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Four members installed at board’s second meeting.
The Salvation Army Western Territory held its second meeting of the new Territorial Advisory Board (TAB) Feb. 23 at Territorial Headquarters in Long Beach, California. Launched in October 2017, the board includes business and community leaders who support the Army’s mission and are willing to participate in the territory’s decision-making process.
During the meeting, Territorial Commander Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder installed four members: Michelle Kerrick, Holly Wagner, Doug Coates and Dick Hagerty.
Referencing Psalm 93:3-4, Hodder opened the meeting with a few words about the Army’s mission.
“Just as the power of the sea can change all it touches, so the power of God can change men and women,” Hodder said. “Making that change possible is the Army’s mission…The meetings of the Territorial Advisory Board are therefore focused on that goal.”
He also quoted from Shakespeare—Ariel’s song in the Tempest about a “sea change”—noting that in The Salvation Army, “We plunge them beneath the waves of God’s mercy, and they are changed forever.”
As Hodder prepared to install the board members, he recalled Salvation Army Founder William Booth’s comments after he observed men sleeping under a bridge in London’s East End in the late 1880s.
Booth asked his son, “Did you know that men are sleeping under the bridge?”
When his son said he did know that, Booth responded, “Go out and do something about it!”
“That’s what we’re asking you to do,” Hodder told the board members. “Help us to do something about the problems facing us… We need your expertise and support.”
The TAB comprises a variety of vocations.
Board member Michelle Kerrick is the Managing Partner of Deloitte’s Los Angeles practice, which handles audits for The Salvation Army. She has stepped away from performing audits to avoid a conflict of interest. Kerrick was honored as “Executive of the Year” by the Los Angeles Business Journal at the “Women Making a Difference Awards” ceremony.
Holly Wagner and her husband, Philip, are the Pastors of Oasis Church in Los Angeles, a growing church known for its diverse fellowship. Passionate about empowering women, she has reached thousands worldwide through Oasis’s women’s ministry, She Rises. Her books include “Find Your Brave,” “WarriorChicks,” “Love Works” and “Awakened.”
Doug Coates, from Phoenix, is CEO and Principal of MICP Capital, an advisory group that focuses on mergers and acquisitions in the transportation, logistics and supply chain space. He is an innovator in international and domestic transportation and logistics.
An ordained Baptist deacon, Dick Hagerty currently serves as Mission Commission Elder at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Modesto, California. He has been a CPA, a real estate broker, a general contractor and a pilot. A longtime friend of The Salvation Army, he also serves on its National Advisory Board.
Other members present at the meeting were Phil Cooke and Rick Osgood; Terri A. Haack and Jason Howard were unable to attend.
The TAB meets three times a year. Each meeting focuses on one strategic issue facing The Salvation Army Western Territory. Board members are invited to share impressions and make non-binding recommendations to territorial administration. In this meeting, the board considered issues relevant to communications.
“I can tell you that, based upon the first two meetings, this is going to be an extremely helpful body, and I am excited by the possibilities that it holds for the future,” Hodder said.
Board members concur.
“The TAB looks so very promising,” Hagerty said. “Commissioner is really onto something with his approach and enthusiasm.”
Hodder announced the next meeting for June, and Territorial President of Women’s Ministries Commissioner Jolene K. Hodder closed the meeting in prayer.
