General Lyndon Buckingham took office as the 22nd General of The Salvation Army (world leader of The Salvation Army) on August 3, 2023. He and his wife, Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham, were commissioned as officers in 1990. 

PEER: How did you come to know the Lord? 

General Lyndon Buckingham: You know, it’s an interesting story, and it comes in two parts. When I was about six or seven years of age, I was with my parents at a congress, and the preacher issued an invitation at the end of his sermon and said, “If anybody would like to meet Jesus, come down to the front.” I got up out of my seat, and I went down to the front to meet Jesus. I went and knelt at the mercy seat, and in my young mind, I was absolutely convinced that I was about to meet Jesus.

I felt an arm come around my shoulder. I got quite excited. Then this person started speaking to me, “Lyndon, God bless you.” And I thought to myself, “Jesus sounds like my Uncle Wes.” Then I had to have a look. And I had a look, and it wasn’t Jesus. It was my Uncle Wes. And I have to tell you that in that moment, there was a real disappointment in my heart because in my young mind, I thought I was actually going to meet Jesus. But the person I met was my Uncle Wes. I was confused and disappointed. I later became a junior soldier. I played in the junior band. I sang in the singing company. My parents were officers. I became a cultural Salvationist. I was doing all this stuff. But in the back of my mind, there was this kind of disappointment and doubt. It’s not that I didn’t believe. I just kind of lost interest. I was going through the motions.

When I was 17, I attended a youth councils, and it was in the Sunday meeting of that youth councils that boom, just like that, God made himself real to me. And I suddenly became aware that God was revealing to me the depth of His love, the depth of His concern, the depths of His passion for me as an individual; that this good news was good news for me; that it was [good news] for me personally. I can only describe it as just an incredibly emotional experience. I found myself at the mercy seat. I don’t even remember going there. I kind of found myself there, full of gratitude, full of joy, full of repentance. I was kind of crying and laughing at the same time. And I felt like the presence of God was coming alive in me. 

P: What enabled you to keep and grow in your faith as a young person?

GLB: The reality of that experience of [meeting Jesus] became undeniable in my life. So, if there were moments in my maturing years of doubt, disappointment, or frustration, that experience was an undeniable experience. I had to track my current feelings, frustrations or temptations through the reality of that experience. Also, I would credit the discipline of staying connected to a community of faith and not connected on the fringe, but in it all, allowing people to speak into my life; also, being committed to reading the Word and understanding what it’s saying to me in terms of my life. Some of those disciplines of the faith God definitely used to sustain me. 

Peer: What’s something that you wish every young adult in the Salvation Army knew?

GLB: The passion of my heart is that every young person in the Salvation Army and indeed on the planet would know in their heads and hearts just how important they are to the Creator of the universe. I just wish kids would know that He has made incredible overtures towards all of us, and most intimately in the person of Jesus Christ, to help us to understand how for us He really is. If every young person could have an understanding of the extent of God’s love and interest for them, that leads to an inquisitiveness about the nature of that relationship and how He might want to use me going forward. Right? That understanding that God has a plan, purpose, dreams and ideas about you and what you can accomplish on the planet, I would want young people within the Army to know that and that He has a vision for the people of God on the planet and that The Salvation Army provides a beautiful platform to give expression to that. 

Peer: What would you say to those who are worrying about the future?

GLB: There is a growing uncertainty on the planet right now. You know, wars, greed, selfishness and misuse of power, challenges to morality and fidelity — there’s a lot to be concerned about on the planet. There’s no doubt about that. It can become incredibly distracting to young people. Some people just throw in the towel. What’s the point? Things are going to pot anyway, so why should I worry? There are others who just become completely despondent about the state of the world. And whilst I understand it, I think against the backdrop of that is that for the people of God, our faith and our hope are living, they’re real and they’re based on the promises of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ who invites us to not listen to the noise of the world but to engage in the work that He’s doing on the planet, which is redemption, reconciliation, new life, transformation, hope, grace and love. These tools bring about change. So, for a young person to have hope in this day, I would say get on with being the people of God on the planet and not only will you experience hope yourself, but you’ll be a hope bearer to others and to your own generation. Whilst it might appear dark, there is a beautiful opportunity for all of us, regardless of our age, to bring light onto the planet, to bring hope onto the planet. If you spend whatever days the Lord’s going to allow you doing that, you won’t be disappointed.