William Booth
William Booth (born April 10, 1829 in Nottingham , † August 20, 1912 in London ) was the founder and first general of the Salvation Army .
Life
Booth was born into the poorest of circumstances as the son of an English building contractor. He attended Methodist meetings and consciously converted to this Christian movement at the age of 15. In 1852 he gave up his job as a merchant and attended the seminary . In 1854 he was ordained as a methodist pastor in the New Connexion . In 1855 he married Catherine Mumford , who from then on supported him as a wife in his work. In 1861 he started his own business as an evangelist .
Booth moved to London. On July 2nd, 1865, the actual founding day of the later Salvation Army, he held the first meeting of his tented mission movement in Whitechapel in the Tower Hamlets district , the idea of which soon spread throughout England. In 1870 Booth's movement took the name Christian Mission . At this point he also began to streamline the organization and build it on the military model. He gave himself the rank of general . In 1878 he published the eleven chapters founding charter of the Salvation Army. Booth campaigned for the lowest social classes. He deliberately did not drink alcohol in order to better assist alcoholics, which the Salvation Army later took over. In 1890 he published the sociopolitical campaign pamphlet In Darkest England And The Way Out (In Darkest England And The Way Out ). 100,000 copies were sold in the first month. In the same year (1890) his wife died. William Booth has been made an Honorary Citizen of London and an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford University.
The eldest son, Bramwell , succeeded him as General of the Salvation Army, and later his daughter Evangeline was elected to the office as the first general. The other five children also took on leading positions in the organization. Booth was buried in Abney Park Cemetery , Stoke Newington .
literature
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz : William Booth. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 701-702.
- Richard Collier: The General of God William Booth. The history of the Salvation Army. 4th edition. Johannis, Lahr 1997, ISBN 3-501-00110-X , ( Edition C C 44).
- Hildegard Horie : The Journey into Adventure - William Booth and his “Salvation Army”. 4th edition. Esras.net, Niederbüren 2017, ISBN 978-3-9058-9984-9 .
- Roger J. Green: The Life & Ministry of William Booth: Founder of The Salvation Army. Abingdon Press 2006.
Web links
- Literature by and about William Booth in the catalog of the German National Library
- Newspaper article about William Booth in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
- The Creator of the Salvation Army and Booth at Gladstone , two articles in the Berliner Volkszeitung , April 10, 1929.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erich Geldbach : Booth, William (1829-1912) . In: Helmut Burkhardt and Uwe Swarat (ed.): Evangelical Lexicon for Theology and Congregation . 1, R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal 1992, ISBN 3417246415 , p. 297.
- ^ A b J. Gordon Melton: Booth, Catherine. (1829-1890) cofounder of the Salvation Army . In: Encyclopedia of World Religions . Encyclopedia of Protestantism, No. 6, Facts of File, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0816054565 , p. 99.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| --- |
General of the Salvation Army 1865–1912 |
Bramwell Booth |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Booth, William |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British founder and first general of the Salvation Army |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 10, 1829 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nottingham |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 20, 1912 |
| Place of death | London |