General André Cox (born 12 July 1954) is the former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) and 20th

General of The Salvation Army General is the title of the international leader and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Salvation Army, a Christian denomination with extensive charitable social services that gives quasi-military rank to its ministers (who are therefore known ...

. He was commissioned as an

Officer in The Salvation Army An officer in The Salvation Army is a Salvationist who is an ordained minister of the Christian faith, but who fulfills many other roles not usually filled by clergy of other denominations. They do so having been trained, ordained and commissione ...

on 25 May 1979. He was elected to the position of General by the 18th

High Council of The Salvation Army The High Council of The Salvation Army elects a new General in the event of a vacancy or prior to the retirement of the existing office holder. It can also remove a General who can no longer fulfill their duties. It is made up of the Chief of th ...

on 3 August 2013 and retired on 3 August 2018; he was succeeded by

Brian Peddle General Brian Peddle (born 8 August 1957) is the CEO and 21st General of The Salvation Army since 3 August 2018. He was formerly the 26th Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army from 1 November 2015 until 3 August 2018 under General André Cox. ...

. He was the

Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army The Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army is a Commissioner appointed by the General of The Salvation Army as the second in command internationally. The Chief of the Staff is stationed at International Headquarters in London. The office of C ...

from 1 February 2013 to 3 August 2013. In the wake of the unexpected retirement of General

Linda Bond Linda Bond (born 22 June 1946) is a former General of the Salvation Army; she was the 19th person to hold the position. She was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. After international service and various promotions, she held the post of ...

in June 2013, Cox fulfilled the duties of General as Acting General for about two months until his actual election. Born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

, today

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, to an English father and Swiss mother, Cox spent his childhood years in Southern Rhodesia and the United Kingdom, before moving to Switzerland where he met and married Silvia Cox (''née'' Volet), who was born to Swiss parents in Argentina.

Officership

Cox was commissioned as a

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

officer on 25 May 1979 and spent the early years of his ministry as a corps officer in Switzerland. In 2005, Cox was appointed as the territorial commander of The Salvation Army's work in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

; a post he held until he took command of the Southern Africa Territory in October 2008. Cox and his wife Silvia spent four years as leaders of the Salvation Army’s Southern Africa Territory, which includes work in the countries of South Africa,

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, the Islands of

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

and

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

. They then served for 6 months as the territorial leaders of the United Kingdom with Ireland Territory. When he took up his appointment as

, Cox followed in the footsteps of his father, Commissioner Ron Cox, who served as the Chief of the Staff from 1987 to 1991. On 13 June 2013, when General

unexpectedly retired from the position of General of the Salvation Army, Cox became Acting General of The Salvation Army. The

met on 29 July 2013 to begin the process of electing a new General. On 31 July 2013 Cox was nominated by the High Council as a candidate for the 20th General of The Salvation Army, and on 3 August 2013 was elected General of The Salvation Army. Cox retired on 3 August 2018. He was succeeded by

Appointments

Retirement

In February 2018, Cox announced his retirement with effect on 3 August 2018. Cox, following the form of several of his predecessors, will have been General for exactly five years. The

chose

as Cox's successor in May 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Andre Living people Salvation Army officers People from Harare English Salvationists English people of Swiss descent White Rhodesian people Zimbabwean people of English descent 1954 births