Salvation Army

Commissioner John Dunmore Needham was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1924, joining the Salvation Army in 1931.

During his tenure as National Commander, he withdrew the Salvation Army from active membership in the World Council of Churches due to the actions of the Patriotic Front in Zimbabwe, a group that had been supported by the World Council of Churches. The Patriotic Front, Needham said, unleashed guerilla warfare, which resulted in the death of two Salvationists.

Salvation Army Brigadier John Needham spoke to his fellow members and local civic meeting and report of the Army, Monday night in Nansemond County. Needham is divisional commander of Virginia and southern West Virginia, with headquarters in Richmond.

Born in Ilkeston, England, he came to this country in 1924 as the fourth generation of his family to serve as officers in the Salvation Army. His children are fifth generation members, and his new grandson will be the sixth generation. For an organization 100 years old, one can't hope for much more than six generations, he smiled.

Referring to his organization, Needham asked: “What's it all about?”

“The slogan is, meet need at the point of need,” he said. “The Salvation Army is a hand that will lift someone up.”

Coming out of an evangelical setting 100 years ago, it has always been the goal of the Army to help others.

“We're just scratching the surface when it comes to getting down to the real deep human problems … But I do say we've had some success.”

“It started in one man's love for his fellows. This says a lot to me – don't despise anyone's intent to do good works. I think even bad people can do good works sometimes, because God moves them to do so.”

“The thing that moves the Army is the feeling they have a mandate to help others. But we need tools. Money is a tool. Volunteers are tools. Dedication is a tool.”

“William Booth broke with the church in 1865 because he felt he wasn't allowed to speak to the people he wanted to. He wanted to go into the dismal sections of London to help the depressed people there… to let them know there was hope.”

“Booth preached the gospel to these people and they responded. He sent them to the churches, but it didn't work, and they came back to him. So he organized them and it burst forth into other countries.”

Needham explained there were three steps in the evolution of the Salvation Army: first the message, then the Army, and next a social welfare plan.

“If we get away from the people, we're not the Salvation Army. There must be love at the center of it, the desire to lift people up.”

He then told the story of one member who had gone to a famine strickened country, and was asked by someone there what this one person could possibly do when there were so many thousands in need of help.

“Help the one who's closest,” Needham quoted the worker as replying.

“Techniques may change, but the Salvation Army's goal will always be the same – with heart to God and hand to man.

“Every little bit of good is a step back. More good will get us back all the quicker. It is not possible to isolate ourselves in the community. If one man goes down, the whole level goes down. If one man comes up, all come up.”

After an inspection of Salvation Army facilities here, today, Needham will return to Richmond, where he moved Sept. 1, after serving in Atlanta, Ga. six years.

Suffolk News-Herald, January 31, 1967

John D. Needham, national commander of the Salvation Army, died of cancer yesterday at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, N.J. He was 65 years old and lived in Cedar Grove, N.J.

Mr. Needham, who represented the fourth generation of his family to serve in the Salvation Army, held the title of commissioner. The other commissioners in the national organization are commanders of the Salvation Army's four territories in the United States.

Mr. Needham had been national commander since January 1982, succeeding Ernest E. Holz, who retired. From January 1980 until he was named national commander in the United States, he served in London as commander of the British Territory.

Joined Organization in 1931.

Mr. Needham was born in England, where the Salvation Army was founded in 1865, and came to the United States with his Salvation Army parents in 1924. Following the family tradition, which is being carried on by his children, he joined the Salvation Army in 1931. He and his wife, Florence, were commissioned officers while serving in Atlanta in 1939.

As national commander, with headquarters in Verona, N.J., Mr. Needham directed Salvation Army activities in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Mr. Needham, an ordained minister, as are all officers of the Salvation Army, served at posts in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean Territory and at the organization's international headquarters in London.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Needham is survived by three sons, all in the Salvation Army: Philip, of Charlotte, N.C. a major; John, of Athens, Ga., a captain, of Alpharetta, Ga., who holds the layman's rank of corps sergeant major; a daughter, the Rev. Miriam Needham of Atlanta, and seven grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday at the Salvation Army Temple Corps in Atlanta.

• John Needham, 65, Of Salvation Army archived here on May 24, 2015
• John Needham, the top ranking leader of the Salvation...
• Blast from the past "National Commander on '60 Minutes'" archived here on March 20, 2023
• 'Mandate to Help Others' Motivates Salvation Army
• Find a Grave