Founders Day

 SIW 05.07.2026

William Booth was a Methodist Minister who wanted to do things differently. He wanted to offer hope and salvation to the poor of London and he was discouraged from doing it in the churches so on the 2^nd of July 1865 he put up a tent in a burial ground and started the work of the East London Christian Mission which later became The Salvation Army. Today we are celebrating Founders Day by remembering Catherine and William Booth.

William was a travelling preacher and one night he had preached then had an eight mile walk home through London’s poorest districts. As he walked, he came to the realisation that this area and these people were the one’s he wanted to work with and minister to. On that night, during that walk home, William committed himself to working with the poor. He had a vision to lift people up, to feed the hungry, love the working girls and find work for the unemployed.

Catherine was a serious and quiet girl who spent a long period in her teen years bedridden with scoliosis. During this time of enforced rest, she developed her idea that women are as valuable and as talented as men and that they could and should be allowed to preach. Catherine became Williams wife and she influenced his ideas, she raised funds for his work and she challenged his thinking. I grew up being taught that William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army but we have since made a move to acknowledge Catherine as an equal founder, which is right and proper.

William and Catherine's lives have been very well documented and I don’t want to spend more time on biography, I would like to look at the way they were thinking and to do that, I thought we could have a look at some quotes from them both:

'Let the grown-up people set before the children a constant and living example of that gentleness and kindness to woman which was ever manifested by our Lord Jesus Christ.' - William Booth

Even in the 1970s, Australian women who were killed by their partners were not counted because nobody thought it was important enough. William Booth advocating for women 100 years or more before there was any real traction on womens safety.

'Let the boy be taught from his earliest infancy that his sister is as good as he is... Let the girl be made to feel that her value to God and man is as high as it would have been had she been a boy.'  William

Again, something like 100 years before feminism became a powerful m ovement, William and Catherine saw the value in women.

You cannot warm the hearts of people with God's love if they have an empty stomach and cold feet.- William 

One of the philosophies still at the heart of The Salvation Army is that people can’t be expected to care about their spiritual being when their physical bodies are cold, hungry or unsafe.

In this statement, William Booth summarised Maslow’s hierarchy of needs about 100 years before Maslow thought of it.

And now a quote from Catherine which will seem out of context but stay with me:

It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health. Considerably more than three parts of the work in the world is done by men who never taste anything but vegetable, farinaceous food, and that of the simplest kind. There are more strength-producing properties in wholemeal flour, peas, beans, lentils, oatmeal, roots, and other vegetables of the same class, than there are beef or mutton, poultry or fish, or animal food of any description whatever.- Catherine

Whether you agree with Catherine or not, the part I am interested in is her questioning of the accepted wisdom.

The pattern I see is that the Booths were critical thinkers. They were people who left no idea unexamined. No pattern of behaviour or thinking was accepted just because it had always been accepted.

The Salvation Army has done a great job of honouring and building on the work of William and Catherine Booth. We still help the needy, we help in disasters, we were famous for our help in wartime, Showing God’s love through practical care is still at the core of our work. Worldwide we install wells, run hospitals, provide homes and teach children.

I wonder, though, if we are still thinking critically about what we do and what we believe? I believe our leadership and the organisation as a whole is always looking to do better and be better, but we, the people in churches every week  are The Salvation Army. We have the power and the responsibility to set our direction just as much as our leaders do.

Are we re-examining our mission? We are really good at loving the people around us but do we love others in every way we can? Do we care for others in our voting? Do we care for others in our spending? Are we investing in ethical investments? Are we mindful of being good stewards in the way we live our lives?

Our founders, William and Catherine Booth, really saw people who had never been seen before. They loved in ways that had not been considered before. They focussed on the unloved and the un-noticed. Their match factories changed workplace health and workers rights forever.

Are we, as individuals, honouring the Booths in our love for Christ and for people? Are we loving the people we can’t see? Are we careful in our purchasing or are we contributing to poor conditions and servitude by our addiction to cheap goods?

Are we worried about the working conditions of people who serve us?

Do we recognise the full humanity of every group of people?

We love to remember the vision of the Booths, we love to tell stories of Williams fresh insights ands inventive methods.

On the 161^st birthday of the Salvation Army, are we making sure to examine our motivations? Are we praying for new insights? Do we believe that we have a role to play. Are we aware of the deepest tragedies and injustices of our modern world or do we assume that love, mission and changing the world are for the officers, the paid employees and the appointed leaders?    

The world is a complicated place and I don’t think it is possible to live a modern lifestyle without ethical compromises, we all get overwhelmed when we think about the things we can’t change and the things that don’t change fast enough. It is easy to think that our efforts can’t make a difference or to wonder what we could possibly do but my answer to that is in the words of William and Catherine.

William said:

I made up my mind that God would have all there is of William Booth.If there is anything of power in The Salvation Army today, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will and all the influence of my life.' - William Booth

And Catherine:

'I know not what He is about to do with me but I have given myself entirely into His hands.' - Catherine Booth

Let’s celebrate the Booths today, not just because they started this beautiful movement we love but because they committed to growth and to fresh thinking, they loved whoever they could in whatever way they could.

 The power of William and Catherine Booth came from their surrender; their fresh thinking and their love came from their surrender.

The legacy of William and Catherine Booth is changing lives, bringing hope and salvation more than 100 years after their deaths and God still wants and needs and uses surrendered people.