November/December Plain Truth
Soldiers of the Cross
THE SALVATION ARMY STORY
by Neil Earl
The way the World War II veterans in my hometown told the story, The Salvation Army was always there. On the front lines, where the shelling was worst, in the churning hell of war where even medics sometimes feared to tread, the men would look up and there they were. The distinctive colors of The Salvation Army would be in the thick of it as often as not, living out their slogan, "Heart to God, Hand to Man."
We witnessed and experienced the same service and care in Northridge, California, in January 1994. The Army's relief trucks were the first through the carnage of the most costly earthquake in American history.
When my editor felt we needed background on the people we see on almost every street corner in December collecting for the poor and needy, I looked forward to telling the story. It was a debt I felt I owed to the men and women who seem to be there when the going gets toughest.
In the Beginning
The story begins in London, England, in the 1860s. The elegant heart of the British Empire was not always a pretty place. In the midst of Victorian opulence and splendor, the lives of those who were not able to keep up in the churning, expanding industrial democracy were often dispirited and hopeless.
In London, 30 percent of the people fell habitually below the poverty line. Parts of the city were described as "an ever-spreading pool of stagnant misery." Vice thrived. Mortality rates were horrific.
Into this scene of near-total despair, of class division, disease, prostitution, drunkenness and malnutrition, walked a turbulent dynamo of a man and his wife, former zealots in the Methodist religion--William and Catherine Booth.
William had been an impulsive and headstrong youth. He had broken with the Methodists when he was refused permission to be an itinerant evangelist.
The sun never sets on the Army tricolor. It is a restless banner, proclaiming its Gospel message in nearly 100 countries around the world.... Banned for four decades in countries oppressed by atheistic communism, it marches forward once again in the triumph of the cross.--Henry Gariepy, General of God's Army
Although William would never completely shake off the imperiousness and single-mindedness of his early days, William and Catherine's organizational skills and driving energy would create The Salvation Army.
The Booths' effort would be hailed as "one of the most successful religious revivals of modern times."
Today, The Salvation Army is active in about 100 countries. It preaches the gospel in some 112 languages in 16,000 evangelical centers. It operates more than 3,000 social welfare institutions, hospitals, schools and agencies.
Tireless Activism
To paraphrase a well-known saying, if The Salvation Army did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it. In short, it is hard to imagine our world without these tireless, Christian activists.
The Army's success is due in no small measure to the organizing genius and mobilizing zeal of William and Catherine Booth and those who followed them. The Booths quickly grasped the need to reach people where they were. Belief in Christ and personal conversion was the goal, but only after other things were done.
You shouldn't preach to a man about wearing heavenly robes if he does not have a shirt on his back, they believed. Neither should you speak of feasting in paradise if someone has not had a meal for a week.
This was to be the living example of James 2:15-16: "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, `Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?"
The Booths and their son Bramwell understood the need to make the Christian message relevant, to let the lonely and the lost know there are people around devoted to their needs. The Army was organized on military principles. The basic unit was the corps, commanded by an officer of a rank ranging from lieutenant to brigadier. Converts who wished to become soldiers needed to sign Articles of War.
The Army's doctrines followed the basic principles common to most evangelicals. But the Booths had a flair for arousing attention and keeping it. The parades, drums and bugles, the emphasis on singing, clapping hands, personal testimony and open prayer had an appeal to people who thought God had forgotten them.
Ahead of Their Time
At first, The Salvation Army was considered a nuisance. Open-air and street-corner meetings, evangelistic excursions into taverns, jails and factories--all of this ruffled feathers in staid London.
In 1882, there were more than 600 assaults on their numbers, more than a third of the victims being women. According to Ruth A. Tucker and Walter L. Liefeld, one of the women died from her wounds (Daughters of the Church).
But the fruits of Christian devotion and service were soon too evident to be denied. The Army was making a difference. In many ways this innovative, free-spirited, surging movement was ahead of its time. Women were treated with full equality. In 1878, 41 of 91 Salvation Army officers in the field were women.
Catherine Booth herself attracted large crowds whenever she spoke. She saw winning people to Christ as worth any effort. "What! Am I to wait till an unconverted Godless man wants to be saved before I try to save him?" she once exclaimed.
The first Army mission to the United States, in 1880, was composed of seven women. They were desperately needed. Manhattan's slum population was estimated to be twice the density of London's. The "Hallelujah lassies" set to work with a vengeance. No wonder William Booth was prompted to say, "My best men are women."
The Army has had its problems. In 1884, the U.S. organization sought to become independent of the world headquarters in London. In 1896, Ballington Booth, a son of the founder, set up the Volunteers of America, which today is a national organization with headquarters in New York City.
Today, there are calls among younger Army leaders to modernize its operations, to take a more systematic approach to doctrine and theology, to formulate more efficiently what The Salvation Army shares as core beliefs. "Are we a denomination, a church or a relief operation?" ask some of the rising generation. It has not been easy to balance the imperatives of social work with evangelism.
Also, because The Salvation Army is so widespread and involved in so many different parts of the world, cultural issues such as abortion, women's rights, and divorce and remarriage have often been thorny and contentious subjects.
Not long ago, The Salvation Army felt compelled to move from full membership to "fraternal status" in the World Council of Churches. It was concerned that its interdenominational and interchurch work might be compromised. Also, the Army wanted to stress evangelism over political matters.
But the penchant for practicality, service and spiritual equality is still an Army hallmark. Take Australian Eva Burrows, for example. From 1986 to 1993, she served as general and world leader of The Salvation Army.
Burrows served the Army on four continents, including 17 years in Africa. Once a children's swimming pool was being dedicated. Money was needed for the pool's upkeep. A high-ranking official took one look at Burrows in her perfectly pressed uniform and challenged: "I'll give a 5-pound donation if the principal jumps in the pool."
Burrows plunged in, fully clothed, and swam the length of the pool. The school got the 5 pounds.
Anything for the cause. That's the Army way.
Sharing Is Caring
Captain Carol Seiler has served the Army for 15 years. She is Divisional Social Services Secretary for Southern California. Her district includes South Central Los Angeles, one of the most crime-ridden and violent areas in the nation. For Seiler, that is proof the Army needs to be there.
Seiler and the staff are under no illusions that their efforts can solve all the world's problems or ease all the burdens facing America's cities. But it is enough for them to know they are making a difference in the name of Jesus Christ. For Seiler, such things as what she calls "the turnaround factor" make it all worthwhile at Christmas.
"We often hear of people who say they want to donate because when they were children, The Salvation Army brought them a toy at Christmastime. Our bit of cheer won't cure it all," she concludes in her calm, measured voice, "but it helps open a window from the heart of the recipient to the heart of the giver."
The Salvation Army has opened a lot of windows in its more than 130 years of service. Army volunteers stand on our street corners as an ever-present witness of the need to give, as conduits of the love of God--hearts to God, hands to man.