Third Session of Salvation Army-Roman Catholic Informal Conversations

The third session of the current series of Informal Conversations between the Salvation Army and the Catholic Church took place at the Salvation Army’s International College for Officers at Sunbury Court near London, United Kingdom, from 22 to 25 November 2024. Following the first set of conversations from 2007 to 2012, the general theme for the current series of conversations is ‘Discipleship for Mission’. The previous meeting in the current series took place in Rome in November 2023.

The theme for this year’s meeting was Re-imagining the communication of the Gospel. Four papers were presented, two from Catholic theologians and two from Salvation Army theologians. These papers formed the basis for the conversations. The first pair of papers focused on receptive ecumenism, the need for conversion and formation at all levels in the church for growth into the full stature of Christ. The second pair of papers focused on current efforts towards reform and renewal for mission in each of the traditions – Compass, the Salvation Army’s Global Strategic Framework and the Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality.

On Sunday 24 November, the members of the conversations group were warmly welcomed to the Sunday service at the Salvation Army church in Staines, Surrey. The conversations group was particularly honoured that on Monday 25 November, General Lyndon Buckingham, the worldwide leader of the Salvation Army, visited and participated in all of the morning’s conversations.

The next meeting of the Informal Conversations group will take place in Rome in November 2025, on the theme, Formation of the people of God for listening to the Spirit in our times.

Participants:

From the Salvation Army:

Commissioner Jane Paone (Co-Chair), United Kingdom
Lieut. Colonel Nick Coke, United Kingdom
Lieut. Colonel Andrew Morgan, Rome
Colonel Bishow Samhika, United Kingdom
Lieut. Colonel Karen Shakespeare, United Kingdom
Colonel Ian Swan, United States of America

From the Catholic Church:

Bishop Brendan Leahy (Co-Chair), Ireland
Revd Martin Browne OSB, DPCU, Rome
Prof. Meghan Clark, United States of America
Bishop Paul Hendricks, United Kingdom
Archbishop Flavio Pace, DPCU, Rome
Dr Antonia Pizzey, Australia