JAC Online

Booth's Army
by Commissioner Wesley Harris

 

Some of the evangelical missions which began in Victorian England were short-lived.  So what gave permanence to that led by William Booth?  It may have been the fact that in addition to a focus on personal spiritual renewal  there was the aim of achieving social salvation, caring for body as well as soul. A growing social work won acceptance and that has been the case throughout our history. People who would not join the Army supported it for the sake of its good works.  Then there was the adoption of a strikingly different mode.  In 1878 William, his son Bramwell and George Scott Railton were discussing a Christian Mission Report.  It stated that the mission was a ‘volunteer army’.  At the time in England the ‘volunteers’ were a part-time militia, a kind of ‘dad’s army’ and Bramwell objected that did not want to be a ‘volunteer’ but a ‘regular’ or nothing.  Thereupon, William crossed out ‘volunteer’and substituted ‘salvation’ and at a stroke of the pen made a huge difference.

 

In essence nothing changed.  We were – and still are –a Christian mission.  But we were also an army mobilized by God.   Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth – a granddaughter of the Founders - told me that the introduction of uniforms was not the result of an edict from headquarters but the desire of Salvationists to show whose side they were on.  The army was out to win the world for Jesus.  World conquest was the aim.

 

In 1890 the Army Mother was promoted to Glory after a long and painful battle with cancer leaving William sorely affected.  His daughter Emma was killed in a train crash in the USA.  His daughter Catherine and sons Ballington and Herbert were lost to the Army perhaps because the pacifying influence of their mother was no more.  William’s health was poor but his passion was unabated. Hostels for the homeless, work for unmarried mothers and addicts and migration schemes multiplied

 

Salvationists were meant to be warriors not wimps. Although infinitely compassionate towards the needy William was demanding on himself and also on his comrades in arms  When I was a young officer my mentor was retired Commissioner George Jolliffe who as a young officer had been private secretary to the Founder and actually lived in his house. He told me that, after the promotion to Glory of the Army Mother,  he would sometimes hear the tinkling of a bell in the Founder’s bedroom and an urgent voice would call, “Jolliffe, I can’t sleep, let’s work’.  Then, notebook in hand he would go and take down a letter or an article for an Army paper.  (William was a prolific writer so that from the first English edition of  The War Cry in December 1879 until he was promoted glory in December 1912 one or more of his writings appeared in every issue.)

 

The Founder was completely focused on mission and was not seeking worldly honours.  When offered the freedom of the city of London he said, “Jolliffe, go and tell them I don’t want it” - not an easy thing for him to do!  Later however, William was persuaded to accept the honour and a cheque with it which went straight into Army funds.

 

William Booth had a holy expectation that at an early date the world would be won for Jesus and that the Army would have a major role in that.  Certainly, the  global spread of the movement was remarkable.  Country after country was invaded.  European countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India all were added to the Army roll-call and in times when travel was much more arduous than today the General visited even remote parts pf the growing Army empire..   As he got older the pace of his life seemed to increase; he was not only called but driven.  The flame of his passion grew ever brighter.

 

I asked George Jolliffe the secret of the Founder’s drive.  He told me that it was his belief in hell.   He really believed that if people were not saved they would go to a lost eternity. For that reason he would feel personally bound to challenge his cab or train driver about their need for salvation.  And he would feel that the spread of his army of Salvation was a matter of urgency   because millions were going to hell.  He received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University not in recognition of what he had achieved as a social reformer but for his achievements as a spiritual leader.  Fair enough!

 

For twenty two years after the passing of his beloved wife William was the inspiration of his growing Army and travelled tirelessly to inspect the rapidly growing work around the world, conducting crowded meetings and discussing his social schemes with heads of government.  Where he had once been ridiculed he was now honoured as a ‘citizen of the world’. But the  first and last passion of William Booth’s life was to get people saved and his followers caught something of his magnificent obsession so that all they met expected them to issue a spiritual challenge.  It went with the uniform!

 

While he would rejoice that his Army is now larger than ever he would be disappointed at a dearth of soul saving, particularly in western countries. A Salvation Army without salvation meetings would have struck him as unthinkable and empty Mercy Seats reason to redouble prayer and effort.

 

In 1912 William Booth made his last public appearance in London’s Royal Albert Hall and declared that although he was going into dry dock for repairs he was still determined to fight to the very end.  By this time he was blind and needed a wooden hand rest to enable him to write straight across a page. (I have a  cheque for fifty pounds he received for his work that same week, duly endorsed with the Founder’s distinctive signature. It must have been among the last cheques he endorsed.)

 

His fighting spirit was maintained to the last when on the 20th  of August he was promoted to Glory and  no doubt received his Master’s ‘well done’ . According to Richard Collier in The General next to God, at the last minute Queen Mary unexpexctedly decided to attend the  huge memorial service in the Olympia building.  She was shown to a seat next to a woman who had once been a prostitute.  The woman had brought two roses which she had placed on the coffin as it was carried down the aisle.  Possibly not recognizing the person to whom she was speaking, she told the Queen,   “He cared for the likes of us!”  It was a worthy epitaph.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

your shopping is guaranteed safe using SSL

eStore account - Sign Up Now! Contact Us - General. Technical Support. Sales Jesus is amazing!  If you see this image tag you should know that He is THE way... not a way!  Grace!
Home Terms of Use Privacy Policy Sitemap Contact Us
copyright ARMYBARMY
armybarmy