|PIC1|The Salvation Army has announced that its new International leader, and 18th General will be current UK leader, Commissioner Shaw Clifton.

The announcement came after Clifton was elected by the High Council of The Salvation Army, which is made up of senior Salvation Army leaders from across the world, last week in Sunbury-on-Thames.

Current leader General John Larsson will step down from his position when he retires in April 2006. The move will now see Commissioner Clifton become head of the international evangelical church, which has 1.5 million members in 111 countries across the globe.

Commissioner Clifton will become the General-elect and will be the ninth British General of the Salvation Army.

Previous to his current position as the head of the UK and Republic of Ireland, Clifton used to be in charge of Salvation Army work in New Zealand and Fiji and prior to that in Pakistan.

|AD|During his Christian ministry, Clifton has also led work for the Salvation Army in Massachusetts, USA, and before that he was a regional commander in the Durham and Tees area of the UK.

Commissioner Clifton has also served as Vice-Principal of a Salvation Army secondary school in the former Rhodesia and has held several appointments, both in the UK and at The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters, including the position of Legal and Parliamentary Secretary.

Commissioner Clifton is a Bachelor of Law graduate and holds a Bachelor of Divinity and a PhD in the History of Religion from the University of London.

Speaking just after his election Commissioner Clifton said, “I feel deeply honoured to be called by God to this role in global Christian leadership. The Salvation Army, as ever, stands ready to present the Christian message in 111 countries of the world and will never cease to do all it can to meet human need, without discrimination, whether that need be poverty, lack of education, human trafficking, homelessness or alienation from society.

"The need grow and grows but God’s people rely on His inspiration to remain relevant and practical to the peoples of the world?”