William Booth
“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, where there remains one dark soul without the light of God – I’ll fight! I’ll fight to the very end!” – William Booth
William Booth, “The Prophet of the Poor”, was the founder and first general of the Salvation Army.
He was born in Sneinton, a suburb of Nottingham, England, in poverty. His parents were working class and not religious with little education. His father died when William was only 14 years old, leaving William in charge of earning the income for the family as a pawnbroker’s apprentice.
At Nottingham’s Westleyan Chapel, he heard an American revivalist give a religious awakening was a life changing experience. He made a commitment to learn the scientific revivalism methods of Charles G. Finney and evangelize the poor. Along with friends, he held nightly open-air addresses. Booth wrote the uses of lively songs, short calls for decision for Christ, and visitation of the sick into the Salvation Army Orders and Regulations thirty years later.
His pastor asked William to prepare for ordained ministry, and became a pastor to Reform Methodists in Spaulding. He was later repelled by their disorganization, and resigned finding “settled ministry” wasn’t his calling. However, this became the time he met his wife, Catherine Mumford. They married in a South London Congregational chapel in June 1855. They began to preach as traveling evangelists in tents on burial grounds and haylofts in Wales and Cornwall to “Go for souls and go for the worst.”
In 1865, Catherine traveled to preach in London, so William followed to set up temporary ministry in London’s East end, a rundown area with a densely packed population. However, among the squalor, this is where the East London Christian Mission, and later the Salvation Army, was born. Here he created a social relief system, believing charity sped up the work of evangelism. This was published in his book, In Darkest England and the Way Out, which later became a bestseller.
He died on August 20, 1912, however, his legacy continued as his eight children took leadership positions in the Salvation Army. It became a Christina family-run empire, today with over 25,000 officers in 91 countries.
For more information:
"William Booth: First General of the Salvation Army."Christian History & Biography. Christianity Today, 8 August 2008. Web. 19 Nov 2013. <http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/activists/williambooth.html>.
William Booth, “The Prophet of the Poor”, was the founder and first general of the Salvation Army.
He was born in Sneinton, a suburb of Nottingham, England, in poverty. His parents were working class and not religious with little education. His father died when William was only 14 years old, leaving William in charge of earning the income for the family as a pawnbroker’s apprentice.
At Nottingham’s Westleyan Chapel, he heard an American revivalist give a religious awakening was a life changing experience. He made a commitment to learn the scientific revivalism methods of Charles G. Finney and evangelize the poor. Along with friends, he held nightly open-air addresses. Booth wrote the uses of lively songs, short calls for decision for Christ, and visitation of the sick into the Salvation Army Orders and Regulations thirty years later.
His pastor asked William to prepare for ordained ministry, and became a pastor to Reform Methodists in Spaulding. He was later repelled by their disorganization, and resigned finding “settled ministry” wasn’t his calling. However, this became the time he met his wife, Catherine Mumford. They married in a South London Congregational chapel in June 1855. They began to preach as traveling evangelists in tents on burial grounds and haylofts in Wales and Cornwall to “Go for souls and go for the worst.”
In 1865, Catherine traveled to preach in London, so William followed to set up temporary ministry in London’s East end, a rundown area with a densely packed population. However, among the squalor, this is where the East London Christian Mission, and later the Salvation Army, was born. Here he created a social relief system, believing charity sped up the work of evangelism. This was published in his book, In Darkest England and the Way Out, which later became a bestseller.
He died on August 20, 1912, however, his legacy continued as his eight children took leadership positions in the Salvation Army. It became a Christina family-run empire, today with over 25,000 officers in 91 countries.
For more information:
"William Booth: First General of the Salvation Army."Christian History & Biography. Christianity Today, 8 August 2008. Web. 19 Nov 2013. <http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/activists/williambooth.html>.