PART 1 OF 2
The founding of The Salvation Army in 1865 can be traced to the streets of East London when 36-year old Methodist, William Booth, abandoned the traditional church pulpit, and preached God’s word directly to those that were not particularly welcomed by the established churches. He stood in front of the Blind Beggar Pub,
preaching to the people assembled on the Mile End Road in East London, trying to save the souls of the unconverted. Booths' dogma was John Wesley's Arminian theology of “free salvation for all men and full salvation from all sin.”
The Christian Mission (1865-1878)
William Booth then conducted ‘the first of nine Sunday evening meetings in an ancient tent lit by naphtha flares and pitched on a disused Quaker burial ground.’ And each Sunday a larger number of the collective motley company gathered on the hard, backless benches, professed conversion. From that 9-week campaign a movement was born. Such was the zeal of the small band of missioners. God was at work in East London; the uprising was not of man.
The Booths founded the Christian Revival Association, an independent religious association, and which became known as the East London Christian Mission, to encourage both social and spiritual transformation among society’s most vulnerable and marginalised people. The Booths founded an independent religious association, named the East London Christian Mission, organised after the Wesleyan tradition. William Booth and his wife Catherine adopted the idea of militant, aggressive Christianity. They believed that autocratic leadership was more effective in spreading evangelisation to uneducated and unchurched working-class masses than traditional forms of pastoral care. In 1870, William Booth assumed the position General Superintendent of the Christian Mission and became “the undisputed leader of the organization.”operating as a charitable religious movement, one of some 500 Christian missions established in the East London slum areas. Booth’s mission soon began to distinguish itself by its unconventional social work, setting a number of mission stations across East London. The Mission recruited and trained men and women transformed by the grace of God to engage in a war, a holy war. A new and effective army of volunteers had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to fight the battles of the Lord.
Men and Women wanted for Perilous Commitment
To emulate the fighting spirit of William Booth
Zero earthly reward - Zero status – Hard work
long months burning the midnight oil, riches doubtful
Heavenly home in case of success
JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER,
HOMELESSNESS, HOPELESSNESS,
POVERTY, ABUSE, AND ADDICTION
TODAY
A meeting of the principal mission leaders was called for in 1877, and this was addressed by the General Superintendent on ‘The constitution and future of the Mission’.
Now the Mission began to break out of its swathing bands. Elijah Cadman, the one-time sweep and prize-fighter who had been converted at Rugby, took up his first station at Hackney. James Dowdle was 'fiddling through the streets of Bradford' (wrote Bramwell Booth) and John Lawley was one of his many converts. In March 1878 two women evangelistsNwere appointed to Felling on Tyne….. telegram after telegram brought me word that no buildings could contain the people who came to hear the Hallelujah Lasses . . . So my end was gained and I was satisfied….
The decisive change was nearer than perhaps was realised. Early in May 1878 the annual printed report of The Christian Mission was being prepared. Across the foot of the title page ran a quotation from A. C. Tait, then Archbishop of Canterbury.
I believe that the only way we shall ever be able, in the enormous population of this ever-growing country, to maintain the cause of our Lord and Master, is to welcome every volunteerwho is willing to assist the regular forces; and to arm, so far as we can, the whole population in the cause of Jesus Christ.
Now by eastern as well as western windows, by northern as well as southern, the land looked bright. The year had seen an increase of twenty-one stations, of fifty-seven evangelists and of over thirteen hundred members. Still a Gideon's army, maybe. A total of fifty stations, eighty-eight evangelists and four thousand four hundred members was not a multitude — but it was an army on the march.
One commentator was to describe the alteration in name as fortuitous. If it was, William Booth altered better than he knew. The Christian Mission was now in deed and truth an Army of Salvation. No word is more biblical than salvation, and no army richer in resources than a detachment of the army of the living God. The dozen years between the change of name and the promotion to Glory of Catherine Booth were to be among the most eventful in the life of the Movement. Eventful years because crowded years — so crowded that growth in Britain has to be considered apart from extensions overseas; internal developments separate from external hostility; the maintenance of the work of evangelism distinct from the social services initiated.
The bedrock fact upon which all else was built was the spread of the work in the home country. For every Christian Mission station in Britain in 1878, there were twenty Salvation Army corps in 1886. For every evangelist in 1878, there were twenty-five commissioned officers in 1886. In short, by 1886 there were just over a thousand corps in Great Britain and over twice that number of officers.
The country had to admit, almost against its will, that a new and effective army had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to fight the battles of the Lord. The scoffers might scoff — the Punch of that day among them — but more serious people looked for a serious explanation. The Contemporary Review for August 1882 invited a rising star in the Anglican firmament, Randall Davidson, then resident chaplain at Lambeth, to say what these things meant. His explanation was fourfold – (1) that nothing succeeds like success; (2) that this new movement put its converts to work without delay; (3) that the personal testimony of those converts was an effective method of evangelism; and (4) that preaching and teaching were given in the language of the people. The country had to admit, almost against its will, that a new and effective army had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to fight the battles of the Lord. Randall Davidson was right with his last three observations; the first overlooks those years when The Christian Mission was fighting for its very life.[3] The converts referred to by Randall Davidson, were counselled by those mission ‘elders’, the Armenian inspired missioners, constituting the makeup of the budding holiness movement missions. They strongly defended Christ’s virgin birth, miracles, and bodily resurrection, insisting additionally, that Christ’s suffering and death were an atonement for the punishment of these new ‘believers.’ The most effective evangelists are new Christians, witnessing to the simple reality of their conversion and faith, that God loves each of us unconditionally.
The decisive change was nearer than perhaps was realised. Early in May 1878 the annual printed report of The Christian Mission was being prepared. Across the foot of the title page ran a quotation from A. C. Tait, then Archbishop of Canterbury.
I believe that the only way we shall ever be able, in the enormous population of this ever-growing country, to maintain the cause of our Lord and Master, is to welcome every volunteer who is willing to assist the regular forces; and to arm, so far as we can, the whole population in the cause of Jesus Christ.
At the top of the page ran:
THE CHRISTIAN MISSION under the superintendence of the Rev William Booth is a Volunteer army....
This was the document awaiting the attention of William Booth. When Booth dictated policy directives to his secretary George Scott Railton, he used a phrase “The Christian Mission is a Volunteer Army.” His teenage son Bramwell heard it and said: “Volunteer, I’m not a volunteer, I’m a regular or nothing!” This prompted William Booth to substitute the word “Salvation Army” for the “Volunteer Army,” which became the new name of the Christian Mission. So ‘volunteer’ was crossed out and above it was written ‘salvation’. The change of name appeared for the first time in the text of the editorial page of The Christian Mission Magazine for September 1878.
One commentator was to describe the alteration in name as fortuitous. If it was, William booth altered better than he knew. The Christian Mission was now in deed and truth an Army of Salvation. No word is more biblical than salvation, and no army richer in resources than a detachment of the army of the living God.
The last of the Christian Mission conferences, held in August, 1878, adopted unanimously the new military programme of the Salvation Army. William Booth and his wife Catherine adhered to the idea of militant, combative even aggressive Christianity*, and they believed that autocratic leadership was more effective in spreading evangelisation to uneducated and un-churched working-class masses than traditional forms of pastoral care. By 1878, the year of the mission’s name change to The Salvation Army, it had grown to 30 stations and 36 ‘missioners’ in various locations across the United Kingdom, created in the midst of the working-class communities. The evangelical missionary practice focused on transforming the culture and social setting, through its spread of the salvation message and to feed and shelter the destitute. The Salvation Army was a neighborhood religion. It invented a battle plan that was especially suited to urban working-class geography and cultural life.
The Salvation Army developed a new militaristic structure, image and conduct. Members wore distinctive quasi-military uniforms Uniform, modelled on Victorian military garb adopted ranks ranging from “Cadet recruit” (a recruit for ministry), through to the highest, “ General” vested in William Booth. In the 1880s, the Army began to establish its battle-mission stations all over Britain called “corps.” Rank-and-file members were called “soldiers” and new converts were “captives.” Salvationists used military vocabulary to describe their religious practices. For example, revival meetings were “sieges,” places of worhip were “citadels” or “outposts,” daily Bible readings were called “rations.” Birth was referred to as the “arrival of reinforcements, ” and death was “promotion to glory”. These military metaphors seemed to be more appealing to the masses than traditional preaching. The first flag of the Salvation Army, was designed and presented the year of the name change by Catherine Booth, to Coventry Corps. Initially, it was crimson with a navy-blue border, which symbolised holiness, and a yellow sun in the middle, which was later replaced by a star, that signified the fiery baptism with the Holy Ghost. The motto written on the star, 'Blood and Fire', stands for the blood of Christ and the Fire of the Holy Ghost. According to a contemporary estimate, at the close of the year 1878 the Salvation Army had 81 corps and 127 officers, of whom 101 had been converted at its own meetings. (Briggs 700) Thanks to these transformations the Salvation Army became stronger, better organised and more effective. The Army's unconventional evangelistic and social activity, which was manifested by lively processions with banners, cornets and tambourines, appealed to the working-classes more than traditional preaching. As Robert Roberts wrote in The Classic Slum: ‘The Salvation Army came often into the streets of Salford. One stood grateful for the burst of glory and hated the silence as it flowed back.’ Life in this, and many a similar, setting was poor, nasty, brutish and short. Into this unrelieved drabness came an Army whose flag was woven of primary colours – yellow, red and blue, and surmounted by the sacred symbol of their faith. baring Gould’s refrain:
Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the Cross of Jesus going on before
These were no longer a couple of lines in a hymnbook. They expressed a present and powerful reality and scores of lives were thereby given a new meaning and found a new purpose. before William James ever coined the phrase, here was the moral equivalent for war. This was the good fight of faith which injured none but could bring happiness to all.
The Salvation Army was a neighborhood religion. It invented a battle plan that was especially suited to urban working-class geography and cultural life. Religious words were sung to music-hall tunes; circus posters and theater announcements were copied so closely that observers often failed to distinguish them; preachers imitated the idiom of street vendors; and congregations were encouraged to shout out responses to the preacher, much as they might in the music halls. Salvationists culled techniques from contemporary advertising and revivalism. Their military language aptly expressed Salvationists' command to do battle with the enemy. The Army regarded pubs, music halls, sports, and betting as its principal rivals, yet its ability to use popular leisure activities as its inspiration was a major facet in its success.
The bedrock fact upon which all else was built was the spread of the work in the home country. For every Christian Mission station in Britain in 1878, there were 20 Salvation Army corps in 1886. For every evangelist in 1878, there were 25 commissioned officers in 1886.
This newly established Army gained a wide hearing because these new Christians, now uniformed, were ordinary men and women speaking to their peers.
‘How could these un-ordained exhorters expect to be listened to and be convincing? The majority of Anglican clergy were still drawn from upper-middle-class homes. On an average two out of every three had been to Oxford or Cambridge – and the church mostly preferred it that way. Samuel Wilberforce, by this time bishop of Winchester, would have none of the idea that the lower classes might furnish the best clergy to minister to their own kind. It was well known that this new self-styled ‘General’ himself spoke with a provincial accent. Could anything better be expected from his followers? That many an early-day Salvation Army Captain lacked academic polish is not disputed…. not a few of these same officers possessed native gifts, and were blessed with Christian graces, which made them the natural leaders not only of their equals but of some of their intellectual superiors as well. Their military language aptly expressed Salvationists' command to do battle with the enemy. The Army regarded pubs, music halls, sports, and betting as its principal rivals, yet its ability to use popular leisure activities as its inspiration was a major facet in its success. [Walker 2]
The popularity of the Christian Mission was growing steadily and by 1878 it had 30 stations and 36 missioners in various locations across the United Kingdom. As Pamela J. Walker has written,
The Christian Mission was part of a broad evangelical missionary effort to reach the urban working class. Its theology drew on Methodism, American revivalism, and the holiness movement. William Booth's open air preaching was similar to the work that had been done by evangelicals for decades. The Mission, however, differed from other home missions. The authority it granted women, its emphasis on holiness theology and revivalist methods, its growing independence, and its strict hierarchical structure were all features that sharply distinguished it from its contemporaries. The Christian Mission was created in the midst of the working-class communities fashioned an evangelical practice from the geography and culture of the working-class communities it strived to convert.
William Booth and his wife Catherine adhered to the idea of militant or aggressive Christianity, and they believed that autocratic leadership was more effective in spreading evangelisation to uneducated and unchurched working-class masses than traditional forms of pastoral care. In 1870, William Booth assumed the position General Superintendent of the Christian Mission and became “the undisputed leader of the organization.” (Bennett 45) The popularity of the Christian Mission was growing steadily, particularly outside London, in spite of difficulties and opposition, and by 1878 it had 30 stations and 36 missioners in various locations across the United Kingdom. As Pamela J. Walker has written,
The Christian Mission was part of a broad evangelical missionary effort to reach the urban working class. Its theology drew on Methodism, American revivalism, and the holiness movement. William Booth's open air preaching was similar to the work that had been done by evangelicals for decades. The Mission, however, differed from other home missions. The authority it granted women, its emphasis on holiness theology and revivalist methods, its growing independence, and its strict hierarchical structure were all features that sharply distinguished it from its contemporaries….
The very nature of the buildings where Army meetings were held told in the Army’s favour. So the disadvantages which William booth suffered from the nature of the properties he was able to secure worked to his advantage. It was a blessing in disguise that The Salvation Army’s place of worship in Ancoats was a disused music hall, in Millwall a former cowshed, in Blackburn the top floor of a warehouse, in Leeds the boar Lane circus, in Coventry a factory, in York a former skating rink and in St Ives a sail loft. Owen Chadwick summed up the existing situation when he wrote: ‘Few could get the poor into church. but it was discovered that the poor would listen in great numbers provided they were not asked to enter a church.’ So the disadvantages which William Booth suffered from the nature of the properties he was able to secure worked to his advantage…. These settings were so plainly unecclesiastical as to free the irreligious man from his deep-seated inhibitions about entering a place of worship.... In the year after the change of name The Secular Review sent a reporter to the people’s Hall in the Whitechapel Road, and his impressions deserve to be quoted at length: before the service begins, we follow the orthodox course of looking around …. In nearly every face there is a subdued and chastened expression, which may partly, perhaps, be ascribed to religious emotion, but which we are confident is mainly the creation of penury (poverty). We have seen this look too often – in England, Ireland, Scotland and America – ever to fail to recognise it.... We know it to be the mark which the world and its trials seldom fail to set upon the countenances of the poor.... These Salvationists are in earnest – plain, vulgar, down- right, most unfashionably earnest....
The converted, though still semi-literate labourer, slowly spelling out in his recently acquired copy of the New Testament: ‘Unto Him that loved us... and hath made us kings and priests unto God...’felt himself lifted to a station and clothed with a dignity he had never known before. A king and priest! Then he would behave like such, even though he still lived in a slum. The theological content of the phrase was doubtless not fully understood by him. but he sensed its practical implications…. He was dear to God. That fact was enough to set a man firmly on his feet. “Choose that employment or calling … in which you may be most serviceable to God. Choose not that in which you may be most rich or honourable in the world.”
While speaking especially for the East London Christian Mission, we propose - that Christ and Him crucified be held as the only ground of a sinner's hope here and hereafter. In doing this we propose rcpcnting monthly those Revival Facts and Incidents which are of public in- terest, gathering up from various sources of information the movements of those brethren whose labours arc most owned of God, describing those outpourings of the Holy Spirit which, through mercy, arc constantly taking place, and thus presenting a brief Monthly Report of Revival and Evangelistic Work throughout the World.
