COMMISSIONERS WILL AND KATHLEEN PRATT

Commissioner and Mrs. Pratt come to the leadership of the Canada and Bermuda Territory from the U.S.A. Western Territory where they have been territorial leaders since June 1982.

Mrs. Commissioner Will Pratt Born in England to Salvation Army corps officer parents, Commissioner Pratt is the youngest of four children, all of whom became Salvation Army officers. Moving with his parents on their appointment from British city to city, he received his education at several schools, latterly at Dover County School. In that town, in 1940, just 21 miles from the French coast, his father was killed while on duty in the Army hall during an air raid. He was the first Army officer to be promoted to Glory in Britain through enemy action in the Second World War.

Service aboard two Royal Navy destroyers and at a naval station in Egypt preceded Will Pratt's entry in 1946 to the lnternational (William Booth Memorial) Training College in London. A year later he was appointed as cadet-sergeant, specializing in young people's training. In 1948 he was a lieutenant in charge of the Army's evangelism in an English naval shipyard town.

Sixteen years of editorial work followed, including appointment as assistant editor of the international edition of The War Cry, with a weekly circulation of nearly 250,000, then as editor of The Musician, a weekly newspaper of interest to Salvation Army musicians throughout the world. Overseas reporting took him on a 12-week tour of the Far East, accompanying the Army's seventh international leader, General Wilfred Kitching.

Commissioner Pratt recorded his impressions in a missionary review entitled, Tell Them in the East. As well, his basic documentation led to the production of three 30-minute Salvation Army films: Blood of the Martyr, Angel with a Bush Beard and Miracle of Medicine.

The commissioner served as a member of the lnternational Staff Band for 11 years which included a coast-to-coast tour of the United States.

Three months before The Salvation Army's 1965 international centennial celebrations in London, England, Will Pratt was appointed director of information services at lnternational Headquarters. For seven years he was the Army's official spokesman in London, collaborating in the production of numerous TV, film and radio documentaries and frequently representing the Army in press, radio and TV interviews.

He initiated the first of several 13-week, 30-minute Sunday morning radio programs broadcast throughout Britain and in Europe, presenting incisive gospel messages. He was one of four broadcasters selected by the British Broadcasting Corporation to present a weekly topical religious radio message. The series ran for 18 months.

While serving in lnternational Headquarters administrative posts, the commissioner engaged in evangelical and community work in a tough area of South London, organizing a youth club and training boys in Christian music-making.

In May 1975, he was appointed secretary for public relations at lnternational Headquarters, succeeding the then Colonel Lawrence Smith, whose footsteps he followed a second time in January 1978, when appointed as chief secretary of the U.S.A. Western Territory.

Three years later he returned to London as chief secretary of the British Territory before succeeding Commissioner Lawrence Smith for yet a third time as territorial commander, U.S.A, Western Territory before being appointed to Canada.

In November 1949 the then Lieutenant Will Pratt and Lieutenant Kathleen Frances Lyons were married.

Mrs. Pratt's grandparents were pioneer officers in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and commenced the first prison-gate work for released prisoners there. The families of both her parents have long Salvationist traditions. Before becoming an officer, Mrs. Pratt was a secretary to a well-known London business company. After cadet-training at the lnternational Training College, she held appointments in two corps before marriage.