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Fenton speaks for session –
The following is excerpted from the Preparers of the Way session speaker Cadet Thomas Fenton’s commencement address.
The question is before us…are the Preparers of the Way ready to take the field of battle? The answer is that by God’s grace we have learned enough to recognize that we have not learned enough. None of us is completely prepared for what lies ahead.
It is this very fact that leads me to conclude that we can expect great things from the Preparers of the Way, because while we are not ready, we are willing and by his great strength we will be faithful! If the school has taught us nothing else—and they have taught us much—we have learned that a willing and faithful soldier in the hands of a loving and all-powerful God can change the world.
These are historic and wonderful days to be in The Salvation Army. This Army is on the march and on the move—and today the Preparers of the Way ask you: As the flag is waved and the band plays on, who will join us? Many of you have stood behind us in training, and now on the eve of our commissioning into the great salvation war I ask—who is willing to march by our sides?
Will you stand and show a united army with a common commitment, saying, “I will help prepare the way?” “I will rise up and prepare the way in prayer”—“I will step up and help prepare the way in loving community”—“I will take a stand and commit to do my part in preparing the way in serving others.” Who will stand side by side with these soon to be commissioned officers?
Look around you—we look ready. We’re ready to do battle, ready to serve, ready to lay down our lives for the glory of his Kingdom—so help us God.