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The War Cry | MARCH 2015
GENERAL'S CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL
D
elegates to the
46th meeting of
the General's
Consultative
Council (GCC), under the
chairmanship of the Chief
of the Staff, Commissioner
William A. Roberts, moved
to the discussion program
of the accountability and impact measurement
topics: child protection, finance, governance
and impact measurement.
As the delegates represented the five
international Salvation Army zones, so the
working groups also reflected the cultural
diversity of the worldwide Army. This led to
meaningful and important discussions in
which the significant and realistic opportuni-
ties and challenges of implementing the
proposed initiatives across
the Army world were shared.
In keeping with the Gen-
eral's accountability move-
ment, Commissioner William
Cochrane, International Sec-
retary to the Chief of the
Staff, chaired a reminder
presentation, during which
the Army's international positional state-
ments on corruption and the use of power
were reviewed. The exercise gave the interna-
tional delegates an opportunity to reflect on the
importance of these statements and consider
how they have been implemented and received
within their territories and commands. This pre-
sentation was a poignant reminder of the Gen-
eral's personal commitment to accountability.
-- Report by Major John P. Murray, IHQ
46th General's Consultative Council Concludes with
Renewed Commitment to Accountability & Reform
For an update on
Boundless International
Bible Reading visit:
www.boundless2015.org
Number of
Born-Again
Christians Trending
Slightly Upward
H
ow many Americans are evan-
gelical Christians? How many
are born-again Christians? In a
March 2013 blog post on Patheos, Bradley
Wright analyzed data from the General
Social Survey (GSS), a project of the inde-
pendent research organization NORC at
the University of Chicago. The data shows
that evangelical Christianity has remained
roughly at its 40-year average; in 2013,
23 to 24 percent of Americans affiliated
with an evangelical church or denomina-
tion. Born-again Christianity has trended
slightly upward. Wright plotted the data
on the graph at right. Wright also plotted
the percentage of people with a born-
again experience in the four main
Christian traditions in the United States.
You can read the original article
at http://bit.do/bornagaintrends.
BY THE NUMBERS
From Monkey
Bars to Ministry
W
hen I became a Christian at age eight,
I went to school the next day eager to
share my faith. I sang to my best friend
while hanging on the monkey bars: "I'm going to
hea-ven and you're no-ot!" Since that early faux pas,
I've honed my testimony-sharing skills a bit, and I've
learned that attitude is everything if I want to please
the Lord and enjoy my relationship with Him. I made
that discovery when a close friend nearly landed in jail.
Several years ago, my friend Roger* was falsely
accused of a crime and arrested. A sensitive, honest
soul, Roger had never once gotten in trouble with
the law. After weeks of earnest prayer, the judge
reduced his sentence from jail time to community
service. I was so grateful that I wept as I praised
the Lord for this miracle. I'd like to do something
to show my thanks
, I thought.
I decided to visit a nearby nursing home once
a week on my lunch break. I brought yarn to one
of the patients who crocheted, ice cream bars to
the nurses' aids and smiles to those were sad and
lonely. These visits were a joy. I was ministering to the
Lord by loving a few of His lambs. It was a tangible
way I could say thank you to Jesus for rescuing Roger.
Before, I had thought of acts of service, like
teaching Bible classes or leading worship, as work-
ing for the Lord, rather than ministering to Jesus.
I considered my activities either spiritual or secular.
But Jesus says, "Whatever you've done for one of
the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you
did for Me" (Matthew 25:40). Now, I've changed my
view to match His. I see these acts of service as
ways to worship and minister to the Lord.
-- Jeanette Levellie, Paris, Illinois
*name has been changed
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
60%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
How Many Americans Evangelical
Christians & Born-Again Christians
----
Evangelical Christians
----
Born-Again Christians
Evangelical
Mainline
Black Protestant
Catholic
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
77%
33%
67%
21%
Born-Again Experience
by Christian Tradition