Commissioning

What an amazing weekend! I'm so sorry I haven't shared it all with you so much sooner but life just didn't stop after commissioning!... just for the record though, I did actually start writing this on the 13th of December! Since it's now the 23rd (!!), let me re-cap the highlights and share a few photos.

Commissioning weekend really starts on the Thursday before, at College, with Covenant Day. It's an in-house day with the officer staff of the college, the TCs, officers of the cabinet and DCs. The day itself is quite moving by the time you get to the second service of the day (after lunch). The Territorial Commander and Training Principal knelt in front of the mercy seat at a small table facing our session - we were all sitting in a semi-circle facing the platform. As we felt led (either as couples or individually) we came and knelt opposite them and signed our Officer's Covenant:

‘Called by God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name, I dedicate myself to service as an officer of The Salvation Army.

I will seek to love and serve him supremely all my days, to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life, to maintain the doctrines and principles of The Salvation Army, and, by God's grace, to be all that he has called me to be.

Done in the strength of my Saviour, and in the presence of ….’

I'm sure you can imagine the significance of the moment...

Friday was the academic graduation where we received our Diploma of Biblical Studies and Certificate of Officer Training. A fun night this one - a short service with a couple of testimonies, a bit of pomp and circumstance, the cutting of the cake and ultimately another good opportunity to offer all our achievements back to God for His use.

Saturday was our commissioning service. After reciting the doctrines of The Salvation Army (by heart!), we were accepted and officially commissioned by the TC as he gave us back our covenant. Then we all walked off stage to change into our new uniforms (cadets epaulettes are black with red stripes - officers are red with captains having 2 stars). When we marched back in, I was announced as.... (you've been waiting two whole years for this little bit of alliteration to truly come into its own).... Captain Karen! The temptation to salute like superman instead of the Army way was tempting to say the least!!

My blog is now official! I'm not sure I would have made the cut if anyone was listening too closely to our doctrines though, as according to me:

We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ, the divine and human natures are united so that He is truly and properly man and truly and properly... man!!

Well it's not like I could swap the second one to God just because I got it round the wrong way now could I?!!


Sunday was another great day of celebration. The spotlight gets turned over to the second year cadets as they officially received their Out-Training Placements and a number of officers also received recognition in the form of a Long Service Order (30, 35 and 40 years no less!!). An interesting moment for me in more than a few ways was in putting this meeting together (with Sue), as I became aware that if my parents had stayed in the work, they would have been receiving their Long Service Order for 30 years the same weekend I would have been commissioned... and just to prove it I couldn't resist this photo opportunity - and yes those glasses are legit!!...

...and this is really only a snapshot of the weekend! There's lots more that went on in between so check out the photo blog for some more - I'll try and decide which ones out of the hundreds should make the cut!

To all those who managed to make it down (or up!) for the weekend, you've walked a pretty special part of the journey with me. Thank you - for your prayers, for your support and for making it such an awesome weekend. This just isn't something you forget... thanks for being part of the memory.