History Symposium to feature more international speakers than ever before
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
This year’s Salvation Army History Symposium is set to feature speakers from across the world. With papers to examine the theme, ‘You can’t have a future if you don’t have a past’.
The symposium, co-hosted by The Salvation Army Corps in Ipswich, Queensland, The Salvation Army Historical Society-Brisbane Chapter and The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, will run from Friday 6 September to Sunday 8 September. It will feature 17 presenters from Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea and the United States.
Salvation Army Historical Society of Brisbane President and historian Garth Hentzschel said taking the chance to look at the past was an important step towards a more informed future. He said that, too often, decisions in the world were made based on ideologies or future prospects rather than education on past realities.
“History is all about [an] evidence base,” he said. “[So] if we can actually pick up from things in the past, then we will better understand how we go into the future. You can’t have a future if you don’t have a past. I think too often we run to the future and then wonder why things haven’t worked out.”
Garth said this year’s discussions would include looking at how to decide which kinds of heroes should be upheld, the construction of Salvation Army buildings and houses of worship throughout the decades and a history of trends and decline in The Salvation Army.
“There’s a gamut of topics and [of] research that’s been done,” Garth said.
Major Jason Swain, a corps officer from Northeast Kentucky, United States, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s event. He will present a keynote address with the same title as his 2021 book, Under Two Flags: The Rise, Rebellion and Rebuilding of The Salvation Army in America 1870-1913. Jason was also a monthly history columnist with The War Cry (US version) from 2018 to 2021.
Before 6 September, there are also several pre-symposium events. These include a Zoom presentation on Publishing History with special guests Dr David Bennett, Major Jason Swain and Helen Brown, meetings with Major Jason Swain at Salvation Army centres in Carina and Riverview, Queensland on Sunday 1 September, a Zoom presentation on history’s impact on an individual’s life and spiritual development on Wednesday 4 September and heritage walks on Friday 6 September.
For more information on the event, see here.
