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By THERESA REY NOLDS Rappahannock New* StoffWHlff
In 1865 a renegade minister named William Booth gave up hope that the established churches would ever deal with the wretchedness he saw everywhere and stormed through the ale houses and sweat shops of London with a wild new religion that was to change the lives of millions of poor people everywhere.
It was Victorian England.The emphasis among church-goers was on gentility and sentiment. The outraged Booth with his ragtag following of reformed drunks, released convicts, alienated young people and social reformers, set about improving the lives of the poor with a vengeance.
With fire in his eyes and a Bible in his hand, Booth founded the Christian Mission and swore that his ministry would embrace all those abhorred by polite' society.
He defined his flock from the start: “While women weep, as they do now. I’ll fight; while little children go hungry, as they do now. I’ll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now. I’ll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I’ll fight—I’ll fight to the very end!”
His compelling mix of compassion and fire caught on and the Christian Mission grew in numbers and influence throughout London and all of England.
This Christmas season comes one hundred years after the arrival of Booth's followers in this country. For a centry here, they have been
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