John Gowans
John Gowans was the sixteenth
General of the
Salvation Army from 1999-2002, succeeding General
Paul Rader. He is also notable for pairing with General
John Larsson in the composition of many songs and musicals.
John Gowans was born in
Blantyre, Scotland, on
13 November 1934, the third of five children. His parents were
Salvation Army officers.
At 18, he undertook compulsory military service, with future plans to train for the teaching profession. He eventually decided to join Her Majesty's Army, where John's first choice was the Army Catering Corps. However, the military personnel recommend he join the Royal Army Educational Corps. He then spent his two years of national service in
Germany.
In 1954, John Gowans entered the Salvation Army International Training College (Soulwinners Session). There he met his wife Gisèle Bonhotal who, herself, was a qualified children's nurse. She was
French by birth and her parents, like John's, were both Salvation Army officers. The couple were married in
Paris in 1957 and have two sons John-Marc and Christophe.
Beginning in 1967 Gowans demonstrated his writing capacity when, with
John Larsson, co-authored ten full-length stage musicals. These were
Take-Over Bid (1967),
Hosea (1969),
Jesus Folk (1972),
Spirit (1973),
Glory (1975),
White Rose (1977),
The Blood Of The Lamb (1978),
Son Of Man (1983),
Man Mark II (1985), and
The Meeting (1990).
He has also written three books of prayer poems under the title of
O Lord! and an autobiography,
There's a Boy Here ...John and Gisèle served in different corps in the British Territory over a period of 16 years. John was then appointed National Stewardship Secretary, while Gisèle combined her role as organiser of the International Youth Fellowship with work in one of the Army's
London maternity homes.
After a period as divisional leaders in
Manchester, UK, Lieut-Colonel John Gowans became Chief Secretary (2nd in charge) of the
France Territory. He was then appointed to
Los Angeles in the USA Western Territory where he served as Secretary for Programme.
After serving as leaders of the Southern
California Division the couple returned to France in 1986 as leaders of that territory. Seven years later they were appointed Territorial Leaders of the
Australia Eastern and
Papua New Guinea Territory, which included responsibility for the work of the Army in New South Wales, Queensland and the Australia Capital Territory.
In 1997, Commissioner John Gowans took command of the
United KingdomTerritory with the
Republic of Ireland.
On
15 May 1999, John Gowans was elected the 16th General of The Salvation Army and took office on
23 July 1999, with Commissioner Gisèle Gowans as World President of Women's Organisations.
When Gowans retired in 2002, his earlier musical partner John Larsson succeeded him as the next General. [
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Salvation Army biography
