How two rebuffed evangelists founded a movement

By David Daniels and ChristianWeek | December 1, 2009

What would Christmas shopping be without bell-ringing Salvation Army. workers standing patiently by those Red Kettles on cold street corners, in store entrances and shopping mall corridors? A symbol of hope for many Canadians living in poverty, the Red Kettle, along with online and mail-in donations, will garner more than $23 million this year, enabling The Salvation Army to continue its compassionate ministry of meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of Canada's most vulnerable people.

Not only is The Salvation Army Canada's largest non-governmental direct provider of social services, it is arguably the world's most trusted and respected charity. Be it a flood, hurricane or earthquake, or an ongoing need to help alleviate human suffering, it is hard to find a place of need in our world where The Salvation Army does not have a significant presence.

Serving in 118 countries in 175 languages, with a force of officers and soldiers numbering close to 1.2 million, The Salvation Army is powerful example of holistic Christian ministry.

Anyone wondering how this decidedly evangelical ministry has managed to grow so large and become so influential will want to get a copy of Christianity in Action: The International History of The Salvation Army by Henry Gariepy (Eerdmans, 2009). An adjunct faculty member at the Army's Officer Training College in London, Gariepy teaches Salvation Army history and Bible. Gariepy, an author of 29 books and contributor to 50 others, has provided a "meticulously researched yet engaging" account of the Army's humble beginnings and phenomenal growth into an international evangelical relief and development organization.

The Army's founder, William Booth, himself reared in poverty, came to faith as a teenager through the ministry of an American holiness preacher. By age 17, Booth was preaching the gospel on the streets of England's cities. Before long, the Methodist circles in which Booth ministered grew uncomfortable with his revivalist methods. Matters came to a head in May, 1861, when the annual church conference voted to deny Booth the opportunity to engage in full-time evangelism. William and Catherine, his wife, left that meeting vowing to continue their gospel work without the blessing of the church.

As William and Catharine embarked on their Abraham journey, they formed the East London Christian Revival Society. By 1867 the ministry had been renamed the Christian Mission. Readers will enjoy learning how the movement was eventually renamed The Salvation Army—it was the result of an off-the-cuff remark by a ministry worker responding to the wording of one of Booth's promotional pamphlets.

If Booth is remembered as the public voice of the work, Catherine is surely acknowledged as the organizational mastermind. Her influence on the Army's beginnings extended to the role of women: every aspect of the ministry was to be equally accessible to both women and men. The Salvation Army is the forerunner of evangelical feminism.
In the space of 27 chapters, Gariepy distils 144 years of compassionate gospel ministry, taking readers from the ministry's humble holiness-centered revivalism to one of the world's largest compassionate outreaches that has never abandoned its gospel-centered focus. From that humble East London beginning, to its international reach, the Army may well be one of Christianity's greatest stories of compassionate ministry bathed in gospel truth.

Along with remembering the great councils, the opening of new countries, the strategic advances and challenging set-backs, Gariepy also provides fascinating glimpses into the front-line work of the Army's workers. For example, how many of us would know that The Salvation Army operated the world's first 24/7 doughnut shop? In August, 1917, following 36 days of rain, hungry battle-weary soldiers in France were served freshly fried doughnuts prepared by Salvation Army women, using a wine bottle as a rolling pin and an old helmet as the frying pan. The gesture was so appreciated that other Salvation Army workers began doing the same in other locations. This quickly became a 24-hour, daily operation in several battlefield locations.

This one-volume history concludes with a series of appendices outlining the doctrinal convictions of the Army, the Soldier's Covenant, the Founder's Song and several lists of statistics including a surprisingly large number of programs currently operated by the organization. This excellent book is a timely reminder that evangelical ministry can effectively meet the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of the world's most vulnerable citizens.