ample of Jesus and the practice of the Apostles provided all the permission they required to employ women fully in the great Sal- Holy Spirit Interceding vation War. They would not deny to women the freedom to make “full proof of their ministry” in response to the imperious call of (Romans 8:26–27) God laid upon their lives. There was, and is, a world to win—a Ruth Hoppin world of sin and suffering, of brokenness and bondage, waiting for the liberating Word and transforming touch of the Savior’s Flame of far celestial fire, love. Now, as then, is committed to standing lighting every high desire, “shoulder to shoulder”—women and men with a common call- ing and commission to “preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and promised gift of Christ’s ascending, meet human need in His name.”13 Fulfilling that commitment still a heavenly flame descending consistently has never been without its challenges. But fulfill it on each soul with Spirit gifting, we must, lest we lose our legacy and falter in our mission. “The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host” (Psalm 68:11 NASB). we behold the shadows lifting, flame that burns through old divisions— Notes race and gender—blessed visions 1. Catherine Bramwell-Booth, : the Story of Her standing by us, ever pleading. Loves (: Hodder and Stoughton, 1969), 144. 2. , “Ordination of Women,” The Salvation Army Year By the Spirit interceding, Book (London: The Salvation Army International Headquarters, 1959), 8. 3. Catherine Booth, Female Ministry: Women’s Right to Preach the Gospel (Rancho Palos Verdes Calif.: The Salvation Army USA Western scrolls are opened that were sealed, Territory); also included in Terms of Empowerment with essays by Cath- by their hidden words revealed, erine Booth, , and Commissioner Kay Rader, pub- out from dungeons error wrought lished by the USA Eastern Territory and available from CBE at www. equalitydepot.com. liberating truth is brought; 4. Christine Parkin, “A Woman’s Place? (Catherine Booth and Fe- out from prisons of despair, male Ministry)” in Catherine Booth: Her Continuing Relevance, ed. Clif- ford Kew (London: The Salvation Army International Headquarters, hope emerges free and fair. 1990), 19. This collection of essays published by The Salvation Army In- ternational Headquarters in 1990 marks the 100th anniversary of Cath- In word we cannot think or say, erine Booth’s promotion to Glory. 5. Coutts, “Ordination of Women.” And this from Coutts: “Any rigid articulated when we pray, theory of the ministry always shatters itself against the inalienable right of in vistas promising and gleaming God to choose whom he pleases as his messengers.” Parkin, “A Woman’s Place?,” 14. the beautiful and true redeeming, 6. Currently, in the USA Eastern School for Officer Training in Suf- in anthems mute and long forgotten fern, N.Y., the average age of male cadets is 35 and of women 32. In the Cen- tral USA CFOT located in , Ill, the average age is somewhat less. by the Spirit once begotten 7. Harold Hill, “The Salvation Army Officer: A Case Study in Cleri- calization” (Ph.D. diss., Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, music from a distant shore 2004), 223ff. By 1886, the regulation, though less than clear, intimates what later would become policy—that both husbands and wives were we exult to hear once more. expected to share in a common calling and were to be trained and com- We shall know the One who bore us, missioned as officers. 8. The covenant is signed by every cadet in a solemn Service of Cov- faithful intercessor for us. enant at the conclusion of a two-year training program. The text begins, Oh, through dim and dreary skies, “Called by God to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus see the vision crystallize! Christ as an officer of The Salvation Army, I bind myself to Him in this solemn covenant. . . .” 9. Richard Munn, “Salvation Army Married Officer Leadership: For RUTH HOPPIN is author of Priscilla’s Letter: Finding the Au- Such a Time as This” (D.Min. diss., Gordon-Conwell Theological Semi- thor of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Spanish nary, 2004), 96. edition of which will soon be available from 10. Deacons Now: Report of the Working Party Concerned with Wom- Lost Coast Press. Her poems have appeared en in Ordained Ministry 1990 (London: The Advisory Council for the in The Christian Communicator, Review of Lan- Church’s Ministry, 1991), 85. guage and Culture, US Update, Christian Medita- 11. Munn, “Salvation Army Married Officer Leadership,” 96. tion Newsletter, and many other publications. 12. Hill, “The Salvation Army Officer,” 221. 13. From the international mission statement of The Salvation Army. Author photo by John Swanda Fire photo by Dylan McMullin, Freerange Stock Online: http://www.salvationarmy.org.

22 • Priscilla Papers ◆ Vol. 22, No. 3 ◆ Summer 2008