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

General
Eva Burrows
Eva Burrows at The Salvation Army's Australia Southern Territory Training College
13th General of The Salvation Army
In office
9 July 1986 – 9 July 1993
ChiefCaughey Gauntlett
Ron A. Cox
Bramwell Tillsley
Preceded byJarl Wahlström
Succeeded byBramwell Tillsley
Personal details
Born(1929-09-15)15 September 1929
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Died20 March 2015(2015-03-20) (aged 85)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
ResidenceMelbourne
Alma materUniversity of Queensland
OccupationSalvation Army Officer

Early life

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Burrows was born on 15 September 1929 in Newcastle. Her parents, Robert John Guthrie Burrows and Ella Maria Watson Burrows, were both Salvation Army Officers. The couple had nine children: Dorothy, Joyce, Beverly, Walter, Robert, Bramwell, Elizabeth, Eva and Margaret.[1] Because of her parents' itinerant lifestyle, Burrows' primary schooling was interrupted, but 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

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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.[citation needed]

Burrows 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, Burrows became the organization’s youngest commander. Burrows was the only woman of seven candidates and was elected by the army’s high council to replace the retiring General, Jarl Wahlström. During her seven years as the leader of the Salvation Army, 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, she was extended a further two years because of her record and achievements.[9]

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

Death

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Burrows died aged 85 on 20 March 2015[11] at the Coppin Centre in Melbourne, Victoria.[12]

Honours

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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, Burrows 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.[citation needed]

On 1 January 2001, Burrows received a Centenary Medal "[f]or service to the Australian community".[15] In the same year she was also inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.[citation needed]

Burrows was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in 2012.[16][17]

On Friday 3 July 2015 (AEST), three months after her death, 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.[18]

Appointments and qualifications

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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 of 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 United States 1996
Board, International Bible Society 1995–2005
Board of Reference, The Salvation Army War College Vancouver & Chicago

[19]

References

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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.[20]

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 November 1996. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/australian-biography-eva-burrows
  5. ^ Hughes, (1996)
  6. ^ "About Us". 7 January 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  7. ^ Henry Gariepy, Christianity in Action: The International History of The Salvation Army (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009) 101.
  8. ^ "General Eva Burrows, Salvation Army leader - obituary". 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  9. ^ Roberts, Sam (24 March 2015). "Eva Burrows, Salvation Army's 'People's General,' Dies at 85". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  10. ^ Archived copy. ASIN 0854128433.
  11. ^ Lillebuen, Steve (21 March 2015). "Salvation Army retired General Eva Burrows remembered as 'the People's General'". The Age. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Salvation Army leader General Eva Burrows dies, aged 85". Daily Telegraph.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Search Australian Honours result for Burrows, Eva Evelyn". It's an Honour Australia Celebrating Australians. Australian Government. 26 January 1986. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. 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. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. 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. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2012..
  16. ^ "Hall of Fame". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. State Library of Queensland. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame | General (Rtd) Eva Burrows AC (1929 – 2015)". leaders.slq.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  18. ^ "Former General Honoured During International Congress Founders' Day Session". Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  19. ^ International Heritage Centre – Eva Burrows Archived 25 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. salvationarmy.org.uk. Retrieved on 20 August 2012.
  20. ^ "General of God's Army the Authorized Biography of General Eva Burrows / by Henry Gariepy; Foreword by Billy Graham". National Library of Australia. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
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Religious titles
Preceded by General of The Salvation Army
1986–1993
Succeeded by