Commissioner Helen Clifton Promoted to Glory

It is with a deep sense of loss that we announce that Commissioner Helen Clifton, former World President for Women’s Ministries, was promoted to Glory at 9:20 pm on Tuesday 14 June from London, England.

The Commissioner served as Territorial President of Women’s Ministries for the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory from 2002 to 2004. She was diagnosed with cancer last year, and entered retirement with her husband from International Headquarters on 2 April this year.

Commissioner Clifton was at St Christopher’s Hospice in South London at the time of her promotion to Glory. General Shaw Clifton (Rtd), former international leader of The Salvation Army, was at her bedside.

General Clifton (Rtd) paid tribute to his wife at the couple’s ‘retirement salute’ in London on 22 January. He said, ‘There are no words to encompass what Helen means to me. We have loved each other since she was only 14 years old. She married me when she was 19, and four years later, we became cadets together. We were commissioned together, served on five continents together and now we retire together. We are in the hands of Almighty God whose hands are safe and loving in every circumstance.’

Please remember General Clifton (Rtd) and family in prayer during these sad days of great loss. Please pray for the Cliftons’ daughter, Captain Jenny Collings of Browns Bay Corps (in Auckland), as well as Jenny’s husband Captain Marcus Collings, and their two boys at this time.
 
The Salvation Army around the world thanks God for the life and faithful ministry of Commissioner Helen Clifton.