Messengers of Grace welcomed at Eva Burrows College
Messengers of Grace welcomed at Eva Burrows College
11 February 2019
The Messengers of Grace were officially welcomed at Eva Burrows College, in Melbourne, on Sunday. From left to right: Official Flag Bearer Cadet Beth Shao (Hurstville, NSW), Commissioner Floyd Tidd, Cadet Apprentice Daniel Wayman (Ballarat Corps, Vic), Cadet Graham Kennedy (Torquay Corps, Vic), Cadet Sarah Walker (Wollongong, NSW), Cadet Apprentice Ben Maxwell (Camberwell, Vic), Cadet Bethany Baillie (Eastern Beaches Corps, NSW), Cadet BJ Baillie (Eastern Beaches Corps, NSW), Cadet Apprentice Andrea Wayman (Ballarat Corps, Vic), Cadet Wayne Collyer (Moreland City Corps, Vic) Commissioner Tracey Tidd, Cadet Daniel Jang (Belmore Corps, NSW), Cadet Anna Kim (Belmore Corps, NSW).
Eleven cadets from across Australia and New Zealand have been welcomed as the Messengers of Grace, in a ceremony at Eva Burrows College in Melbourne.
Captain Matt Reeve introducing the session which included Cadet Beth Shao (Hurstville, NSW), Cadet Apprentices Andrea and Daniel Wayman (Ballarat Corps, Vic), Cadet Graham Kennedy (Torquay Corps, Vic), Cadet Sarah Walker (Wollongong, NSW), Cadet Apprentice Ben Maxwell (Camberwell, Vic), Cadets Bethany and BJ Baillie (Eastern Beaches Corps, NSW), Cadet Wayne Collyer (Moreland City Corps, Vic) and Cadets Daniel Jang and Anna Kim (Belmore Corps, NSW).
About 150 people gathered on the college green to fellowship and celebrate the session, which will spend the next two years preparing for officership through the college’s Training Formation Stream under Captain Richard Parker, Leader of Officer Formation.
In presenting the sessional flag, Territorial Commander, Commissioner Floyd Tidd, commended the cadets for being a representation of a “new thing” in the Australia Territory of The Salvation Army.
“We give thanks to God for the lives responding to his call," he said. "We give thanks for those he continues to bring to this point as they explore and develop each talent that God has given them to fulfil their calling.”
Commissioner Tracey Tidd then brought a message from the Bible passage found in Samuel 3, speaking of the importance of obeying God’s call on our lives, and encouraging the cadets to persist when they experienced challenges.
“Messengers of Grace, God did not call you to training college, it’s just a step in the journey ... A place and a time to prepare yourself for that which God has called you to do and where he will lead you from here,”she said.
This theme of obedience was echoed by the cadets as they anticipated their training and life-long ministry as Salvation Army officers.
“I’m here today to be part of different; to be part of change and to be part of new," said Cadet BJ Baillie.
Cadet Apprentice Andrea Wayman spoke about her decision to pursue officership following her and husband Daniel’s time as envoys and youth secretaries in Queensland.
“This is the next step for us ... our hope is that we learn about our relationship together in ministry and how to build relationships with our corps family and also our peers,”she said.
The Messengers of Grace are the first session to be welcomed under the new training structure at Eva Burrows College.
“Moving to a national structure means we need to look at different ways and models of training,” said Captain Parker.
“The groundwork has been done with the new four modes of training (cadet residential, apprentice, intern and specialist) and it’s time to test the modes and find ways of training that fit with a national structure.”
It is envisaged that the Messengers of Grace will be commissioned over a range of years as the Officer Formation Stream moves away from the traditional two-year training model.
Read more about The Salvation Army's different pathways to officership.
Comments
Please explain what the different modes of officer trainees are. I can guess the first one but would like to know what the other three are.
cadet residential, apprentice, intern and specialist)