William Booth and Catherine Change the Name to Salvation Army
The work of the East London Christian Mission was thriving. William Booth presided over a growing ministry. By 1868 there were 13 preaching stations together running 140 meetings a week with 14,000 attending at some time.
But keeping everything on track was time consuming. God had an answer. He brought an overly zealous young man named George Railton into the Mission. A year or two earlier George had spent all his money on a one way ticket to Antigua in the Caribbean. Once there he spent day and night waving a massive banner with the words “Repentance, Faith and Holiness” in bold print. He had no money for food or lodging and was forcibly sent back to England by the government. But George was a born organiser and soon had the Mission running smoothly. He loved army slogans and increasingly injected them into any advertising for the Mission. The opening of a new preaching station became “a new battery of artillery opening fire” and hymns George wrote all had battle themes.
Another addition was a short, stocky, fiery little man named Elijah Cadman. Elijah couldn’t read or write as William Booth discovered by noting Elijah held the Bible upside down when he preached. He sent Elijah off to a small Yorkshire town to pioneer a preaching station. Sometime later William decided to make a surprise visit. Imagine his amazement to find Elijah had 3,000 attending meetings. Elijah had taken up the military language calling his followers the Hallelujah Army, himself Captain Cadman the William Booth the General.
It was only a matter of time before the East London Christian Mission name would also change. Much of England now had preaching stations as they were still called. William Booth had liked the fact they were all part of a volunteer army but his eldest son, Bramwell, didn’t. “Volunteer,” Bramwell exploded. “I’m not a volunteer. I’m a regular or nothing.” If “volunteer” wasn’t the right word, then what was? In a flash William picked up a pen and wrote “Salvation Army.”
God wants us to find out what He’s doing on the face of the earth and join Him in it. We’ve shown Him what we can do on our own – and it’s not much. Now He wants to show us what He can do.