William Booth and the
Salvation Army

By the middle of the 19th century, England had become a largely industrial nation. Many more people had moved from the countryside to live in the growing cities and towns. The way the population was spread through the country had changed.

On the other hand, the Church of England parishes had not, and could only alter slowly. Most of the new town dwellers grew up outside the care of the Church of England. Methodists, with their simple preaching places and local preachers, did have greater success in reaching them.

Other nonconformist churches also expanded into the new urban areas, but many people in the industrial areas remained untouched by Christianity.

Part of the problem was the linking of social classes to particular Christian denominations. Only in some of the chapels would working class people feel at home.

William Booth was a man who cared very much about this situation. He spoke of "darkest England", because of its ignorance of the Christian faith. He had worked as a Christian preacher in a number of churches, and was an ordained minister of a Methodist church. But he tended to fit badly into any system: he liked to "do his own thing". He was too concerned about the need for people to hear about Jesus Christ to be content to stay in one place.