Every year I take my students on a field trip to London for their courses on Bible Introduction and also Church History.  

 

One of our stops is to visit the International Headquarters of the Salvation Army. I always write in advance and tell them we are coming and one of their officers usually takes us into the International Committee room which has facilities to have meetings by live video link with leaders all around the world at the same time.  Here the officer gives us a short talk about the work of the Salvation Army today.

 

Last year I wrote to request a time to visit and had a reply from Major David Kinsey the Under Secretary for Europe.  I thought I knew that name - and imagine our joy when David walked into the Committee room and we recognised each other from years before.

 

David and his wife Diane had been the Salvation Army Lieutenants in Thetford during the 1990’s where I was also a pastor.  We had always got on very well together, he even preached for me once and we had worked closely together to organise a big celebration for New Year’s Eve 1999 entitled the Millennium Moment for the whole town to see in the new century and it was a great success.  

 

We gave each other a big hug and I explained to the students what our connection was and we have since had a further meeting together just before he and his wife went off to Taiwan to serve in the Army there.

 

I have great respect and admiration for the work of the Salvation Army which has done so much pioneering work since it began as the Christian Mission in 1865. One example of that, is the way in which William Booth and his wife Catherine worked together as a team thus setting a precedent for Salvation Army officers from that time to this.

 

A lot has been written about William Booth but I want to concentrate on Catherine and how they worked together as a couple until she died in 1890 at the age of 63 (William lived on a further 22 years  until 1912 when he died at the age of 85).

 

Originally, William and Catherine were Methodists and before they met, they were both saved at the age of 17.  Catherine became a member of a Methodist Class meeting which gave her a good foundation in John Wesley’s holiness teaching which she was very focussed on.

 

In 1847 Catherine wrote: “My desires after holiness have been much increased… today I believe at times I have had tastes of perfect love… My chief desire is holiness of heart.  This is the prevailing cry of my soul.” By the next year she had read through the Bible twice saying: “May it be my meat and drink! May I meditate on it day and night and then I shall bring forth fruit in season.”

 

All of this led to her becoming a leader of a Class herself and she wrote: ”I used to have some wonderful times with my class…  sometimes our prayer meetings would last an hour and a half. I used to invite them to talk to me privately if anything I said had struck them, and at such times they would pour out their hearts to me as if I had been their mother.”

 

All of this prepared her to be an anointed leader and preacher in her own right.

 

In 1851 Catherine and William met for the first time when he came to preach at the chapel that she attended.  He was a young preacher who already had experience in leading home meetings and open-air services as well as visiting the sick and dying. A friendship began between them which developed, over four years, into a sense that they should be united in marriage and ministry which happened in 1855 when they were both 28 years old.

 

She wrote later: “Who can wonder that marriage is so often a failure when we observe the ridiculous way in which courtship is commonly carried on? Perhaps the greatest evil of all is hurry.  Young people do not give themselves time to know each other before an engagement is formed. They should take time and make opportunities for acquainting themselves with each other’s character, disposition, and peculiarities before coming to a decision.”

 

Soon after their wedding William was appointed by the Methodist New Connection as an evangelist to preach around the country and Catherine travelled with him during which time, they saw many people come to faith in Jesus. In 1859 an American evangelist, Dr Palmer visited Britain and caused some controversy because his wife took a very prominent part by preaching in the services.  Someone wrote a pamphlet against women preachers and Catherine wrote one in reply which William agreed with.

 

However, it was not until a few months later that Catherine felt moved to walk up the aisle at the end of the morning service and told her husband that she wanted to “say a word.” William was very happy and told the people “My dear wife wishes to speak.” Catherine explained that she had been disobeying God by her silence.” That evening William had invited her to preach and her text was “Be filled with the Spirit.”

 

The place was packed with people that night and her preaching was powerful and well received even though the idea of a female preacher was extremely unusual in Britain at the time. From this time on Catherine preached and ministered with her husband on equal terms. In 1865 having preached the gospel around Britain they started the Christian Mission in the poorest part of London which later became the Salvation Army in 1878.

 

Very quickly their model of evangelism and relief for the poor was established in the USA and Australia (1880), France (1881), Switzerland, Canada, Sweden and India (1882), South Africa and New Zealand (1883), Germany (1886), Holland, Denmark & Zululand (1887), Norway, Argentine, Finland & Belgium (1888), Italy and Uruguay (1891).

 

William and Catherine achieved great things working as a team and they also worked independently on different projects until Catherine went to be with the Lord in 1890.  

 

I think we can learn a lot from these two heroes of the Faith in terms of their dedication to the Lord - and to each other and their epic hard work as a team, which in turn released countless thousands of husband and wife teams in the Salvation Army from that day to this.

 

Long may it continue!

 

 

Footnotes

 

There is an article about William Booth by Samuel Ball - on the Forum Members page. There is also a short article by Major David Kinsey there.

 

Click here if you would like to take my: London tour - the virtual version!