Eva Burrows

General
Eva Evelyn Burrows
AC OF

Eva Burrows at The Salvation Army's Australia Southern Territory Training College
13th General of The Salvation Army
In office
1986–1993
Preceded by Jarl Wahlström
Succeeded by Bramwell Tillsley
Personal details
Born (1929-09-15)15 September 1929
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Died 20 March 2015(2015-03-20) (aged 85)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality Australian
Spouse(s) None
Relations Only living sister from 8 siblings, Margaret Emma Southwell who resides in Melbourne
Children None, many nieces & nephews around Australia
Residence Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Alma mater University of Queensland
Occupation Salvation Army Officer
Religion Christian

General Eva Evelyn Burrows, AC, OF (15 September 1929 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian Salvation Army Officer and was, from 1986 to 1993, the 13th General of the Salvation Army. She served as an Officer of the Salvation Army from 1951 to her retirement in 1993. In 1993 Henry Gariepy released her biography, General of God's Army the Authorized Biography of General Eva Burrows.

Early life

Burrows was born on 15 September 1929 in Newcastle. Her parents, Robert Burrows and Ella, were both Salvation Army Officers. The couple had nine children: Dorothy, Joyce, Beverly, Walter, Robert, Bramwell, Elizabeth, Eva and Margaret.[1] With her parents' itinerant life-style Burrows primary schooling was interrupted, she completed her secondary education at Brisbane State High School, where she was selected as a prefect and Head Girl.[2] From the age of seventeen, Burrows attended the University of Queensland and received her Bachelor of Arts in May 1950 with majors in English and History.[3]

Salvation Army

In 1950 Burrows entered The Salvation Army's International Training College in London.[4] She was commissioned as a Salvation Army Officer in 1951. After studying at London University to be a teacher[5] she served at the Howard Institute in Rhodesia from 1952 to 1967, was Principal of the Usher Institute[6] from 1966 to 1970, and served at the International College for Officers, at The Cedars, Sydenham Hill London, from 1970 to 1975, first as Assistant Principal, then as Principal.

She became the leader of the Salvation Army's Social Services for Women in Great Britain in 1975, and leader of the Salvation Army's work in Sri Lanka in 1977. In 1980 she became leader of the Salvation Army's work in Scotland, followed in 1982 as leader of the Salvation Army's work in the Australian Southern Territory. In 1986 she was elected General of the Salvation Army by the slimmest margin in the history of the High Council (22 to 24 on the fourth ballot, a margin of one person's vote).[7] In 1986, at 56, General Burrows became the organization’s youngest commander. The Australian-born Eva Burrows was the only woman candidate of seven and was elected by the army’s high council to replace the retiring General Karl Wahlstrom. During her seven years as the leader of the Salvation Army – the highest ecclesiastical position held by any woman in the world – she proved highly effective, directing operations in some 90 countries and reawakening the army’s founding spirit of evangelism by leading it back into Eastern Europe after the fall of communism.[8] At the end of her term as General, she was extended a further two years because of her excellent record and achievements.[9]

Burrows continued active salvation warfare, having completed a ten-year post on the Board of the International Bible Society (in 2005), and being the international Champion of the Be A Hero campaign, as well as sitting on the Board of Reference of The Salvation Army War College. She wrote A Field For Exploits: Training Leaders For The Salvation Army.[10]

Death

Burrows was Promoted to Glory on 20 March 2015 at the Coppin Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, aged 85.[11] She was surrounded by loved ones on the day she passed, and two African nurses who were working there sang the Zimbabwe National anthem with her. A third nurse tending to her was from Usher, a school she had been principal of in Rhodesia.[12]

Honours

In the Australia Day Honours of 1986 Burrows was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) with the citation "In recognition of service to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the community and to social justice as the world leader of the Salvation Army".[13] In 1994 it was upgraded to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).[14]

In 1988 she became an Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, and was awarded an Honorary LLD from Asbury University in the USA in 1988. In December 1993, she received an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from her alma mater, the University of Queensland.

On 1 January 2001 Burrows received a Centenary Medal "[f]or service to the Australian community".[15]

On Friday 3 July 2015 (AEST), just three months after her death, General Eva Burrows was awarded the highest honour of the Salvation Army posthumously, the "Order of the Founder" in a ceremony at Boundless, in London which celebrated 150 years of the Salvation Army. The award was received by Commissioner Tidd on behalf of the Burrows family.[16]

Appointments and qualifications

Details Location Date
Soldier, Fortitude Valley, Queensland Australia Eastern Territory
Bachelor of Arts Queensland University 1947–1950
Commissioned as an Officer London, United Kingdom 1951
Post Graduate Certificate of Education University of London, UK 1951-1952
Corps Work British Territory (UK Territory) 1951–1952
Howard Institute Rhodesia 1952–1967
Head of Teacher Training, Howard Institute Rhodesia 1965
Vice-Principal, Howard Institute Rhodesia 1965–1967
Principal, Usher Institute Rhodesia 1967–1970
Assistant Principal, International College for Officers London 1970–1974
Principal, International College for Officers London 1974–1975
Leader of Women's Social Services Great Britain 1975–1977
Territorial Commander Sri Lanka Territory 1977–1979
Territorial Commander Scotland Territory 1979–1982
Territorial Commander Australia Southern Territory 1982–1986
General of The Salvation Army Worldwide 1986–1993
Officer in the Order of Australia Australia 1986
Master of Education Sydney University
Hon. Dr. Liberalium Artium (Dr. of Liberal Arts – DLA) Ewha Womans University, Seoul 1988
Hon. Dr. of Laws (LLD) Asbury College 1988
Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International Worldwide 1990
Hon. DST (Delta Sigma Theta) Houghton College 1992
Hon. Dr. of Divinity (D.D.) Olivet Nazarene University 1993
Hon. Dr. of Philosophy (PhD) Queensland University 1993
Hon. Dr. of the University Griffith University 1994
Companion of the Order of Australia Australia 1994
Living Legacy Award, Women's International Center USA 1996
Board, International Bible Society 1995–2005
Board of Reference, The Salvation Army War College Vancouver & Chicago

[17]

References

General
  • Gariepy, Henry (1993). General of God's Army the Authorized Biography of General Eva Burrows. Wheaton, Ill Victor Books/SP Publications. ISBN 978-1-56476-044-9. [18]
Specific
  1. ↑ Gariepy, (1993). p. 25.
  2. ↑ Gariepy, (1993). p. 35.
  3. ↑ Gariepy, (1993). pp. 35–36, 38, 40–43.
  4. ↑ Interview with Robin Hughes. 26/11/1996. http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/burrows/interview1.html
  5. ↑ Hughes, (1996)
  6. ↑ https://usherhigh.wordpress.com/about
  7. ↑ Henry Gariepy, Christianity in Action: The International History of The Salvation Army (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009) 101.
  8. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11511366/General-Eva-Burrows-Salvation-Army-leader-obituary.html
  9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/world/europe/eva-burrows-salvation-army-leader-dies-at-85.html?_r=0
  10. ↑ http://www.amazon.ca/Field-Exploits-Training-Leaders-Salvation/dp/0854128433/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1385152851&sr=8-1&keywords=%22A+FIELD+FOR+EXPLOITS%22+Burrows
  11. ↑ "Salvation Army leader General Eva Burrows dies, aged 85". Daily Telegraph.com. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  12. ↑ personal witness from her niece, Claire Southwell
  13. ↑ "Search Australian Honours result for Burrows, Eva Evelyn". It's an Honour Australia Celebrating Australians. Australian Government. 26 January 1986. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  14. ↑ "Search Australian Honours result for Burrows, Eva Evelyn". It's an Honour Australia Celebrating Australians. Australian Government. 26 January 1994. Retrieved 31 October 2012. AC For service to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the community and to social justice as the world leader of the Salvation Army.
  15. ↑ "Search Australian Honours result for Burrows, Eva". It's an Honour Australia Celebrating Australians. Australian Government. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 31 October 2012..
  16. ↑ "Former General Honoured During International Congress Founders' Day Session".
  17. ↑ International Heritage Centre – Eva Burrows. salvationarmy.org.uk. Retrieved on 2012-08-20.
  18. ↑ "General of God's Army the Authorized Biography of General Eva Burrows / by Henry Gariepy; Foreword by Billy Graham". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 October 2012.

External links

Religious titles
Preceded by
Jarl Wahlström		 General of The Salvation Army
1986–1993 		Succeeded by
Bramwell Tillsley
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.