The Salvation Army international headquarters is launching a new website dedicated to the office of the General on 1 February 2007.
The website will offer visitors information about General Shaw Clifton and his ministry, including news reports and photographs of his travels and activities. Articles from various sources will also be available.
“Through www.salvationarmy.org/thegeneral the pastoral role of the Army’s international leaders will be supported and its reach broadened, using methods appropriate to our times,” said The Salvation Army.
The news emerges alongside plans for March 2007 when General Shaw Clifton initiates a huge step forward in mass communications within The Salvation Army, a move which will strengthen the pastoral role of the office of the General.
More than 120 years and 17 Generals after the first Salvation Army General – William Booth – advances in technology have now made it possible for the General to communicate directly and virtually instantaneously with his “soldiers”, wherever in the world they are. General Clifton intends to do that through periodic Pastoral Letters which will be distributed electronically.
During the Lenten period leading to Easter, the General will write the first such Pastoral Letter which will be sent to every soldier, anywhere in the world, reports the international HQ.
The Pastoral Letter will also be published on the new web page dedicated to the office of the General, enabling Salvationists to read it on screen or print it out.
To meet the needs of soldiers without access to electronic communications the Pastoral Letters will also be distributed in ways appropriate to local circumstances.
The letters, which offer spiritual guidance reflecting the General’s pastoral role as the Army’s international leader, will be published in a number of languages. The intention is that every soldier will have access to a copy in a language he or she understands. The letters will be published several times a year.
