better idea of how to do it, the whole world benefits.”

Among the delegates is Lt. Col. Amos Makina, 52, who is leading a contingent of 150 Salvationists from Zimbabwe. Makina grew up in a non-Christian family and went to live with his uncle, a Salvation Army soldier, at age 12. He says he was drawn in by the music. He is now executive chaplain of 50 Territorial Songsters from Africa, who will perform at various congress events.

The congress is also a family event for Capt. Hildegard Anthun Orsnes, a social worker from Bergen, Norway, who served several years in the Caribbean. She is attending with her husband, their two children, her parents and her mother-in-law. Orsnes greeted people in German, French, Norwegian, English and French Creole during the event. “Here, you really experience the Salvation Army as an international organization,” she said. “Whether you are from a tiny church in Haiti or a big place like Atlanta, this feels like family.”

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