The Christian Church in the United Kingdom has had its upheavals down the years. The Synod of Whitby probably was the beginning followed by other struggles and schisms, Thomas a Becket’s tussle with Henry II, Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church thus heralding the arrival of the Church of England and several other upsets until the eighteenth century when the Second Reformation came to pass brought about by the teachings and example of John Wesley. Wesley was unhappy with the established church into which he had been ordained, because it would not take the Christian message into the streets to the poor. It was never his intention to establish a separate Church but he believed that God had called him to go out and preach redemption by faith. Ironically, a century later, another dynamic preacher was to come to a similar opinion about the Methodist Church and he, too would go out into the streets with a similar message.

William Booth was born in Nottingham on April 10th 1855. Unlike Wesley he was not a scholar. The son of a not very successful builder, he came face to face with poverty and uncertainty early in life. Apprenticed to a pawnbroker at the age of fifteen, Booth was aware of the harsh realities of life for the poor in Victorian England. Once his apprenticeship was completed, he left home to find employment in London.

Even at the young age of fifteen he had begun to hold open-air meetings outside the Broad Street Chapel in Nottingham and he continued to do this in London. A wealthy boot manufacturer offered him one pound per week for three months if he would serve with the Methodist Reformers and thus began his life’s work. Like his hero John Wesley, Booth had a dynamic personality and very quickly people were drawn to him. One of these was a young devout Methodist, Catherine Mumford. They married in 1855 and Catherine was to become his equal partner throughout all the campaigns. Both intellectual and committed, she was a considerable preacher in her own right. William left the Reformers and joined the Methodist New Connexion being accepted for the ministry after four years. His evangelistic campaigns took him all over the country and his supporters continued to grow. However, he felt shackled by the duties and restrictions of the ministry and pressed the Connexion to allow him to become a full time evangelist. At the Conference in 1861, his request was once more turned down and William decided that he would have to leave. Again, like Wesley before him,

William was devoted to his church and did not wish to found another but he felt that he had no other option.

He travelled widely, preaching and holding services wherever he could. It was in the east end of London that he realised that his life’s mission was to do God’s work among the poor. Here he set up the East London Christian Mission, published a magazine ‘The East End Evangelist’ and eventually purchased a large hall which became the Central Mission Headquarters. Like the early Methodists a century earlier, the Booths and their supporters soon attracted the attention of bullies and hooligans and they suffered violence to both person and property.

William realised that every one of his supporters were in reality soldiers -waging war on the forces of evil. It was George Scott Railton, the secretary of the Mission and a great supporter of the Booths who in 1878 described the Mission as a "Volunteer Army" .William changed ‘Volunteer’ to ‘Salvation’ and so another great evangelic movement was born. Catherine designed the red, blue and yellow Army flag and the distinctive bonnets still worn by women salvationists today. William, somewhat reluctantly, became General Booth and in 1879 the Salvation Army’s magazine ‘The War Cry’ was established.

The Army grew and spread all over the world. William’s children followed him and became leaders of missions. In 1890, his comrade and helpmate, his beloved wife Catherine died, still dictating letters, sermons and messages until the end. She lay in state in Olympia and some 36,000 mourners came to pay their respects. After her death William began to travel the world including a visit to the Holy Land where he was able to conduct a meeting in Jerusalem. By the twentieth century the itinerant Methodist preacher who had been scorned and attacked in the 1880’s was now received by kings and statesmen alike. He died on 20th August 1912 - his funeral procession was followed by 5,000 salvationists and tens of thousands lined the streets, paying homage to the poor lad from Nottingham whose mission had been the salvation of the poor and the fight against evil.

Booth was once asked the secret of his success - he replied "I decided that God should have all there was of William Booth". His legacy - and Catherine’s - is a movement still flourishing today. It is still nurturing the poor, still helping the homeless, still seeking the lost and still fighting the fight.