A General in Salvation’s Army
While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight; while little children go hungry, I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight—while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God—I’ll fight! I’ll fight to the very end!
William Booth, final speech to the Salvation Army, May 9, 1912
Those born in poverty often go to extremes to get out. William Booth went to extremes to stay in.
This is not to say that Booth enjoyed poverty. Growing up in Nottingham, England, in a poor home and doing his best to help the family finances by being a pawnbroker’s apprentice, Booth knew poverty firsthand. He was surrounded by it.
Changing Times
Late nineteenth-century England was in the midst of dramatic change. Like much of the Western world, its society was transitioning from an agricultural to an industrial age. Jobs could only be found in the city, not on the farm, and many moved into London hoping to improve their lot. But those that could not find work found poverty instead. The inner-city population began to swell, especially in the East End. Poverty expanded rapidly. Children went hungry; people died in the streets.
The government was at a loss to help, mired in red tape. Sadly, so was the Church of England, which was operating as if the world hadn’t changed. The Church of England was ill-prepared to deal with the issues at hand, needing more parishes and more clergy to handle the load, both of which required an act of Parliament. The Methodists, although they contributed good work to the cause, were primarily a middle-class church, and their reach into impoverished communities was minimal. The poor were falling through the cracks. William Booth would later write a book, In Darkest England and the Way Out (1890), in which he drew parallels between the Africa described by David Livingston and England. The book states that in a single year 2,157 people were found dead, 2,297 had committed suicide, 30,000 were practicing prostitution, 160,000 had been convicted of drunkenness, and over 900,000 were designated paupers. Bleak.
It was in this environment that Booth decided to conduct his ministry.
The Beginning
Booth’s parents were not religious, but at age fifteen, a year after his father died, he was taken to a Wesleyan chapel where he made a commitment to Christ. In his diary he wrote, “God shall have all there is of William Booth.” Those were more than the dreamy words of a teenager. Booth would spend his life in ministry. In a second event, he attended a revival service featuring an American preacher. He saw what a well-crafted approach to preaching could do, became a student of the practices of revivalist Charles Finney, and put that knowledge to use.
His first work was in street preaching. He and some friends took the gospel message to the people rather than waiting for the people to come to church. He used instruments and popular styles of music to gain interest. This brought him criticism. For a time, Booth served as pastor of a Methodist church, but it was a poor fit. He returned to work in East London. In 1855, he met and married Catherine Mumford, a powerhouse in her own right. Much of Booth’s success in ministry is due to her support, diligence, and preaching.
The thin-framed man with long, untrimmed beard formed his own mission society to reach the “heathen masses.” After a time it stalled, so he made changes. In 1878, he changed the name of the group to the Salvation Army, a name it still uses today. He organized the group as if it were a military unit. He became General Booth and assigned ranks to various positions. Later he added uniforms, brass bands, and other military images and terms. He started a magazine called The War Cry.
The work was hard and at times dangerous. The success of the Salvation Army hurt some businesses, especially those providing alcohol. Many who came to faith through the organization’s ministry gave up drinking, and the group was successful enough that saloons and breweries were feeling the pinch. “Soldiers” were attacked and ministry buildings damaged.
There was also a great toll on Booth, who preached close to sixty thousand sermons and traveled an estimated five million miles during his long service.
The Salvation Army grew quickly, spreading to other countries and reaching the United States, Canada, and other nations within the first decade. Today it serves 124 countries and has grown to nearly sixteen thousand “corps,” with seventeen-thousand-plus “active officers.” It operates homeless hostels, children’s homes, elderly care homes, mother and baby homes, and other ministries to lessen the pain of others and present the gospel. It also runs twenty-one hospitals and over two hundred health clinics.
Booth believed that a man with a full stomach was more likely to listen to the gospel. His organization dealt with (and still deals with) physical need as a means of building relationships and addressing spiritual needs.
William Booth died in 1912 at the age of eighty-three. Forty thousand people attended his funeral, including Queen Mary. Approximately 150,000 people filed past his casket. The man born near poverty stayed near poverty, and through his organization changed the lives of millions.