A calling without borders

Daryl Crowden’s journey has taken him from church leadership to global humanitarian response, out of The Salvation Army and back again with some electronics sprinkled into the mix for good measure. Speaking to All The World’s Rebecca Parish at The Salvation Army’s Rooted Together conference, he reflects on calling, change and why integrated relief and development work is essential for the future. 

Daryl Crowden’s understanding of ‘mission’ was shaped long before he held any formal leadership role. Born to Salvation Army officer parents, his childhood was spent largely in India where he attended boarding school between the ages of seven and 15 and in Sri Lanka, where his parents served as missionaries for 20 years. 

Those years between six and fifteen framed who I am. My worldview and my core values came from those years.

Born in Australia, Daryl moved to Sri Lanka when he was six and grew up immersed in this South Asian country with its distinct culture and context; an experience that continues to inform how he views humanitarian work today. 

‘I grew up in it,” he says simply. “Those years shaped who I am and why I do what I do.’ 

After returning to Australia, Daryl completed a degree in electronics before entering Salvation Army officer training in 1986 before graduating in 1988. His training session was named ‘Messengers of Peace’. Over the next 24 years, he served as corps officer (local church minister) in seven different appointments across Australia, alongside roles in Sri Lanka, New Zealand and at Salvation Army territorial headquarters. 

For much of that time, local church leadership sat alongside an increasing involvement in disaster response. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami proved pivotal. 

2005, during the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster response

 
‘That was when I really started doing this work — disaster relief and humanitarian stuff. It became the area I felt most strongly drawn to,’ he says. ‘Alongside whatever my appointment was at the time, that’s where my energy was going.’ 

By 2011, Daryl felt he wanted to give everything to humanitarian aid and development. ‘I wanted to do this work full-time,’ he says. ‘And I was told there wasn’t an appointment in that space.’ 

At the same time, he was leading The Salvation Army’s response to the Christchurch earthquake when World Vision approached him about a role in the Middle East. 

If I couldn’t do that work in the Army, then I believed God was calling me to do it elsewhere.

Leaving The Salvation Army was not an easy decision. Some within the movement struggled to understand it.  

‘Some officers felt that I had betrayed the Salvation Army by leaving,’ he says. ‘Some even told my parents that I had forsaken my calling.’ 

Daryl, however, was clear. 

Clockwise from top left: in Rwanda 2007; Philippines 2009; New Zealand 2011; Philippines 2012

‘I never believed I had forsaken my calling. I was fulfilling it; just in a different way.’

Working with World Vision and then Medical Teams International gave Daryl a broader view of faith-based humanitarian practice. Although the organisations were not churches in the traditional sense, faith remained at their epicentre. 

‘There was a lot of scope to express your faith,’ he explains, ‘through relationships, through the work you do, and through things like devotions.’ 

In fact, the experience surprised him. He stresses he had many genuine conversations about Jesus and faith in World Vision and Medical Teams International.  

That external experience also sharpened his thinking around how humanitarian and development organisations work, particularly the need to integrate emergency relief and long-term development. 

Now back with The Salvation Army as an employee, Daryl brings that perspective into his current role as General Manager for Emergency, Aid and Development in Australia. He is convinced that separation between relief and development limits impact. 

From left: Sri Lanka 2013; Equador 2015

The Salvation Army is uniquely created to be a dual-mandated organisation, but we haven’t always done it well.’ 

‘There will always be specialists in both,’ he says, ‘but increasingly we need to design development for sustainability even at the moment we go in to hand out the food parcel or drill the well.’ 

This joined-up approach resonated strongly at the Rooted Together International Development and Relief Conference, where delegates explored unity, connectedness and the future of Salvation Army mission.  

For Daryl, adaptability is non-negotiable. 

From left: Gaza 2015; Gaza 2015; Gaza 2015; South Sudan 2018; Egypt 2023

Being rooted doesn’t mean being static. It means knowing who you are, while being willing to grow.

‘The world is always changing,’ he says. ‘If we don’t move with the times in how we work and how we think then we’ll be less effective.’ 

Having left and returned to The Salvation Army, Daryl believes that outside experience can strengthen, rather than weaken, the global movement. 

‘Sometimes it takes stepping outside to see things clearly,’ he reflects. ‘My calling never changed. The way I lived it did.’ 

As the Rooted Together conference concluded, Daryl’s story offered a personal expression of its central message: staying faithful to mission requires both deep roots and the courage to change.