AJSAHistoryVol1Iss2 October 2016

ISSN 2206-2572 (Online)

We must wake
ourselves up! Or
somebody else will take
our place, and bear our
cross, and thereby
rob us of our
crown.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History is published by The Salvation Army, Australia
Eastern Territory Historical Society.

Willia2m016Booth

IssuVeo2lume ISeptembIsesru2e0126 October 2016

Edition Special Symposium EditionThe Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 1

storical Symposium

Call for Papers
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History

ISSN: 2206-2572 (Online)
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History is a multi-national journal that fosters a dialogue on all aspects of the
history and development of The Salvation Army. Articles are encouraged to be glocal, that is, both local and global in
consideration. All articles in this journal have undergone editorial screening and peer review by at least two reviewers. The
aim of the journal is to publish timely, useful, informative, original and honest historical research which will be of value to
both a general audience and those interested in Salvation Army history.

The journal is published by Cross and Crown Publications for The Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory
Historical Society and seeks to increase the knowledge and promote the interest of Salvation Army history and
understanding of its development.

The journal publishes research papers and historical papers in any areas relating to the history and development of
The Salvation Army, including, but not limited to:
Aged Care, Biographies of individual Salvationists and employees, Buildings and Architecture, The Booth family, Brass Banding, Corps
history, Education of Salvationists, Education organised by Salvationists, Emergency relief and management, Fashion of uniform -
design and meaning, Gender and Cultural Diversity, Genealogical studies, Health work and ministry, Holiness Movement, Human
Rights, Hymnology, Internationalism, Leadership styles, Methodist and Salvationist theological development, Orders and Regulations
and policy development, Religion Studies, Literature Studies, Signs and Symbols meaning, Social justice and The Salvation Army,
Social Work, Social Welfare, Social Impact, Urban ministry, Unemployed and Vulnerable people, Welfare State, Young Peoples’
Ministry.

Papers presented at Salvation Army heritage meetings will be encouraged to be contributed. All articles contributed
must be original, not previously published in either Army or non-Army publications, the contributor’s own work and
referenced throughout. Where possible, primary sources should be used and presumptive statements avoided. Images and
graphics will be accepted if the contributor or The Salvation Army holds the copyright and they are visually clear for
reproduction.

The interested contributors are highly encouraged to submit their manuscripts/papers to the executive editor via e-
mail at [email protected]. Please indicate the name of the journal (The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army
History) in the cover letter or simply put ‘Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History’ in the subject box during
submission via e-mail.

AJSAH is inviting papers for Vol. 2, Iss. 1. The online publication date is March, 2017.
Submission deadline: 30 January, 2017.
For any additional information, please contact the executive editor at [email protected]
Blessings,
Garth R. Hentzschel
Executive Editor - The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History

© The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History 2016 Cross & Crown Publications for The Salvation
Army Australia Eastern Territory Historical Society

Cross & Crown Publications
PO Box 998
Mt Gravatt Qld 4122
Australia

web address: http://salvos.org.au/historicalsociety/

ISSN: 2206-2572 (Online)

Cover: The Salvation Army tricolour ribbon on a black background. A white crest of The Salvation Army. A picture of
William Booth, Founder of The Salvation Army with his quotation used as a basis for the symposium.

Executive Editor The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History was formed in 2016
Mr Garth R. Hentzschel and is prepared by a group of volunteers made up from members of
Peer Review and Editorial Team Salvation Army historical groups in Australia and New Zealand as well as
Dr. David Malcolm Bennett others who are interested in researching, writing and displaying Salvation
Army history. It is produced by The Salvation Army Australia Eastern
Mr Lindsay Cox Territory, Historical Society in conjunction with Australia Southern and
Major Kingsley Sampson New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Salvation Army territories.
Major David Woodbury

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 2

THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF
123 SALVATION ARMY HISTORY

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 2 2016

Editorial Note Salvationist has a knowledge of our past, a
sense of our history, so that she or he can think
Welcome to the second issue of The Australasian intelligently and in context about the present
Journal of Salvation Army History (AJSAH). This and the future… a sense of history and a
issue is a special edition with the focus on The working knowledge of our past are crucial to
Salvation Army History Symposium – 2016. The being a modern thinking Salvationist…. A
symposium was held in Maroochydore, Australia sense of history is not enough on its own. A
over 22-24 July and was a gathering of people sense of the social, moral and political trends of
interested in the history and elements of Salvation the present day is also crucial to the Thinking
Army tradition. It sought to foster a dialogue on all Salvationist. Keeping in touch with, and
areas of history and development of The Salvation understanding, the world beyond the often
Army. The first symposium was held in 2013 with introspective confines of The Salvation Army is
the theme “Helping the past talk to the present and absolutely central to our soul-saving and
guide the future”. The first was a fun time, as was soldier-making mission under God.2
the second, with singing of Salvation Army songs
and interesting discussions. The idea for the The theme of this year’s symposium was inspired
symposiums came from the desire not only to by a quote from William Booth in one of his
celebrate the exciting history of The Salvation letters to Commissioner Dowdle, “We must wake
Army but also to learn from it, as the theme of the ourselves up or somebody else will take out place
first symposium indicated. General Frederick and bear our cross and thereby rob us of our
Coutts, one of The Salvation Army historian crown.”3 Thus arising from this is the questions:
generals wrote about history and stressed the need Can history be our wake-up call? Can we really
for historical understanding: use it to become thinking and even acting
Salvationists in 2016?
…history is to a community what memory is to
an individual. Without memory I would be an Presented here are papers and ideas from the
‘unperson’, unable to say whence I came or weekend that will help us think about such
whither I was bound. History enables a matters. Authors are Salvationists and non-
community – whether an entire nation or a Salvationists, academics from different fields,
section of a nation – to place itself in relation to authors, officers and soldiers, and people with
its own past, its present opportunities and its general interest in history. The presenters
future prospects.1 represented Australia and New Zealand with
topics that included corps and social work history,
This year’s theme was: history of environmental thought, analysis of local
History – Our Wake Up Call? and national Salvation Army history, history of a
farming commune and wartime work.
and it was hoped the symposium would help
further develop thinking Salvationists. As Shaw All papers referred to past events that could
become a wake-up call to the present Salvation
Clifton, another historian general wrote: Army with some giving a clear warning that any

Unless we know where we have come from, we wake-up call must use the right type of history.
cannot know who we are today… a Thinking

1 Frederick Coutts, In Good Company, (London, UK: Salvationists Publishing & Supplies, 1980), 71.
2 Shaw Clifton, Selected Writings Vol. 2, 2000-2010, (London, UK: Salvation Books, 2010), 19, 21.
3 William Booth, personal correspondence to James Dowdle, 27 April, 1895, in George Scott Railton,
Commissioner Dowdle – The saved railway guard, (London, UK: The Salvation Army Book Department,
1912), 96.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 3

The Australasian Journal of Title/Author Page
Salvation Army History
Meet the author 105
CONTENTS Vol. 1 Iss. 2 John Coutts

Title/Author Page Milieu and context: Towards a comprehensive

history of religious change on the Sunshine

Editorial note with the introduction to the Coast.
Salvation Army History Symposium.
Garth R. Hentzschel Ray Kerkhove 111

3

Contributors 5 Opening Fire: A brief analysis of The
Salvation Army’s first decade in
Report on The Salvation Army History 130
Symposium, 2016, ‘History–Our wake-up call?’ New Zealand, 1883-1893.
Kingsley Sampson

Garth R. Hentzschel 6 Queensland’s Mizpah commune and the
Salvation Army influence.
Souls, Saints, Humanity: What lessons Veronica Dawson 137

might The Salvation Army take from its

history that will keep it true to its mission? Is the Corps History Book, a wake up
call for us today?
Kingsley Sampson 18 Robert Marshall

Historical Foundations of In Darkest England 150

and the Way Out. Why should the devil have all the good music?

Cecil Woodward 31 The Christian use of contrafactum and parody

Lest We Forget: Fighting Mac, Garth R. Hentzschel 155
the Army and contemporary Australia.
Daniel Raynaud 42 Overview of the symposium holiness meeting -
‘Wake up – Be the living sacrifice!’

“The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon” Garth R. Hentzschel and

Affair. The Salvation Army Historical Society,

David Malcolm Bennett 53 Brisbane Chapter 182

Salvationist socio-ecotheological histories. History is our wake-up call! A case study
from the history of The Salvation Army
Matthew Seaman 72 on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
Garth R. Hentzschel
A bibliography of Salvation Army 190
literature in English, 1988 – present
surnames of book authors D to G. 84 A driving tour of Salvation Army historical
sites on the Sunshine Coast
Garth R. Hentzschel Garth R. Hentzschel & Ray Kerkhove 204

Book review – A harrowing adventure of

Christian Social Justice, The Armstrong Girl by

Cathy Le Feuvre, Feedback on Volume 1, Issue 1 212

David Malcolm Bennett 103

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 4

Contributors - Vol. 1 Iss. 2 Coast Indigenous families.

Dr. David Malcolm Bennett is a Christian researcher Robert Marshall is a retired paramedic after 34+ years
and writer based in Brisbane who has the gift of doing in that profession. He is involved with the Warwick
quality historical research and presenting it in a readable Corps and the Stanthorpe Outpost (which includes a
form. He has written two biographies of William Booth: Family Store) where he has been a Soldier for over 50
William Booth and his Salvation Army (Even Before years. He has held various positions including YPSM,
Publishing) and The General: William Booth (2 vols. Corps Treasurer, Bandsman, and now Corps Historian.
Xulon Press). He is also the editor of The Letters of He is currently researching a number of corps which are
William and Catherine Booth and of The Diary and no longer in existence and collating their history.
Reminiscences of Catherine Booth. His books include The
Altar Call: Its Origins and Present Usage (his MTh A/Prof Daniel Reynaud lectures in History at Avondale
thesis, awarded with merit) in 2000 and The Origins of College of Higher Education in Cooranbong, NSW. He is
Left Behind Eschatology (his PhD thesis) in 2010. One of the author of a number of books and articles on
his latest book is John Wesley: The man, his mission and Australia’s war cinema and on the Anzacs and religion.
his message (Rhiza Press). His biography of Chaplain William ‘Fighting Mac’
McKenzie, The Man The ANZACS Revered, was released
Veronica Dawson is a retired academic librarian from last year.
Griffith University, best known for her work as a medical
and health sciences librarian. She takes a keen interest in Major Kingsley Sampson is a retired Salvation Army
local and family history and is a member of the officer living in Christchurch, New Zealand. As well as
Genealogical Society of Queensland. Veronica is the Salvation Army history, his retirement interests include
author of Chinchilla’s Communal Settlers, a book about travel, gardening, reading, cycling and researching the
the Mizpah, Monmouth and Industrial communes, and history of his forebears. He has qualifications in history,
co-author of the journal article “Three doomed theology and education (MA, BD, DipEd, DipTeaching).
communes: A Roma romance?”, published in the May Apart from two corps appointments in New Zealand in
2016 issue of the Queensland History Journal. the 1980s, most of his officer service was in education
and education administration roles in New Zealand and
Garth R. Hentzschel is the acting Dean, senior lecturer Zambia. This included sixteen years on the staff of Booth
and course coordinator in the School of Social Sciences, College of Mission, Upper Hutt. Kingsley was also a
Christian Heritage College. He has degrees in education, contributor to and sub-editor of the Hallelujah magazine.
leadership and counselling (BEd, BAdminLead, MEd
[SGC]). Hentzschel is the director of Cross & Crown Matthew Seaman has degrees in IT, theology (BInfTech,
Publications and president of The Salvation Army MA, MPhil) and has undertaken research on Salvationist
Historical Society, Brisbane Chapter. He has published interactions between the spiritual, social and ecological.
works and presented papers on school chaplaincy, He is currently undertaking a PhD in practical theology at
education and Salvation Army history. Publications the University of Queensland exploring Salvationist
include; Our First Officer (2004), The Devil’s Army dimensions of holiness within God’s loved and
(2006), With A Smile and A Cuppa (2007), The Bag Hut increasingly degraded creation. Matt is a member of the
Tabernacle (2012), contributions to the history magazine, Australasian Centre for Wesleyan Research, secretary for
Hallelujah! and the Bulletin of The Methodist Historical the Queensland Churches Environmental Network and
Society of Ireland. administers the Salvation Army Farming, Gardening and
Ecology Network Facebook (SAFGEN) page.
Dr. Ray Kerkhove is a consultant professional
historian. He holds a Doctorate in Religious Studies from Major Cecil Woodward served 45 years as an officer of
University of Queensland, and has an interest in the The Salvation Army, the majority in SE Queensland.
history of smaller religions and their culture, especially Thirty-one of those years were at either social centres or
within a local context. In 2003 he completed a book on divisional and territorial social appointments. This
Sunshine Coast religious history, Soul Havens, funded provided opportunities to contribute to various Salvation
through two Sunshine Coast Council RADF grants. This Army publications and to represent the Army at national
involved interviewing representatives from over 80 and international events. He holds a social work degree,
religious groups and centres in the region. He Master of Social Welfare – Administration and Planning,
subsequently (2003-2004) launched a map concerning and Master of Business Administration. He is currently a
this heritage, and organised an inter-faith arts festival member of the Moral and Social Issues Council, a
with Noosa Regional Gallery. In the past few years, Ray Director of Salvos Housing and a member of the corps
has been promoting and supporting the archival work of leadership team, Caloundra. He continues to focus on
various Sunshine Coast religious centres. His other gaining a better understanding of the message of In
specialty, and his main current work, is the Indigenous Darkest England and the Way Out.
history of south-eastern Queensland. This has included
researching Indigenous traditions and sites for Sunshine

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 5

The front wall of the Maroochydore Corps hall decorated with the theme of the symposium
by Majors Glenda and Kevin Hentzschel (Photograph courtesy of the author).

The registration table and a section of the symposium bookstall organised
by Major Kevin Hentzschel and Belinda Youssef (Photograph courtesy of the author).
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 6

REPORT ON THE SALVATION ARMY HISTORY SYMPOSIUM, 2016
“HISTORY – OUR WAKE UP CALL?”

By
Garth R. Hentzschel

The symposium weekend, 22-24 July, was the second of its kind held by The Salvation Army
Historical Society, Brisbane Chapter. The event was attended by over 100 people including the 10
presenters from different states of Australia as well as New Zealand. The theme from the symposium
was “History – Our wake up call?” and historical papers, discussions and reports on research were
presented. This report will outline the events of the symposium and report on the feedback received
from those who attended the event.

Friday night welcome and key note address

The weekend commenced on Friday night 22 July, 2016 with an opening prayer led by Commissioner
James Condon, recently retired territorial leader of the Australia Eastern Territory. Garth Hentzschel,
President, Brisbane Chapter, The Salvation Army Historical Society then outlined the theme of the
weekend and the need for such an event.1

The key note address was given by Major Kingsley Sampson, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga
Territory, who spoke on the lessons Salvationists could learn from the history of The Salvation
Army.2 Kingsley first outlined the positive events of the Army which should be celebrated: the faith
and daring actions of young people; extraordinary work by dedicated people; inspirational mission
activity and sacrifice; audacious spirit-led initiatives; advances not always made with official sanction
or directive; innovative use of technology to spread the gospel; and sacrificial service of ordinary
soldiers and local officers. To move from the positive themes to those with a darker undertone,
Sampson quoted General André Cox, who stated, “We must be keen to learn from our successes but
also our failures.”3 The themes which were outlined were: ill-conceived plans and ill-thought out
activities; tensions within the Army when different parts hold diverging views on serious issues;
insensitivity to cultural norms or national desires when administering the Army; difficulties with
moves of the Holy Spirit that have not matched our nineteenth century holiness tradition; inability to
always find a place for the colourful mavericks; inability to always treat all people equally; not being
immune to mission drift or mission capture;4 and the fact that flawed humans do not always get it
right. The evening concluded with supper where fellowship and discussion on the paper continued.

Reference citation of this paper
Garth R. Hentzschel, “Report on The Salvation Army History Symposium, 2016, ‘History – Our wake up call?’”,
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 6-17.
1 For the full introduction see Garth R. Hentzschel, “Editorial note”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army
History, 1, 2, 2016, 3.
2 For the full paper see Kingsley Sampson, “Souls, saints, humanity: What lessons might The Salvation Army take from
its history that will keep it true to its mission?”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 18-30.
3 Cited in Sampson, “Souls, saints, humanity” from André Cox in, Accountable to God and Each Other: a brief guide to
The Salvation Army’s Accountability Movement. (No publication details), 2.
4 This section was deleted from the paper published in this journal

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 7

Major Kingsley Sampson presents the key note address
(Photograph courtesy of the author).

Saturday morning paper presentations

Saturday morning saw papers presented on various historical topics relating to The Salvation Army.
Presenters were Salvationists and non-Salvationists, academics and novice historians. Garth R.
Hentzschel introduced Major Cecil Woodward, the first speaker of the day. Woodward spoke on the
historical foundations of The Salvation Army’s social work prior to In Darkest England and The Way
Out.5 His paper outlined the theological and practical roots of the Army’s social work and gave a
number of examples from Australia and overseas.

The second paper for the morning was introduced by Major Glenda Hentzschel, Secretary,
Brisbane Chapter, and presented by Associate Professor Daniel Reynaud. Reynaud outlined how The
Salvation Army could use the story of Commissioner William McKenzie to engage with the ANZAC
narrative in the Australian community.6 By unpacking the myths surrounding McKenzie and then
reconstructing his story with established facts, Reynaud showed that this would better honour this
historic Salvationist. Two special events linked to Reynaud’s paper. First, three of McKenzie’s
relatives in attendance at the symposium were photographed with Reynaud: Hazel Ford (nee
Cowling), Major Glenda Hentzschel (nee Hoepper), and Del Sutton (nee McKenzie). Second,
Raynaud was able to secure independent confirmation of the music to the song McKenzie composed
and taught the troops. Since the symposium a piano arrangement of the song has been prepared.

5 For the full paper see Cecil Woodward, “Historical foundations of In Darkest England and the Way Out”, The
Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 31-41.
6 For the full paper see Daniel Reynaud, “Lest we forget: Fighting Mac, The Army and contemporary Australia”, The
Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 42-52.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 8

The author of The Man the Anzacs Revered: William ‘Fighting Mac’ McKenzie, Anzac
Chaplain with three of William McKenizie’s relatives. L to R: Hazel Ford (nee Cowling),
Associate Professor Daniel Raynaud (holding his book), Major Glenda Hentzschel (nee

Hoepper), and Del Sutton (nee McKenzie) (Photograph courtesy of the author).

Morning tea (cakes, slices, tea, coffee) was provided by the Brisbane Chapter of The Salvation
Army Historical Society, and served by members of the chapter including Glenda and Gary Lopez.
During this time, many people talked with the presenters about their papers or chatted about general
elements of history.

After morning tea Dr David Malcolm Bennett was introduced by Major Heather Drew, Vice
President, Brisbane Chapter. Bennett’s paper outlined the story of the Army’s fight against child
prostitution through its involvement in the Maiden Tribute campaign.7 The paper presented an
overview of the story and explained the Army’s place in the campaign. Drawing on this story, Bennett
challenged contemporary Christians to be awake to issues facing the Christian faith in modern society.
Bennett’s paper was presented in two parts.

The final paper and presenter for the morning was introduced by Rachel Hentzschel, special
project coordinator, Brisbane Chapter. From his PhD research, Matthew Seaman8 presented a
historical understanding of Salvationists towards the environment and nature. The paper gave both
individual and organisational examples of how Salvationists and the Army have seen their spirituality
linked to the protection of the physical world.

Symposium book launch

A special event on Saturday was the launch of the book, Darkness and Deliverance: 125 Years of the
In Darkest England scheme which was dedicated by Commissioner James Condon. This launch was
made all the more special as four of the authors were in attendance: Matthew Seaman (also the editor),

7 For the full paper see David Malcolm Bennett, “‘The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon’ Affair”, The Australasian
Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 53-71.
8 For the full paper see Matthew Seaman, “Salvationist socio-ecotheological histories”, The Australasian Journal of
Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 72-83.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 9

Dr. David Malcolm Bennett, Garth R. Hentzschel and Rachel Hentzschel. In addition to this, some
presenters and others had books for sale and were happy to autograph their work.

A prayer of dedication at the launch of Darkness and Deliverance. L to R: Co-authors; Rachel
Hentzschel, Matthew Seaman (editor), Garth R. Hentzschel, and Dr David Malcolm Bennett

with Commissioner James Condon
(Photograph courtesy of the Glenda Hentzschel).

During the lunch break, people explored local shops and the food court in the nearby Sunshine
Plaza. Then just as the afternoon sessions were about to begin, the symposium organisers were called
upon to assist with an accident outside the hall. They were alerted to the situation when a man walked
into the hall and said: “As soon as I saw that The Salvation Army was here, I knew I was alright
because they would help me.” As the people in the symposium prayed, others went to the street to
assist the injured person. It was a practical example of how The Salvation Army is still needed and
valued today.

The first paper for the afternoon was introduced by Laura Macleod, member at large, Brisbane
Chapter. In this paper, Dr Jayne Krisjanous9 from New Zealand outlined the commencement of her
research into the war work of The Salvation Army, in particular the activities of the Army with
displaced persons after World War Two in Europe. This led to Krisjanous’ question of what did the
Army in Australia and New Zealand do for these people and what could we learn from this for the
current refugee crisis.

Robert Marshall, Treasurer, Brisbane Chapter, introduced the second paper of the afternoon
which gave the religious context of The Salvation Army’s commencement and development on the
Sunshine Coast. Dr Ray Kerkhove spoke about his research into the history of spirituality in the area
from the indigenous connection to the land through to the rise of the campus-style mega-churches
with their schools, church facilities, activity centres and even aged-care residences - all on the same
site.10

A special treat at afternoon tea was samples from Major Cathryn Williamson’s new cook book
2 Thumbs Up; a dozen dozen brilliant biscuits. The book was sold in the symposium bookstall with
proceeds going to The Salvation Army’s Trafficking and Slavery House which supports women at
risk in Australia. Williamson’s first book, 2 Thumbs Up a dozen dozen sensational slices, has sold
almost 4,000 copies since June 2015.

9 This paper is not included in this edition of the AJSAH.
10 See Ray Kerkhove, “Milieu and context: Towards a comprehensive history of religious change on the Sunshine
Coast”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 111-129.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 10

Sample of food from Major Cathryn Williamson’s new cook book, 2 Thumbs Up; a dozen dozen
brilliant biscuits. The book was on sale in the symposium bookstall
(Photograph courtesy of the author).

Garth R. Hentzschel again introduced Major Kingsley Sampson who presented an overview of
the commencement of The Salvation Army in New Zealand.11 Sampson introduced the main
participants in the story and outlined the dramatic spread of the Army throughout the two islands in
its first decade (1883-1893).

Robert Marshall introduced Veronica Dawson and her paper which presented a topic little
known to Salvationists.12 Dawson spoke about her research for her book, Chinchilla’s communal
settlers and in particular the Mizpah commune and the people linked with The Salvation Army who
worked on communal farms. The paper argued that the Salvationists’ faith helped them achieve in
ways that other farming communes did not.

The final paper of the afternoon session was introduced by Gary Lopez, member at large,
Brisbane Chapter and presented by the treasurer of the Brisbane Chapter, Robert Marshall.13 Marshall
used his personal experience to highlight the need to look after records in Army centres, including
the corps history book. He explained how archive materials are destroyed and the dangers modern
technology could place upon the keeping of historical information. At the end of this talk, the
symposium broke for dinner.

11 See Kingsley Sampson, “Opening fire: A brief analysis of The Salvation Army’s first decade in New Zealand”, The
Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 130-136.
12 Veronica Dawson, “Queensland’s Mizpah commune and The Salvation Army influence”, The Australasian Journal
of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 137-149.
13 Robert Marshall, “Is the Corps History Book a wake up call for us today?”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation
Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 150-154.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 11

Many of the presenters from the symposium. L to R: Dr Jayne Krisjanous, Matthew
Seaman, Dr David Malcolm Bennett, Garth R. Hentzschel. Major Kingsley Sampson,
Robert Marshall, Associate Professor Dr Daniel Reynaud, Veronica Dawson, Major Cecil
Woodward, (not in photograph Dr Ray Kerkhove) (Photograph courtesy of Rachel

Hentzschel).

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 12

Saturday evening program

Saturday evening of the symposium was introduced by Major Glenda Hentzschel and was a paper
presented by Garth R. Hentzschel on the secular tunes used in the early days of The Salvation Army.14
The audience sang words to or watched clips of selected secular tunes; then sang the Salvation Army
words for a number of the tunes, often with clapping and timbrels. The singing was accompanied by
piano expertly played by Meg Johnson. The paper questioned a number of myths about the tunes and
quotations of secular lyrics used by the Army. One secular song, Champagne Charlie was given as
an example of how historians in the past have not always got the story correct.

Sunday at the symposium

The day turned out to be another full day both for symposium visitors and Maroochydore corps folk.
A number of symposium delegates attended the Maroochydore Corps’ morning prayer meeting and
thanked God for the weekend as well as for the day ahead.

The Sunday morning meeting was led by The Salvation Army Historical Society, Brisbane
Chapter.15 Members augmented the corps band, outlined songs and provided morning tea. The theme
of the meeting linked with the symposium’s theme of the wake-up call. Romans 12:1-8, read by Major
Kingsley Sampson, was used to illustrate the need for Salvationists to wake-up to be a living sacrifice
in the message delivered by Garth R. Hentzschel.

The final session of the symposium was presented by Hentzschel who used historical
information from The Salvation Army to argue that there was a need for the Army to ‘wake up’.16
Using examples from the growth and development of the Army on the Sunshine Coast, Hentzschel
showed how lessons from history could be used to assist the Army into the future. The symposium
officially concluded after this paper.

Papers were linked to the Heritage Society’s Facebook and most are published here in this issue
of the Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History which is acting as the symposium’s official
record of proceedings.

Additional outing

After the symposium there was an additional activity, a driving tour of Salvation Army
historical sites on the Sunshine Coast. The drive was developed from Dr Ray Kerkhove and Garth R.
Hentzschel’s research into The Salvation Army in the area.17 A minibus and three cars took people to
a number of locations. The first stop was the location of the original Salvation Army Cotton Tree
campsite where Kerkhoves talked about the indigenous dream time stories and the later Scripture
Union Camps while Hentzschel talked about Army camps and their impact on the area. Next the
Country Women’s Association (CWA) hall was visited. This is where Maroochydore Corps held their

14 Garth R. Hentzschel, “Why should the devil have all the good music? The Christian use of contrafactum and parody”,
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 155-181.
15 Garth R. Hentzschel and The Salvation Army Historical Society, Brisbane Chapter, “Overview of the symposium
holiness meeting – ‘Wake up – Be the living sacrifice!”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2,
2016, 182-189.
16 Garth R. Hentzschel, “History is our wake-up call! A case study from the history of The Salvation Army on the
Sunshine Coast, Queensland?”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 190-203.
17 Garth R. Hentzschel and Ray Kerkhove, “A driving tour of Salvation Army historical sites on the Sunshine Coast”,
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 204-211.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 13

meetings prior to the opening of their current citadel. At the site, corps members talked about the long
history of the Salvationists meeting in the area prior to the official establishment of an outpost in
1986. From here the group travelled past Kiels Mountain to the old Diddillibah School hall which
had earlier been identified by Kerkhove. This is the hall that was used by the Diddillibah outpost from
1894. From here the group visited the Nambour citadel and the land once occupied by the Bli Bli
Salvation Army hall.

Above: Some of the group outside the CWA hall used by the Maroochydore Corps
prior to the relocation to the current citadel.

Below: At the old Diddillibah hall used by The Salvation Army.
(Photographs courtesy of Rachel Hentzschel).

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 14

Sincere thanks

Finally, a weekend like this doesn't just happen. Sincere thanks needs to be given in four areas:
1) Maroochydore Corps of The Salvation Army, as they opened their buildings for the weekend
and generously allowed the presenters to use the technical equipment for presentations and
for the chapter to use the kitchen to supply morning teas, afternoon teas and suppers;
2) Majors Glenda and Kevin Hentzschel, for the preparation of the halls, posters of Salvation
Army historical quotations, placing the symposium’s theme and posters on the front wall of
the hall and looking after the registration table;
3) Members of The Salvation Army Historical Society, Brisbane Chapter and especially the
committee, for the work in the kitchen and for the introduction of the presenters; and
4) Belinda Youssef, for running the very successful symposium book stall which sold both
books written by some of the presenters and second hand Salvation Army books.

Evaluation of the symposium by delegates

People who attended the symposium were asked to evaluate the weekend and from this feedback it
can be stated that the weekend was a success. Following is an overview of the feedback received from
the weekend.

People in the symposium were asked to give an overall satisfaction rating. The results were:

1. Very Satisfied 86%
2. Somewhat Satisfied 14%
3. Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied 0%
4. Somewhat Dissatisfied 0%
5. Very Dissatisfied 0%

Additional comments people made in connection with overall satisfaction:

1. There were interesting topics.
2. Loved Saturday night’s sing-along of old songs!
3. Most excellent.
4. It gives a personal face to the people who are researching and also a chance to encourage all

interested both researchers and also everyday inquirer to learn more.
5. Time well spent.
6. Excited about the work being done.
7. Stimulating presentation.
8. Good organisation
9. Great networking.
10.Very satisfied – Great learning experience - very informative.
11.A great and informative time in all avenues.
12.The presenters spoke very well and stuck to their time limit
13.The presenters showed passion for their topic.
14.Well done.
15.Three people stated – “Very interesting”.
16.Four people stated – “A good weekend”.

People were asked what was most valuable about the symposium. Some of the responses were;

1. The fun way it was presented.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 15

2. That it ran to a tight time schedule.
3. It gave me lots of information.
4. The fellowship with the presenters and corps folk.
5. That it let people know that our History should be a guide to our actions in the future.
6. Whether presentations were by ‘professionals’ or someone with a special interest, the information

was well researched and balanced.
7. Qualified speakers.
8. Quality of research.
9. Variety of the topics which were well researched and well presented.
10.Networking and establishing contacts.
11.The non-Salvationist input was great.
12.Finding more about our past.
13.The presenters gave us a realisation of what we need to think about in order for The Salvation

Army to thrive in the near future.
14.Rekindled my fire – a better understanding of The Salvation Army.
15.All good.
16.Passionate speakers
17.Sing-a-long on Saturday night
18.The whole background history.
19.The width and the depth of the scholarship.
20.The in-depth research and openness to analytical inquiry and practical outcomes (lessons) from the

research.
21.All the detail.
22.Fellowship and learning

To the question of, ‘What was least valuable about the symposium?’ there were only three comments;

1. A couple of speakers, although had interesting information, didn’t speak well to create interest.
2. On a scale of 1-10 - Nothing
3. All was interesting.

Using a five point Likert scale, people at the symposium were asked to evaluate the following

elements of the symposium and again the results were very positive.

Poor

Fair

Good
Very
good
Excellent

Quality of presentations 66.6% 33.3% 9.5% 9.4%
Quality of Information 71.5% 28.5% 28.5%
Quality of Material 63% 37%
Relevance of Symposium Contents 43% 47.5% 9%
Length of Presentations 48% 23.5% 24%
Venue/facilities 63% 28% 24%
Meal arrangements 52% 24% 19%
Advertising 33.3% 33.3% 9.4%
Registration process 47.7% 33.3%
Length of Symposium 47.6% 43%

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 16

Evaluation of the symposium by the Brisbane Chapter committee
The Brisbane Chapter committee also debriefed the weekend and reviewed the feedback. From this
they have decided that the next symposium will be held in 2018. The committee have set in place a
number of additional ideas for the next symposium. One of the major issues was that of advertising.
The committee wishes to let readers know the extent to which advertising was produced. Information
about the weekend appeared in the Queensland divisional newsletter, Under the Tricolour and on The
Salvation Army Officer and Employee Bulletin Board. Emails were sent to all serving officers and
retired officers in Queensland, members of the Brisbane Chapter of The Salvation Army Historical
Society, Salvation Army heritage and archive centres around the world, Salvation Army historians in
Canada, USA, UK and New Zealand, and Sydney Chapter committee members. Letters were sent to
members of the Brisbane Chapter of The Salvation Army Historical Society and local historical
societies. Yet despite this, there appears to be a breakdown between those who received the
information and those who needed to receive it. For this reason, the committee has begun to look for
local corps representatives who will pass information on to others in their corps.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 17

The Salvation Army, Maroochydore Corps citadel,
the venue for The Salvation Army History Symposium, 2016.

(Photograph courtesy of Maroochydore Corps)

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 18

SOULS, SAINTS, HUMANITY:
WHAT LESSONS MIGHT THE SALVATION ARMY TAKE FROM ITS

HISTORY THAT WILL KEEP IT TRUE TO ITS MISSION?

By
Kingsley Sampson

Defining The Salvation Army’s mission

Eminent South African missiologist David Bosch (1932-1992) in his seminal work Transforming
Mission defined Christian mission as, “… quite simply, the participation of Christians in the liberating
mission of Jesus … It is the good news of God’s love, incarnated in the witness of a community, for
the sake of the world.”1

The Salvation Army sits within this broad definition of the church's mission and has been
described as “a permanent mission to the unsaved and the marginalised”.2 Among the popular slogans
used to describe this mission have been; “Saved to Save”,3 “Saved to Serve”,4 “Heart to God and
hand to man”,5 “The World for God”,6 “Saving souls, growing saints and serving suffering
humanity”,7 and “Caring for people, transforming lives and reforming society”.8

These slogans highlight the need to state our mission clearly in order to avoid mission drift or
mission capture. In addition, the debates of the last 20 years about The Salvation Army’s principles,
non-negotiables and DNA also underscore the necessity for each generation to reframe the purpose
of The Salvation Army in their own words.

I would argue that this reframing can only be done with a due recognition of our history and
our founding vision. We need to study our past, determine key principles and seek to apply or replicate
these in today’s world.

Further I believe The Salvation Army has two key charisms, to use a Roman Catholic term; that
of evangelism and social service. Any restatement of our mission that ignores either of these is

Reference citation of this paper
Kingsley Sampson, “Souls, saints, humanity: What lessons might The Salvation Army take from its history that
will keep it true to its mission?”, The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 18-30.
The paper was presented as the key note address at ‘History – Our Wake Up Call?’, Salvation Army History
Symposium 22-24 July 2016, Maroochydore, Australia, The Salvation Army Eastern Territory Historical Society,
Brisbane Chapter.
1 David Bosch. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, (Maryknoll, USA: Orbis, 1991), 390.
Full quote: “Mission is, quite simply, the participation of Christians in the liberating mission of Jesus, wagering on a
future that verifiable experience seems to belie. It is the good news of God's love, incarnated in the witness of a
community, for the sake of the world.”
2 The Salvation Army, “The Salvation Army in the body of the Church”, Southern African Territory,
http://salvationarmy.org.za/the-salvation-army-in-the-body-of-christ/ ¶15 accessed on 6 August, 2016.
3 Anon, “Saved to save”, (USA, Centre for spiritual life development, 2016),
http://www.salvationarmy.org/csld/sahops2s accessed on 11 August, 2016.
4 Rusty Hodges, “Saved to serve” more same mission. new generation (NSW, Australia: The Salvation Army, 14 May,
2010) https://salvos.org.au/more/whats-new/2010/05/14/saved-to-serve/ assessed on 11 August, 2016.
5 Anon, “Heart to God, hand to man”. (London, UK: The Salvation Army International, n.d.).
6 Evangeline Booth, “The World for God!”, Songs of the Evangel, (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing & Supplies,
1937), 9-10.
7 John Gowans, “Gowans wows ‘em, General’s dynamic message challenge and inspire delegates”, New Frontier,
(USA Western Territory, Vol. 18, No. 14, 28 July, 2000), 9.
8 Donald C. Bell, Annual Report 2012, Caring for people. Transforming lives. Reforming Society, (New Zealand: Public
Relations Director, The Salvation Army, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory, 2012).

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 19

inadequate. To use Roger Green’s phrase, we are involved in a “War on Two Fronts.”9 Or as William
Booth noted: “The Salvation Army is a bird that needs two wings to fly – evangelism and social
service. It can't fly on only one wing.”10

Drawing on Bosch’s definition then, how has The Salvation Army participated in the liberating
mission of Jesus, and how has it incarnated God’s love in a witnessing community for the sake of the
world? What lessons, positive and negative, can we learn that will help us keep true to our mission in
the 21st century? As Peter Brookshaw and Stephen Court state in their book Holy!: “There is truth to
be learned from past generations.”11

Positives

Point One - Our history provides us with great stories of faith and daring by remarkably young people

Kate Booth, the eldest daughter of William and Catherine Booth was known as La Marechale in
France and Switzerland.12 She was already an accomplished preacher and evangelist by her late teens
and knew how to quell a boisterous crowd. According to her father, she was skilled at turning defeat
into victory.

At age 22 she pioneered The Salvation Army in France (1881) and then Switzerland (late in
1882). Many thought it extremely unwise to send her and two women companions to Paris, given her
health, their personal safety and only a working knowledge of French. Kate Booth and her
companions faced many obstacles including living in very poor accommodation.

Many rough and dangerous people came to her meetings which sometimes turned riotous. The
young Booth was mocked, mimicked, ridiculed, subjected to ribaldry and outright opposition. In one
incident she won the right to speak by allowing her opponents 20 minutes of dancing if they would
allow her 20 minutes of speaking.

After one year in Paris The Salvation Army had 100 soldiers and 80 recruits. These numbers
doubled in the next year.

Booth was later sent to Geneva, Switzerland, a key Reformation city. After some weeks she
was expelled from Geneva and later imprisoned in Neuchâtel for disobeying an order suppressing
The Salvation Army. She defended herself in court, won the case and so reinforced the right of
religious liberty in Switzerland.

When later asked about her success, she replied: “Firstly, love – Secondly, love – Thirdly, love”
and you get it by “Firstly, sacrifice – Secondly, sacrifice – Thirdly, sacrifice”.13

To this example we could add such pioneers as Eliza Shirley (aged 16) in Philadelphia, USA
(1879), Maud Charlesworth (aged 17) in France and Switzerland (1881-2), Jack Addie (aged 18) and
Joe Ludgate (age unknown) in Canada (1882) and George Pollard (aged 20) and Edward Wright (aged
21) in New Zealand (1883).

9 Roger Green, War on Two Fronts: The Redemptive Theology of William Booth, (Atlanta, USA: The Salvation Army,
1989).
10 Quoted in Gillian Downer interview in The Officer, (London, UK: July-August 2016), 25.
11 Peter Brookshaw and Stephen Court, Holy! Nine lies, half-truths and outrageous misconceptions …, (Melbourne,
Australia: Salvo Publishing, 2016), 5.
12 This section draws on material in John Larsson, Those Incredible Booths, (London, UK: Salvation Books, 2015),
135-152.
13 Larsson, Booths, 141.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 20

Point Two - Our history provides us with stirring illustrations of extraordinary work done by
dedicated people

Stephen Buick (1857-1953) became known as the Taranaki prophet.14 He was born in South Australia
and grew up at American River, Kangaroo Island. One of 16 children, as a youth he turned to drinking
and gambling. He was introduced to The Salvation Army through a brother and after getting saved,
became an officer. He had several appointments in Australia before moving to New Zealand.

Buick arrived in New Plymouth, Taranaki in 1886, two years after the corps started. He became
a postman and wore his Salvation Army uniform instead of a postal uniform. Later he gave up postal
work to be a fulltime evangelist and became well-known in the town for his one-man open air
meetings and his selling of The War Cry.

He was described as a short chap with a bushy ginger beard and a voice like a foghorn. He lived
in a rough shack with four bunk beds and ran an open house for men, young or old, drunk or sober.

His finest ministry was in the backblocks of the Taranaki. He would walk up to 60km a day
with his shoes held together with wire, and a satchel full of War Crys. He taught religion in schools
and held evangelical meetings in farmhouses. Many people were converted, some becoming officers
and some even going to the mission field. Isolated farming families welcomed his visits even if they
were not interested in his religious beliefs.

After his 70th birthday, Buick began travelling by bus and then in the 1940’s he acquired a
Model T Ford which he named ‘Lizzie’. With Lizzie as his transport, he sold up to 840 War Crys a
week. One person recalled the noise he made entering a small town. He was driving on the wheel
rims because he had punctured all the tyres. The car was damaged beyond repair in 1947 so at age 89
he was back on the road on foot, averaging 20km per day until the age of 94.

Buick was awarded the Order of the Founder in 1925 and given a Coronation Medal in 1953.
At age 95 he spent time in hospital seriously ill, but recovered and was soon back on road again – a
stooped, tousled haired man with white and bristly whiskers, a crackly voice and a uniform green
with age. He died on 1 December 1953, aged 96 and was buried in New Plymouth’s Te Henui
Cemetery.

To the example of Stephen Buick we could add that of outstanding World War One chaplain
William McKenzie known as ‘Fighting Mac’.

Point Three – Our history gives inspiring accounts of mission activity and sacrifice

Frederick Tucker, later Frederick Booth-Tucker upon his marriage to Emma, second daughter of
William and Catherine Booth,15 could be called the Army’s ‘Apostle to India’ on account of his total
identification with the poor of that country.16

He was born in 1853 in North-East India where his father was a collector of customs. His
parents were devout Anglicans and one grandfather was a retired general of the Grenadier Guards.

14 This section draws on material in Sorrel Hoskin, “The Taranaki Prophet”, Hallelujah! (Sydney, Australia, Vol. 3, Iss.
3, 2010), 6-8.
15 Tucker’s first wife, Louisa Bode died in 1887. She was eighteen years his senior. In 1888 he married Emma Booth
who was tragically killed in a railway accident in the United States of America in 1903. In 1906 he married a third time,
to Minnie Reid.
16 This section draws on Harry Williams, Booth-Tucker: William Booth’s First Gentleman, (London, UK: Hodder &
Stoughton, 1980), 72-134.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 21

He was raised in a house with servants and later schooled in Britain where he passed the Indian Civil
Service (ICS) exams.

Tucker had been converted in a Dwight L. Moody campaign in the United Kingdom in 1875,
to his family’s great dismay. When back in India he heard about The Salvation Army and took four
months leave from his position as an assistant commissioner to go to London to investigate. William
Booth was unsure about Tucker as he belonged to the ‘dangerous classes’ but eventually Booth
relented and made him a major.

Joining the Army meant resigning from the ICS, forfeiting his position in society, his salary of
£800 per annum17 (c. £87,000 in 2015) and his pension. His Army allowance was only a few shillings
per week. His father’s reaction to this move was to cut him out of his will and his life.

Tucker eventually persuaded William Booth to let him return to India to start The Salvation
Army. From his previous experience Tucker was convinced that a different approach from that
currently adopted by Christian mission societies was needed in India. He had read about the Jesuit
Francis Xavier, a Roman Catholic missionary in the mid sixteenth century who lived among
fishermen along the South East coast of India. He had also read of an Italian scholar named Breschi
who settled among the Tamils, taking a Tamil name and wearing Tamil clothes.

Tucker wrote: “India will never surrender to Christ as long as the Saviour of the white races
appears before her people in European dress.”18 Among other things, he proposed that Salvation
Army missionaries should abandon their Christian names and Western clothes. So his officers wore
the type of dress worn by lower caste people. Men wore a dhoti wrapped around like a skirt and
draped through the legs as in Gujerat with a red jacket, turban and a shoulder cloth, while women
wore a sari. His officers also took Indian names with Tucker becoming known as Fakir Singh,
meaning Prince of Mendicants (beggars).

His officers begged for their food and supplies like a religious mendicant and they lived so
frugally that at times they almost starved. They travelled third class in trains and sat on the floor to
eat their food.

On one occasion Tucker and his lieutenant were asleep under a tree and a passing Indian
businessman was surprised to see a European in Indian dress. He then noticed Tucker’s bare and
blistered feet. The businessman told people in his own village what he had seen and they came to see
this strange sight. They waited while Tucker and his lieutenant were reading and then invited them to
their village for food. There were several seekers at the end of the meeting held that evening.

This self-denying Spartan approach and deep identification with an alien people helped
establish The Salvation Army in India. It also appealed to others and in the thirty months from 1896-
1899, 192 expatriate officers came to assist.

Paul Rader, Salvation Army General and missiologist wrote:

The Army pioneers in India entered in to one of the most thorough-going experiments in
missionary identification and cultural adaptation since the Jesuit missionary to India, Robert de
Nobili in the 17th century. … Eventually the more extreme forms of sacrificial identification
proved impractical and were abandoned for more moderate, yet still controversial, practices that
gave the Salvationist missioners an acceptance among the common people often denied others.19

17 As an indication of the value of this salary, the total International Headquarters wage bill at this time was £400 per
annum. Williams, Booth-Tucker, 61.
18 Williams, Booth-Tucker, 85.
19 Paul A. Rader, with Kay F Rader, and Stephen Court (ed), To Seize This Day of Salvation, (London, UK: Salvation
Books, 2015), 132.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 22

Booth-Tucker spent over 20 years in India as a Salvation Army officer, from 1882-1891 and from
1907-1919 and he is still highly revered by Indian Salvationists today.

Other examples of incarnational ministry in the spirit of Booth-Tucker would be the Slum
Sisters of the Gutter and Garret Brigades throughout the United Kingdom in the late nineteenth
century and the late twentieth century example of Danielle Strickland and others living in the poorest
area in Vancouver, Canada and ministering to drug addicts, prostitutes and the homeless of their
neighbourhood.

Point Four – Our history has audacious examples of spirit-led initiative

Commissioner Peter Chang was territorial commander in Korea from 1991-1994. The Salvation
Army needed to replace an old people’s home at Kwachun.20 At a lunch meeting with Mr Chung Ju-
young, the founder of the Hyundai company, Chang asked for a donation of 500 million won (about
US$7 million) to build a new home. On the following Tuesday a company representative arrived with
cheque for 300 million won. Chang said there must be some mistake as the Army had asked for 500
million. At this the Hyundai representative took the cheque away, leaving other Salvation Army staff
very upset at the territorial commander turning down such a handsome donation. However, his
audacity was rewarded when the same representative returned two days later with a cheque for 500
million won and so the new home was built.

Other examples of spirit-led initiative include the Maiden Tribute of 1885 and the ‘Lights in
Darkest England’ Matchbox factory in the 1890’s, both in the United Kingdom, and the challenge to
licensed prostitution in Japan in the early 20th century.

Point Five – Our history shows us that important advances are not always made with official sanction
or directive

The origins of The Salvation Army in Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) date back to the early
1920s.21 Some men from villages in the Gwembe Valley on the northern banks of the Zambezi River
went to work in a mica mine in Southern Rhodesia and were converted under the ministry of The
Salvation Army. When they returned home they started holding meetings in their villages (1922). In
1924 officers were appointed and gradually more corps and also schools were opened, culminating
in the opening in the mid-1940s of what eventually became Chikankata Mission. Later in the 1970s
it was not uncommon for someone to arrive at command headquarters in Lusaka and ask for uniforms,
badges, a flag and song books. Upon enquiry they would name the village they were from. The
headquarters staff would say: “But we have no Salvation Army there”, to which the reply would
invariably come: “But we are The Salvation Army; we’ve started it.”22 This self-seeding of the Army
has continued in more recent times where stories have emerged of people schooled or trained at
Chikankata who have been appointed to a government job far away from any Salvation Army corps

20 This section draws on Peter H. Chang, The Salvation Army in Korea, (Korea: The Salvation Army, 2007), 110-120.
21 Deslea Maxwell (ed), The Salvation Army Year Book 2016, (London, UK: The Salvation Army, 2015), 279-280.
Other information with some variation in dates and details is found in: Beverley McInnes. Flag Across The Zambezi: A
history of The Salvation Army in the Zambia and Malawi Territory, 1922-1997, (Lusaka, Zambia: The Salvation Army,
1997), 7-12.
22 Recollections of Brigadier Laura Dutton, Assistant General Secretary, Zambia Command, mid-1970s. n.d.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 23

and so they have started their own. In 1978 Zambia reported 40 corps and 38 outposts23 with a senior
soldiers’ roll of around 3000. The Salvation Army Year Book 2016 records 143 corps, 253 outposts
and a senior soldiers’ roll of 28,000 in Zambia.24

Korea provides two other examples of soldier-led initiative. Corps Secretary Park Ne-Uk, a silk
scarf businessman built and opened ten new corps while Recruiting Sergeant Kim Ki-Chul, a school
teacher, would start a new corps if there was no Army presence where he was appointed. As a result
he planted five new corps and two centres of prayer.25

Point Six – Our history shows the innovative use of technology to spread the gospel

One example would be the use of the Limelight and Cinematograph in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. The role of Joseph Perry and The Salvation Army’s Biorama is well documented
in Australia’s film history. A recent publication outlines the Army’s use of the cinematograph in
Britain and India.26 A further example would be William Booth’s motor tours of the United Kingdom
in the early twentieth century.

Point Seven – Our history contains the sacrificial service of many ordinary but dedicated soldiers
and local officers

Every corps and centre has them – the everyday Salvationist who has dedicated time, energy and
talent to spread the gospel through musical sections, works of mercy and service, teaching and
training of children, pub booming and so on. A New Zealand example would be Envoy Olive Lord
who was corps cadet guardian at Linwood, Christchurch for more than 20 years. An Australian
example would be Envoy James Stewart Crocker of Broken Hill, who was a hospital visitor for over
40 years and became known as the Chaplain to the Barrier.

These stories illustrate some of the positives in our history as we have sought to save souls,
grow saints and serve suffering humanity.

Negatives

In a recent accountability movement pamphlet, General André Cox wrote: “We must be keen to learn
from our successes but also our failures.”27 We now address some of these.

Point One - Our history provides us with warnings about ill-conceived plans and ill-thought out
activities

23 Anon, The Salvation Army Year Book 1978, (London, UK: The Salvation Army, 1977).
24 Maxwell, The Salvation Army Year Book 2016.
25 Chang, The Salvation Army in Korea, 134-136.
26 Tony Fletcher, The Salvation Army and the Cinematograph 1897-1929: a religious tapestry in Britain and India,
(London, UK: Local History Publications, 2015).
27 André Cox in, Accountable to God and Each Other: a brief guide to The Salvation Army’s Accountability Movement.
(No publication details), 2.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 24

One example is The Salvation Army’s involvement in the public protest in New Zealand in 1985
around the Homosexual Law Reform Bill.28

A bill to decriminalise homosexual activity between consenting males aged sixteen and over,
plus a change to the 1977 Human Rights Commission Act making it unlawful to discriminate on the
grounds of sexual orientation was suddenly introduced as a private member’s bill to the House of
Representatives by Ms Fran Wilde, Member of Parliament (MP) for Wellington Central on 8 March
1985. A previous bill in 1975 had been defeated by only five votes and this became a hot political
issue especially as the fate of the bill was to be decided by a conscience vote of MPs.

The Salvation Army became closely involved when four MPs (two from each side of the House)
and two prominent Christian businessmen sponsored a citizen’s petition against the bill and requested
the Army’s support in collecting signatures. This was given by senior Salvation Army leaders of the
day and suddenly Salvationists heard that they would be using the Red Shield Appeal Door Knock
system to go door-to-door collecting signatures from every household in New Zealand. The Army’s
stance was strongly opposed by the Gay Task Force with acts of vandalism, attempts to disrupt Army
meetings and distortions of Salvation Army attitudes towards homosexuals.

The petition was presented to parliament in September 1985 with 815,000 signatures, roughly
25% of NZ’s population at that time. Senior Salvation Army leaders also appeared before the
Standing Committee of the House of Representatives in September 1985 to explain the Army’s
viewpoint.

Not every Salvationist agreed with The Salvation Army’s official stance. Major Campbell
Roberts has commented that:

the petition divided Salvationists, some being confused, some supporting it, and others feeling
deeply distressed by a perceived lack of compassion for the suffering of homosexuals and the
apparent capture of the Army by some extreme political activists.29

A group of Salvationists presented a counter petition expressing their belief that the law should
not be used to enforce morality while Salvationists involved in our social services felt marginalised
on this matter, but powerless to act. No recognition was given to the fact that some Salvationists had
gay family members and that the official stance might cause distress to such Salvationists.

Part One of the bill was passed in April 1986 by 41 votes to 36. Part Two was rejected by 49
votes to 31.

Fears that The Salvation Army’s involvement might affect the March 1986 Red Shield Appeal
proved groundless with income from the residential appeal increasing by 29% over the 1985 figure.
But over time the Army’s involvement in the petition meant that our reputation was seriously
impacted with some New Zealanders perceiving that the formerly compassionate Salvation Army
was now demonstrating hatred for gay people. The evangelical slogan ‘Love the sinner but hate the
sin’ used during the campaign no doubt reinforced this. In fact Fran Wilde, the promoter of the bill
said in 2006 that The Salvation Army “put considerable resources into the petition, and I have never
given them a cent since. I will not give any money to the Sallies on principle … I know that may
seem stupid now, but they caused such strife with that petition.”30

28 Material for this section comes from Cyril Bradwell’s autobiography, Cyril Bradwell, Touched With Splendour: a
20th century pilgrimage, (Wellington, NZ: Flag, 2003), 248-250.; The Salvation Army, Many Voices In Mission: 25
years of The Salvation Army in New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga – 1983-2008, (Wellington, NZ: Flag, 2008), 63.
29 Salvation Army, Many Voices, 63.
30 David Parrish, “Fran Wilde: The MP who fronted the fight for our freedom”, gaynz.com, 7 July, 2006,
http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/32/article_1327.php ¶ 24, accessed 13 July 2016.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 25

In 2006 Commissioner Garth McKenzie wrote a letter to the gay community expressing the
Army’s regret for the hurt caused them during the activities of 1985. In response, the territorial
commander received a gracious letter from members of the gay community accepting the Army’s
apology. Later in 2006 when the Civil Union Bill was before parliament, the Army’s response was
far more measured and compassionate.

In thinking about this campaign the following points can be made: This was not a twentieth
century version of the Maiden Tribute as some people thought. We acted out of ignorance, we had
not done our homework, we failed to read the public mood for change and in the public debate we
were linked with a slogan that was deemed offensive and uncaring, ‘Love the sinner but hate the sin’.
In the public mind we were seen as having been captured by some extreme political activists. We
were propelled into an action by a few senior leaders who gave no opportunity for Salvationists to
reflect on and present a more considered response.31

Other New Zealand examples could be the public mourning for the sins of Wellington held
during the 1927 congress and in Auckland during the Auckland Congress Hall opening celebrations
in 1928. These happened when Commissioner James Hay was territorial commander.32 It has been
said that in Auckland’s case the city was offended and the Army’s work suffered as a result. A survey
of letters to the editor in Auckland’s NZ Herald for August-September 1928 does not support this. As
with the Homosexual Law Reform debate, any long-term effects would not have been immediately
apparent but people still referred to it negatively when the author was stationed in Auckland in the
1980s.

Point Two - Our history highlights the tensions that can arise within The Salvation Army when
different parts of the Army hold diverging views on serious issues

The Salvation Army’s mission history in Zimbabwe clearly demonstrates this.33
The Salvation Army entered Rhodesia in 1891 in an era of white-dominated Western expansion

in Africa and initial efforts were directed towards white settlers. Major John Pascoe and his team
were sent from South Africa to Rhodesia with a clear mandate – first to preach and care for white
settlers who had arrived in the country, and second, to find land for jobless and homeless people from
Britain. This tied in with the overseas colonies aspect of the Darkest England scheme. The mission’s
original target was not the Shona and Ndebele people of Rhodesia but ministry to those people
developed later. Over time The Salvation Army became one of the largest churches in Rhodesia,
primarily through the number of African adherents.

The Salvation Army was intertwined with the politics of the day from its beginning. Cecil
Rhodes, who with his British South Africa Company was in charge of Rhodesia from 1891-1923 gave
the Army a 3000-acre farm (about 1200 hectares) at Mazowe34, land that had been confiscated from
the Africans who owned it. Later some white Western officers and white soldiers were supportive of

31 For a more detailed assessment see Ian Hutson, The Salvation Army and the 1985 Homosexual Reform Bill in New
Zealand, (Salvation Army Archives and Heritage Centre, Upper Hutt: Unpublished paper, 2002).
32 Cyril Bradwell, Fight the Good Fight, (Wellington, NZ: Reed, 1982), 93.
33 Material in this section drawn from: Norman H. Murdoch, Christian Warfare in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe: The Salvation
Army and African Liberation 1891-1991, (Eugene, USA: Pickwick, 2015).; Misheck Nyandoro, A Flame of Sacred
Love: The Salvation Army in Zimbabwe 1890-1991, (Harare, Zimbabwe: The Salvation Army, n.d.).
34 Two spellings have been used over the years – Mazoe and Mazowe. Mazowe is used in Murdoch, Christian Warfare
in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, and Maxwell, The Salvation Army Year Book 2016.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 26

the status quo in the form of Ian Smith’s Rhodesia Front government that had declared UDI
(Unilateral Declaration of Independence) in 1965. Things became further complicated in the 1970s
with Zimbabwean Salvationists aligning themselves with the various freedom fighter groups and
some even joining them.

Three particular incidents highlight the challenges presented by diverging viewpoints. First, the
deaths of Sharon Swindells and Diane Thompson at Ussher Institute in 1978 were presented to the
wider Salvation Army as martyrdom, while the deaths of Zimbabwean Salvationists during the
freedom struggles were virtually ignored.35 Second, the decision of The Salvation Army to withdraw
from the World Council of Churches was from a western view in response to the perceived communist
links with the Patriotic Front, while for Zimbabwean Salvationists it was seen as a betrayal of a just
cause – the freedom to have their own majority government and not be governed by an illegal white
minority. Third, Zimbabwean Salvationists protested the sale of Pearson Farm in 1981 believing it
should either be returned to the descendants of those from whom it had been confiscated or else kept
for the original purpose of raising revenue to support the Army’s work in Zimbabwe.36

Point Three – Our history tells us that we have not always been sensitive to cultural norms or national
desires when administering the Army

The Salvation Army opened fire in Korea in 1908 and was well-established by 1926. When General
Bramwell Booth visited the country that year, some Korean Salvationists protested about what they
saw as failings in Salvation Army policies in Korea and the attitudes of some expatriate officers
towards Koreans.37

During a prayer time at the end of one meeting, instead of praying in Korean, a Korean local
officer began reading out a list of grievances in English to the General and the official party. Attempts
were made to shut down the protest and there was a scuffle when some Korean Salvationists attempted
to get up on the platform. Later at a special officers’ councils most Korean officers refused to stand
for the entry of the General and the official party, despite repeated requests. The gathering was then
dismissed and the General changed his itinerary and left Seoul earlier than planned. About thirty
officers were dismissed following these aborted councils although most were later reaccepted.

In summary the grievances were about a lack of understanding of the language, culture and
local customs by overseas officers, a lack of integration between Koreans and missionary personnel,
and a lack of a policy towards strategic growth and the development of Korean leadership.

Commissioner Peter Chang’s father was a young lieutenant in 1926 and one of those dismissed.
When pressed he very reluctantly told his son:

We Koreans wanted to proclaim the gospel to our own brethren ourselves… Though the ministry
was so well-pioneered by the missionaries, we were at the stage where we Koreans could and
wanted to administer the work ourselves.38

35 Correspondence with Harold Hill suggests that the oft-quoted figure of over 4500 Zimbabwean Salvationists killed
during the Chimurenga (freedom struggles) may have arisen from a misunderstanding over an answer to a question
posed by General Arnold Brown during a visit to Zimbabwe in the early 1980s. The figure is thought to refer to the
number missing from the Army’s rolls at the end of the war, not the number who were known to have died. Email from
Harold Hill, 8 July, 2016.
36 Murdoch, Christian Warfare in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, 181.
37 This section draws on Chang, The Salvation Army in Korea, 46-53.
38 Chang, The Salvation Army in Korea, 55.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 27

This spirit is very evident in the current state of the Korea Territory. The growth of The
Salvation Army in Korea in recent years has been remarkable despite the setbacks of the Korean War
(1950-1953) that resulted in the loss of 77 corps in the north. According to The Salvation Army Year
Book 2016 this now self-supporting territory has 256 corps, 629 active officers and over 45,000
soldiers.39 In line with government requirements, its cadets now undertake university level training.
The territory has established The Salvation Army in Mongolia and Cambodia and has sent officers to
minister to the Korean diaspora around the world.

Point Four – Our more recent history shows that we have had difficulty with moves of the Holy Spirit
that have not matched our nineteenth century holiness tradition

This is highlighted by the official [over] reaction and responses to the charismatic movement in
several countries plus the so-called ‘Worship Wars’ over musical styles. In New Zealand Aggressive
Christianity conferences in the 1980s and 1990s provided some space within a Salvation Army
context for charismatically inclined Salvationists. Naming them after one of Catherine Booth’s
books40 may have helped soften any possible opposition by suggesting that the conference proponents
were in fact aligned with the founding traditions and principles of The Salvation Army.

Point Five – Our history tells us that we have not always found a place for the colourful maverick or
the officer who is ‘different’

It is strange that a movement started by an itinerant evangelist who found it difficult to be associated
with a formal church polity has had difficulty in allowing space for its own itinerant evangelists to
function or those people whose personality type is different from the majority. As one person
commented recently at a funeral for an officer promoted to Glory on active service: “The very things
that caused a divisional commander to pull their hair out over him were the very things that were
celebrated at his funeral.”41

Yet somehow in the past, we found a place for a George Scott Railton and a Joe the Turk.
Perhaps the welcoming of the colourful maverick is part of the pioneering phase for an organisation,
but once it settles down, such people have difficulty finding a place to stand and have to go elsewhere.

Point Six – Our history shows that we do not always treat all people equally

Our publicity pictures sometimes reveal unintended aspects of our attitudes. Our advertising can
portray patronising attitudes - the beautiful Salvationist posing condescendingly with the poor,
unfortunate waif or the pathetic derelict.

Warren Maye mentions the unofficial discrimination in men’s social service centres in United
States of America in 1940’s where managers could admit whomever they chose and they often chose
not to admit African-Americans.42 He also mentioned the challenges faced by Israel and Eva Gaither

39 Maxwell, The Salvation Army Year Book 2016, 154.
40 Catherine Booth, Aggressive Christianity: Practical Sermons, (Boston, USA: McDonald & Gill, 1883).
41 Personal communication.
42 Warren L. Maye, Soldiers of Uncommon Valor: the history of Salvationists of African descent in the United States,
(West Nyack, USA: Others, 2008), 82.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 28

following their marriage in 1967 when they became the first inter-racial officer couple in The
Salvation Army in the USA.43

Apartheid in South Africa presented various challenges to The Salvation Army as it did to other
churches. This was acknowledged in the Army’s submission to the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission when it stated that:

…[while all] Salvation Army gatherings since our 1883 beginnings have been open to all races,
[o]ur failure has been in allowing the recognition of separate ethnic groupings, seen as normal at
the time, but which fostered the idea of separate development. We did not see God’s justice as
being grounded in God’s love and some of our people have been morally violated by the
inequitable distribution of resources available to us…44

Last but not least there is the ever-present issue of gender equality in our officer ranks. Leanne
Ruthven’s recent book, Hidden Treasure tellingly relates how often officer women feel underutilised
and undervalued despite all our rhetoric about equality.45 They often feel snubbed, side-lined and
silenced.

Point Seven – Our history shows us that flawed human beings do not always get it right

A prime example is William Booth for whom the all-consuming movement over-rode family ties and
common sense leading to the loss of three of his children from the officer ranks. It is also apparent
when leaders rule by bullying or fear or arrogance.

In Conclusion

Our history tells us that God has indeed blessed The Salvation Army and it has been the means of
saving, helping and transforming countless people. But like any human organisation, our history also
reveals blunders that have been made and which we should seek to avoid in the future.

General Bramwell Booth wrote:

The Salvation Army exists not so much for the Salvationist as for the whole world. So the safety
and continued life of the Army depends not upon our guarding and shepherding what we have
won, but upon our uttermost devotion to help and bless mankind. This is the grand message of
the Army of the past to the Army of the present.46

And I would add: … to the Army of the future.
Harold Hill tells the story of a 12-year old Scottish boy who came with his family to live in

Otautau, Southland, New Zealand. He looked at the Longwoods, a range of hills in the distance and
asked someone, “What’s that?” “The bush,” came the reply. The conversation then continued. “Can
anyone go there?” “Yes,” was the reply. “Who do you have to ask?” “No-one.” “Where do you go
in?” “Anywhere.” So he did, and promptly got lost. Undeterred he did it again, with the same result.

43 Maye, Soldiers of Uncommon Valor, 109-110.
44 Anon, “South Africa – The Salvation Army’s Submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, New
Frontier, (USA Western Territory, Vol.21, No.1, 11 January, 2003), 7.
45 Leanne Ruthven, Hidden Treasure: valuing women in The Salvation Army, (Melbourne, Australia: Salvo Publishing,
2014).
46 From Bramwell Booth, Trumpets of the Lord, as quoted in The Salvation Army, Conversations with the Catholic
Church, (London, UK: Salvation Books, 2014), 138-139.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 29

After several such excursions, he asked an old bushman, “How do you avoid getting lost in the bush?”
“Simple - three things to do: One, Stop. Two, Look back. Three, Often!”47

So if history is indeed our wake up call and if we are to keep true to our mission of saving souls,
growing saints and serving suffering humanity, perhaps we should do the same: One, Stop. Two,
Look back. Three, Often!

SAVE THE DATE

Salvation Army

History Symposium

27th – 29th July 2018

Queensland
Australia

47 Email from Harold Hill, 18 April, 2016.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 30

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF
IN DARKEST ENGLAND AND THE WAY OUT

By
Cecil Woodward

Introduction

The year 1890 was a transforming year for The Salvation Army. Within a couple of weeks of the
promotion to Glory of Catherine Booth, In Darkest England and The Way Out,1 the book which she
and William Booth had been discussing as it was being written, was released.2 This was not a book
that set out to establish a social service bureaucracy; it was a book to launch a social campaign to
reform the way society was dealing with the needs of poor and marginalised people. One would not
expect a comprehensive scheme such as it outlined to have emerged from nowhere as it were. It was
the product of a diverse array of dynamic ideas and practices. Rather it is often said that the coming
of Jesus into this world was God’s perfect timing for the spread of the gospel message. I believe it is
possible to view the publishing of this book as being the culmination of God weaving together a
number of necessary antecedents. This paper will trace just some of these.

John Wesley as a foundation

The preparatory soil for the ministries of both William and Catherine Booth was Methodism. The
revivals of the 18th century owe much to the evangelical fervour of John Wesley, and The Salvation
Army continues to draw from his theological insights today. At the heart of his message was the
dominant conviction that the Christian life was based on loving the Lord God with all one’s heart,
soul, mind and strength, and loving one’s neighbour as one’s self. Wesley’s conclusion was that, for
a Christian, “his [sic] heart is full of love to all mankind. Yes, and the enemies of God.”3 William
Booth similarly declared, “The religion of the Army is summed up in the two great commandments,
‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart’ and ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself’.”4 For Wesley, the impetus for living this way was God’s love; “we ‘love God because he
first loved us’, and for his sake we love our brother also.”5 Although critics of Wesley accused him
of teaching a salvation by works, the reverse was the truth: salvation produces good works. “Faith,
unless it produces good deeds, is dead and useless.”6

Reference citation of this paper
Cecil Woodward, “Historical foundations of In Darkest England and the Way Out”, The Australasian Journal of
Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 31-41.
The paper was presented at ‘History – Our Wake Up Call?’, Salvation Army History Symposium 22-24 July 2016,
Maroochydore, Australia, The Salvation Army Eastern Territory Historical Society, Brisbane Chapter.
1 William Booth, In Darkest England and The Way Out, (London, UK: International Headquarters of The Salvation
Army), 1890.
2 Barbara Bolton, “A Denouncer of Iniquity”, 138-146, in Clifford W. Kew (ed), Catherine Booth: Her Continuing
Relevance, (London, UK: The Salvation Army International Headquarters, 1990), 145.
3 John Wesley, “The Character of a Methodist” in Alice Russie (ed), The Essential Works of John Wesley, (Ohio, USA:
Barbour Publishing, 2011), 829-831.
4 William Booth, cited by A.G. Gardiner, “At Queen Victoria Street,” in R. Gordon Moyles (ed), I knew William Booth
– An album of remembrances, (Virginia, USA: Crest Books, 2007), 46.
5 Wesley, “The Witness of the Spirit” (Sermon 10), in Russie, (ed), The Essential Works, 241.
6 James 2:17 New Living Translation.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 31

Cover of The Christian Mission Magazine 1871
(Garth R. Hentzschel’s Private Collection)

One of the many articles which outlined the social work carried out by The Christian
Mission, William Booth (ed), ‘Free suppers for the starving poor’, The Christian
Mission Magazine (London, UK, March, 1871), 41.
(Garth R. Hentzschel’s Private Collection)
The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 32

On the premise that “in a Christian believer … love of God and man fills his whole heart”,
Wesley poses the question, “Are you better instructed than to put asunder what God has joined than
to separate works of piety from works of mercy?”7 In Wesley’s early days at Oxford, the ‘Holy
Club’ or ‘Methodists’ as they were derisively called, not only practised spiritual disciplines; they
also visited prisoners, at times paying outstanding debts to allow inmates to be freed, and they
commenced a school for children of those who were poor.8 In 1749, some 15 years after those
Oxford efforts, social outreach efforts continued as Wesley, seeing the medical needs of poor
people, established a clinic. Wesley himself maintained the dispensary and practiced rudimentary
medicine. There was a school for the children of those ‘very poor’, and a revolving loan fund to
save people from having to deal with the pawnbroker9 (similar to today’s ‘No Interest Loan
Schemes’). It must be acknowledged that not all Methodists subscribed to Wesley’s expressions of
social holiness. Francis Asbury, Wesley’s first appointee to oversight his growing congregations in
the USA, abstained from entering into strong actions on his part to deal with the inhuman
treatments of slaves declaring that his sole business was to preach the gospel.10 Asbury’s decision
not to take a stand saw the 1798 rules against slavery “eventually compromised and ultimately
undercut” until “Southern Methodist preachers, such as William Capers and William A. Smith,
were composing biblical argument in favour of slavery”.11

A Profile of Nineteenth Century East London

William and Catherine Booth would be very aware of the life of Wesley, but in much of
Methodism, the focus during the nineteenth century had become more ecclesiastical with tensions
between the various factions that had developed. There was also the impact of affluent Methodists
leaving the crowded inner city for the leafy outer suburbs. For the approximately 800,000 residents
of East London, in 1869 there were 49,130 registered beer shops; one for every 16 residents. A
London Police Survey in 1861 calculated that 30,780 women worked the streets as prostitutes with
a quarter of this number living and working in the East End.12 The inner city areas increasingly
became the home of those who were poor, recent migrants from rural England and Ireland, Turkey
and Armenia. Although London was regarded as the richest city on earth, Benjamin Disraeli, soon
after being elected to the British parliament in 1837 wrote of Britain as being “two nations; between
[which] there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits,
thoughts and feelings, as if they were in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets.”13 Two
further comments provide a glimpse into the prevailing attitude during this period towards the
‘poorer classes’ by the government and judiciary. Judge Sir James Fitzsimmons Stephen, speaking
of hangings says, “No other way of disposing of criminals is equally effectual, appropriate and
cheap. There are many people, with respect to whom, it is a great advantage to society to take this

7 Wesley Center Online, “The Sermons of John Wesley - Sermon 92, On Zeal”, 1993-2011, http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-
wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-92-on-zeal accessed on 29 July, 2016.
8 Ronald H. Stone, John Wesley’s Life and Ethics, (Nashville, USA: Abingdon Press, 2001), 57.
9 Stone, John Wesley’s Life and Ethics, 102.
10 Although the Christmas Conference of 1784 maintained a strong stand against slavery Francis Ashbury did not
comment on any points relating to slavery, although he had comments to other rules introduced in 1798. Kyle Painter,
“The pro-slavery argument in the development of the American Methodist Church”, Constructing the Past, (USA: Vol.
2, Iss. 1, Article 5, 2001), 45.
11 Painter, “The pro-slavery argument”, 29.
12 Roy Hattersley, Blood and Fire – William and Catherine Booth and Their Salvation Army, (London, UK: Little,
Brown and Company, 1999), 309.
13 Benjamin Disraeli, 1845 cited in Bruce Robinson, They all Love Jack – Busting the Ripper, (UK: Harper, 2015), 449.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 33

course.” Until 1867, two of every three males did not have a vote and women’s votes were still in
the distant future. The view of this same judge against extending voting eligibility was that
incorporating “the level of the great mass [of the population] would fix the position and career of
the nation at the level of a lowland stagnant river.”14

Descriptions of East End London are of a community of poverty and disease with associated
high levels of prostitution, drunkenness and crime. The second half of 1888 was the period when
Jack the Ripper terrorised Whitechapel. This is the London which Charles Dickens vividly
describes in his novels and essays, but it is also the place where Booth would say to his wife:

O Kate, I have found my destiny. These are the people for whose salvation I have been longing
all these years. As I passed by the doors of the flaming gin-palaces I seemed to hear a voice
sounding in my ears, ‘Where can you go and find such heathen as these, and where is there so
great a need for your labours?’15

There was an obvious need for a holistic approach to address this situation.

Responses in Nineteenth Century East London

These social settings generated a period of “both social unrest and growing political concern,
poverty became a moral and political issue.”16 Of course William Booth was not the first or the last
to concentrate his attentions on the East End of London. As a known itinerant evangelist, he was
there initially in response to an invitation from the East London Special Services Committee to lead
a mission in a tent just off Mile End Road, and, as Roger Green notes, there were also already many
Methodist chapels plus the work of the City Mission Movement and Home Mission Movement
underway.17 The social devastation of the inner city continually prompted new responses. In 1885
Methodists established the West London Mission.18 The initiators believed that Methodism had
concentrated exclusively – and selfishly – on the salvation of the soul, whereas their conviction as
declared in their First Annual Report was that “the ethical teaching of Christ is applicable to
business, pleasure and politics, as well as prayer meetings and sacraments.”19 The strategy of such
missions was to remove such disincentives to church attendance as pew rents, and also to respond to
some of pressing social needs of the district. This included a crèche for the children of working
mothers, job registries with a labour exchange, home treatments for convalescents, a poor man’s
lawyer and a ‘Home of Peace for the Dying’.20 One other specific creation of this era which is
worthy of mention is Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel. Established in 1884 by Rev Samuel Barnett, its
purpose was to make the culture of a ‘higher’ strata of society accessible to those in this depressed
area. Well-wishers from the West End would visit to present concerts, art shows and educational
lectures for the East-enders.21 The focus of The Christian Mission, subsequently named The

14 Robinson, They all Love Jack, 628-629.
15 George Scott Railton, 1912 cited in Roger J. Green, Catherine Booth: A Biography of the Cofounder of The Salvation
Army, (Grand Rapids, USA: Baker Books, 1996), 156.
16 Hattersley, Blood and Fire, 353, 345.
17 Roger J. Green, The Life & Ministry of William Booth: Founder of The Salvation Army, (Nashville, USA: Abingdon
Press, 2005), 106.
18 Philip Sidney Bagwell, Outcast London, a Christian Response: The West London Mission of the Methodist Church
1887-1987, (London, UK: Epworth Press, 1987).
19 Hugh Price Hughes, in Bagwell, Outcast London, xi.
20 Bagwell, Outcast London, 37.
21 Robinson, They all Love Jack, 451.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 34

Salvation Army, was clearly revivalist and evangelical, but as it developed from an East London
mission to a Great Britain mission and subsequently to an international mission, it was unable to
resist the need for a broader engagement with those to whom it was aiming to minister.

The Early Years of William and Catherine Booth

Before exploring some of the responses made by Salvationists as they engaged with ‘their people’,
it is worth noting some of the formative experiences of William and Catherine Booth. William often
referred to his association with the community’s poorest and ‘lowest’ members as a pawn-broker’s
apprentice, a position he entered when he was only 13. One of his early social attempts was soon
after his conversion in 1844. He and Will Sansom grew concerned about “an old withered beggar-
woman who shuffled about the streets.” Together they “collected money, took a little cabin,
furnished it, and installed the old woman within, making provision for her support.”22 However,
despite this compassionate response, Harold Begbie observed that Booth’s focus quickly moved
solely to evangelistic street preaching, and social interventions fade from his life.

Frederick Booth-Tucker recounted an early expression of Catherine Booth’s heart towards
those whom society rejected. As a young girl,

…running along the road with hoop and stick, she saw a prisoner being dragged to the lock-up
by a constable. As the crowd jeered, Catherine sprang to his side, and marched down the street
with him [showing that] at least one heart sympathised with him.23

This sensitivity of character extended to the animal kingdom and throughout her life she would
intervene when she saw animals mistreated. One such incident was that, on seeing a field of over-
worked and ill-fed horses, she purchased a bushel of corn which in the evening she would then take
out to feed the horses.24 In 1865 Catherine Booth encountered and worked with ‘The Midnight
Movement’, an organisation dedicated to the rescue and redemption of prostitutes, on the premise
that they were victims and their monied patrons were the criminals. She became a driving force in
the 1884 campaign to raise the age of consent for girls.25 As a preacher at various venues in
London, she had no hesitation in identifying herself as a ‘denouncer of iniquity’26 attacking
practices and structures which effectively trapped people in ongoing social deprivation.

Opening New Doors for Salvation Army Mission in Australia

A comprehensive overview of social need responses of The Salvation Army prior to the 1890
publication of In Darkest England and the Way Out is beyond the scope of this paper. These
responses emerged in different ways in different countries. An initial focus will be what occurred
here in Australia where a range of Salvation Army first responses had their genesis.

After having already despatched two married officer couples to the new work in Australia,
William Booth appointed Major James Barker with his wife Alice to take command of the Army in

22 Harold Begbie, Life of William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, Vol. 1, (London, UK: Macmillan & Co.,
1920), 60.
23 Frederick de L. Booth-Tucker, The Life of Catherine Booth – The mother of The Salvation Army, Vol. 1, (London,
UK: International Headquarters of The Salvation Army, 1892), 18.
24 Booth-Tucker, The Life of Catherine Booth, 21.
25 Green, Catherine Booth, 250-263.
26 Bolton, “A Denouncer of Iniquity”.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 35

“all the colonies of the Southern Seas”. They landed in Melbourne on 2 September, 1882. Soon
after arrival they were introduced to John Hendy and Dr John Singleton who were already engaged
in ministry to prisoners. In the first visit to Melbourne gaol by Barker with Hendy, two prisoners
approached Barker and said, “I believe you help people in trouble. We shall be discharged in a
fortnight. Would you do anything for us?” Barker replied, “Yes, come and see me at The Salvation
Army Headquarters.”27 That initial contact grew into regular calls for help and when one indicated
that he had no accommodation to go to, Captain Shepherd who had been placed in charge of this
work, took him home. The need for this service to numbers of released prisoners prompted an effort
to locate a permanent property for this purpose. The War Cry of 8 December 1883 forecast the
opening of the first Prison Gate Home in Carlton,28 The opening which quickly followed become
the first residential facility of The Salvation Army in the world. In its first year of operation there
were four moves, each time to larger premises, eventually accommodating 20 men. Similar services
were commenced in Ballarat in 1885 and Sydney in 1886.29

While this work was proceeding with discharged male prisoners, the sister of Captain Mrs
Shepherd, Mrs McAlister, took discharged female prisoners into her home. On 4 January 1884 this
work was listed as an official institution of The Salvation Army.30 From that time onwards there is a
continual flow of reports of new Salvation Army initiatives. In April 1884, a rescue home for
women was opened in Geelong with another in Brunswick the following year which included “a
small hospital for girls suffering from venereal disease”.31 In Newtown, Sydney in 1884,
Salvationists opened a house to help those who were destitute.

One of the features of corps life was forming groups of soldiers into brigades to focus on
specific aspects of the corps’ ministries. The most familiar brigade today is probably the songster
brigade. This group of singers are not a choir but a devil-fighting unit of the corps. In 1887, at
Collingwood and Bendigo, samaritan brigades were instigated to visit the poorer quarters of their
districts to provide what help they could.32 What is of greatest significance in all of these different
efforts is that they were not organisationally created; the responses are consistently about the
average Salvationist seeing that their commitment to being a soldier of Jesus Christ required them
to make some practical responses to the social and personal needs of people for whom Jesus died.
God continues to work in this way. While there are organisational responses to particular social
issues, in many situations responses continue to arise as local people see a need in their community
and do something about it. They believe that the call to holy living demands; “that we get our hands
dirty while asking God to keep our hearts clean.”33

There were two further developments in Australia in 1890 prior to the publication of In
Darkest England and the Way Out. The year was marked by a severe economic depression with
very high unemployment. During the winter months, a free labour bureaux was opened in

27 Bill Simpson, “Court and Prison Ministry”, 50-51, in Keith Barrett (ed), 150 Years of The Salvation Army Worldwide,
(Bondi Junction, Australia: faircountmediagroup, 2015), 51.
28 Bill Simpson, “Court and Prison Ministry”.
29 Barbara Bolton, Booth’s Drum – The Salvation Army in Australia 1880-1980, (Lane Cove, Australia: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1980), 111.
30 Percival Dale, Salvation Chariot – A review of the first seventy-one years of The Salvation Army in Australia, 1880-
1951, (East Melbourne, Australia: The Salvation Army Press, 1952), 20.
31 Bolton, Booth’s Drum, 112.
32 Dale, Salvation Chariot, 21.
33 Robert Street, Called to be God’s People – The international spiritual life commission, its report, implications and
challenges, (London, UK: International Headquarter of The Salvation Army, 1999), 67.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 36

Melbourne and others followed in Sydney and Adelaide. Another response to lack of work was the
opening of a model farm of 130 hectares located 20 kilometres from Bathurst.

New Doors Open for Salvation Army Mission in Great Britain

Although chronologically Australia set some firsts, there were similar dynamics at work wherever
these people called Salvationists (or Christian Missioners) were to be found. There was an early
short lived experiment in the 1870s which is most vividly portrayed in pictures of the People’s
Market on Whitechapel Road. In the ‘People’s Soup and Coffee House,’ the signs proclaim soup for
1d. or 2d. and Australian Sheep Tongues for 1d. or Ready Cooked for 1 1/2d.34 In that same year,
1870, the leader of ‘The Sick Poor Visitation Society’, Jane Short, made an attempt to articulate the
basis of their action. “While the chief object and aim of The Christian Mission is to bring sinners to
Jesus, we feel it a duty and a privilege to minister to the bodily wants of the necessitous.”35
However by June 1877 Booth indicated that such social enterprises and services had effectively
ceased.36

Moving forward, The Christian Mission become The Salvation Army and one February night
in 1881, Mrs Elizabeth Cottrill dealt with a girl who went to the Penitent Form seeking the Saviour.
Having given her heart to God and knowing she had to leave behind her past life, Elizabeth
recalled:

‘I took her down to a home where they’d taken such girls before, but the matron looked out the
window and said, “I can’t take girls in at this hour.” … Then I went to a coffee-house. The
charge was 2s 6d, and I only had 1s, and they would not trust me till the morning. I tried another
and was told, “We don’t take females.” So I said, “I’ll take her home.” … It was nearly 12, and
my husband and six children were asleep. I gave her some supper … [and] made her up a bed in
the kitchen on some chairs with old coats and dresses…. After this, the soul-saving work
amongst these girls went on, and I would get four and even eight in my little place. So I began
to pray for a bigger house.’37

In spring 1884, ‘Mr Bramwell’ was disturbed by a tearful Cottrill. Her husband – a good long-
suffering man – could stand these strange lodgers no longer. They upset the house; it was bad for
the children. They must go – What should she do? ‘Tell your husband I perfectly understand,’
replied the young Chief of the Staff. ‘He is quite right. We will do something at once.’ Bramwell
told her to look for some rooms and eventually a house at 129 Hanbury Street was rented.38 This
work came under headquarters oversight on 22 May, 1884 and was marked as the official launching
of Salvation Army social work.39 In 1889, a crèche was opened next door offering 100 to 150 places
to the children of working mothers.40 One of the Army’s most significant actions of social reform
was the age of consent legislation of 1885 brought into sharp focus by the collaborative efforts of

34 Robert Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army – Volume one, 1865 – 1878, (London, UK: Thomas Nelson and
Sons, 1947), 137.
35 Jenty Fairbank, Booth’s Boots – The beginning of Salvation Army social work, (London, UK: International
Headquarters of The Salvation Army, 1983), 3.
36 Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army, 196.
37 Jenty Fairbank, For Such a Time – The story of the young Florence Booth, (London, UK: Salvation Books, The
Salvation Army International Headquarters, 2007), 63,64.
38 Fairbank, For Such a Time, 63,64.
39 Fairbank, Booth’s Boots, 15.
40 Robert Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army – Volume three, Social reform and welfare work, (London, UK:
Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1955), 22.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 37

the Purity Crusade.41 For his part, W.T. Stead was imprisoned for three months, something he
proudly celebrated each following year.

Meanwhile, while Cottrill was still accommodating girls in her own home, a rescue home was
opened in Glasgow in May 1883. Unfortunately, this work lapsed but was recommenced in 1886.42
This type of work grew throughout the 1880s so that by 1888 there were 10 such homes spread
across Great Britain accommodating 212 women.43 There were 70 staff connected to these centres
and it is of interest to note William Booth’s description of them:

‘That band of women’ … ‘came from various classes – some, like the ordinary workers in The
Salvation Army, from the very class we are endeavouring to save. …Others are motherly
matrons, who lavish their affections on these poor girls, and others come from higher ranks in
life, having abandoned homes of luxury and refinement and devoted themselves entirely to the
work.’44

Another landmark event occurred when very late one night in December 1887 William Booth
crossed one of the Thames bridges. The following morning when Bramwell Booth made his regular
call on the Founder, he was confronted by a thundering question, “Bramwell, do you know that men
and women sleep out in this weather?” “Well, yes, General. Didn’t you know?” “You knew that and
you haven’t done anything? Go and do something!” “What?” “Get a warehouse – anything that will
keep the poor wretches from the wind, and make ‘shake-downs’ for them.” “What about the
money?” “That’s your affair,” replied William Booth.45 In this exchange, I see that William Booth
clearly placed meeting the needs of the people as the priority before the questions of affordability
and sustainability were clearly resolved. The new work opened on 18 February 1888 with
accommodation for 70 to 80 men. The provision of food to a wider clientele was also included with
children able to access a farthing basin of soup. On one day, 700 such basins of soup were served.46

Paralleling these developments in the birthplace of the Army, were ‘outbreaks’ of similar
work in various other countries. One of these initiatives was Slum Posts, an adaptation of the earlier
Sick Poor Visitation Society. Women cadets in London began the first of these in 1886, it being
described as “three rooms in one of the darkest spots of South London”. By April 1887 there were
six posts in London staffed by Salvationists. Similar work began in Copenhagen in 1887 and in
Toronto in 1888.47 A possibly more significant work began in 1886 in Toronto where the first
institution to give attention to “women who were slaves to drink was opened.”48 The Salvation
Army in the USA referred to its rescue homes as ‘Homes of Hope’ with two operating in 1889.49
Slow beginnings in the USA were subsequently overcome, as outlined in Booth-Tucker’s annual
report for 1898 where he stated, “that in just that year the number of social institutions in America
had increased from 28 to 85.”50 Another initiative was the commencement of prison gate ministries

41 Hattersley, Blood and Fire, 309-324.
42 Fairbank, Booth’s Boots, 11.
43 Fairbank, Booth’s Boots, 21.
44 Fairbank, Booth’s Boots, 20-21.
45 Minnie Lindsay Carpenter, William Booth – Founder of The Salvation Army, (London, UK: The Epworth Press,
1957), 94.
46 Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army – Vol 3, 69.
47 Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army – Vol 3, 20,22.
48 Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army – Vol 3, 189.
49 Maud Ballington Booth, Beneath Two Flags, (New York, USA: Funk & Wagnalls, 1890), 88.
50 R. Gordon Moyles, William Booth in America – Six visits, 1886-1907, (Alexandria, USA: Crest Books, The Salvation
Army National Publications, 2010), 101.

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in Sri Lanka in 1888 with government financial support, and also in India,51 this just six years after
‘opening fire’ in this culturally diverse subcontinent.

This thumbnail sketch of what was happening in The Salvation Army prior to 1890 highlights
the observation of Green:

…that the organised social work of The Salvation Army did not begin at the initiation of
William Booth … [but] … when there dawned in some of Booth’s officers and soldiers that it
was not enough to preach the gospel… [without] taking care of the physical needs of the poor.52

Despite their own material poverty, the love for God and neighbour of these Salvationists meant
they just had to reach out to help others.

William Booth Responds

This outbreak of social responsiveness to human need was a challenge to the revivalist focus which
William Booth had pursued in various ways since his youthful days as a street evangelist in
Nottingham. To this point, despite his sympathies and deploring the social conditions of those living
in crime and poverty, he believed that the only response worthy of his effort was that of the
evangelist; to explain to people their sin, their need of a Saviour, and to introduce Jesus as The
Saviour. Writing after the name change to ‘The Salvation Army’, he began by saying:

We are a salvation people – this is our speciality – getting saved and keeping saved, and then
getting somebody else saved, and then getting ourselves saved more and more, until full
salvation on earth makes the heaven within.53

His conclusion in that same paper is, “My brethren, my comrades, soul-saving is our avocation, the
great purpose and business of our lives.”54

But the 1880s was a time when there was renewed agitation to respond to the deplorable
living conditions and crime rates of districts such as the East End of London. In 1883, Rev. Andrew
Mearns, a Congregational minister produced a 25 page pamphlet, The Bitter Cry of Outcast
London,55 a report which received a high level of coverage in W.T. Stead’s Pall Mall Gazette.56
Charles Booth in 1889 published the first volume of his extensive social analysis, The Life and
Labour of the People of London where he concluded “that one-third of the population of London
lived on or below the poverty line.”57 William Booth himself refers to “several volumes describing
“How the Poor Live.” There would also have been the regular reports reaching him from the
various initiatives which were emerging, reports which became part of the case he built when he
wrote In Darkest England and the Way Out. Ten years on from Booth’s earlier “We are a salvation

51 Solveig Smith, By Love Compelled – The story of 100 years of The Salvation Army in India and adjacent countries,
(London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and Supplies, 1981), 43.
52 Roger J. Green, “An Historical Salvation Army Perspective”, 43-82, in John D. Waldron, Creed and Deed. –
Towards a Christian theology of social services in The Salvation Army, (Ontario, Canada: The Salvation Army, Canada
and Bermuda Territory, 1986), 50.
53 William Booth, “Our New Name – The Salvationist”, 1879, in Cyril Barnes (ed), The Founder Speaks Again – A
selection of the writings of William Booth, (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and Supplies, 1960), 45.
54 Barnes, The Founder Speaks Again, 48.
55 Andrew Mearns, The Bitter Cry of Outcast London; An inquiry into the condition of the abject poor, (London, UK:
James Clarke & Co., October 1883).
56 Bagwell, Outcast London, 3.
57 Frederick Coutts, Bread for my Neighbour – The social influence of William Booth, (London, UK: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1978), 74.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 39

people” in January 1889 Booth outlined a much more expansive view of God’s salvation. In All the
World, he wrote of his discovery under the heading, “A Salvation for Two Worlds”,

I had two gospels of deliverance to preach – one for each world, or rather, one gospel which
applied alike to both. It meant not only saved from the miseries of the future world, but from the
miseries of this also … from poverty and disease. This was the work that Jesus Christ came to
accomplish – to destroy the work of the devil in the present time, and to set up in the soul the
kingdom of heaven instead. He is come to open prison doors. He is come to set men free from
their bonds.58

When some 20 months later Booth published In Darkest England and the Way Out, Green
concluded that this was the culmination of Booth’s “broadened theological vision of redemption to
include social as well as personal categories [and it expressed] his desire and his willingness to act
in a way which is consistent with his own theology.”59

Booth wrote in In Darkest England and the Way Out:

The Scheme of Social Salvation is not worth discussion which is not as wide as the Scheme of
Eternal Salvation set forth in the gospel. As Christ came to call not the saints but sinners to
repentance, so the New Message of Temporal Salvation, of salvation from pinching poverty,
from rags and misery, must be offered to all. We who call ourselves by the name of Christ are
not worthy to profess to be his disciples until we have set an open door before the least and
worst of these who are now apparently imprisoned for life in a horrible dungeon of misery and
despair.60

As an interesting aside, it was also in 1890 that a significant statement was issued by the
Roman Catholic Church entitled Rerum Novarum. This dealt with the poor conditions of the
working classes at the time and identified the need for a two-fold response of the church’s mission:
“one directed to this world and this life …, the other directed towards a purely other-worldly
salvation.”61

To return to Booth, it has to be acknowledged that this twofold dimension of Booth’s
broadened view of salvation was not always consistently articulated. Elsewhere he implies that his
social scheme, rather than being part of a twofold focus, is simply a means to an end. “It is
primarily and mainly for the sake of saving the soul that I seek the salvation of the body.”62 But if
nothing else, this emphasises that for Booth the spiritual and the practical are inextricably linked so
that The Salvation Army’s responses to those in need should always be holistic: physical, social and
spiritual. In 1910 he identified this same wholeness within the life of those who provide such
services:

Social service is only the expression of life which abides in the soul and forces into activity the
desire to take on oneself the burdens of humanity. It is only when we get more soul into our
lives that we are able to do any good…. All the social activity of the Army is the outcome of the
spiritual life of its members.63

58 William Booth, “A Salvation for Two Worlds”, 1889, cited in Rodger J. Green, War on Two Fronts: The redemptive
theology of William Booth, (Atlanta, USA: Salvation Army Supplies, 1989), 89, 90.
59 Green, War on Two Fronts, 91.
60 Booth, In Darkest England, 36.
61 Duncan MacLaren, Towards a More Just World - The social mission of the Church and new Catholic approaches,
Catholic Social Justice Series 63, (Sydney, Australia: ACSJC, 2008), 8.
62 Booth, In Darkest England, 53.
63 Sandall, The History of The Salvation Army – Vol 3, xiv.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 40

Perhaps Booth’s most succinct summing up of the over-arching purpose of all Salvation Army
ministry was when he addressed the delegates to the 1907 42nd Anniversary Congress held at the
Crystal Palace. He said:

Never in all her history was [The Army] more successful in the attainment of the great object
for which God brought her into the world, the object on which her heart is set – the salvation of
the bodies and souls of men, and the helping of their circumstances.64

Conclusion

The development of a social work stream within The Salvation Army is seen by some historians
such as Norman Murdoch, as “the Army’s failure to grow as a revivalist sect”,65 whereas the profile
explored above sees this development as a natural outcome arising from the seeds of a Wesleyan-
informed practical Christian faith. Early in the Christian Mission, Booth identified that Wesley’s
success was “not [only] by converting sinners, but by making well instructed saints’”66 informed
active disciples of Jesus. For Booth, the two aspects of the work of Salvationists needed to be
placed on a level playing field. He said, “We want to abolish these distinctions, and make it as
religious to sell a guernsey or feed a hungry man as it is to take up a collection.”67 Elsewhere he
stated, “My social work and my religion are joined together like Siamese twins; to divide them is to
slay them!”68

A common theological imperative for both Wesley and Booth was the centrality of a total
love for God and the inevitable consequence of love for neighbour both of which are attributed to
and sourced because God first loved us.69 Ever since Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan
with the sting in the tail, “Go and do likewise!”70 a challenge has been there to confront each
Christian. Recently General Andre Cox wrote:

I fear that The Salvation Army has become much more a worshipping community than a serving
community. I see a great need for the entire Army to be energised and mobilised in reaching out
to a dying world.71

He wasn’t specifically referring to ‘social’ serving but this must be one of the elements of
Salvationist engagement if Salvationists are to not succumb to debilitating affluenza. In a sense the
General is also challenging the model which grew out of In Darkest England and the Way Out
where “spontaneous responses to social problems by Salvationists were replaced with institutionally
based social work increasingly undertaken by paid professionals.”72 This symposium asks, ‘Do we
need a wake-up call?’ It is reasonable to respond that the theological and sociological imperatives
which come to us through our history continue to give us a clear direction for the twenty-first
century if we are to remain faithful to the objects for which God brought The Salvation Army into
being.

64 William Booth, The War Cry, (Melbourne, Australia: 31 August, 1907), 9.
65 Norman H. Murdoch, Origins of The Salvation Army, (Knoxville, USA: The University of Tennessee Press, 1994),
117.
66 William Booth, in Begbie, Life of William Booth, 398.; The War Cry, (London, January 1893), Booth similarly stated,
“Our business is to save the world body and soul, for time and for eternity!”
67 William Booth, in Fairbank, Booth’s Boots, 15.
68 William Booth, in Green, “An Historical Salvation Army Perspective”, Endnote 37, 80.
69 1 John 4:19.
70 Luke 10:37.
71 André Cox, “A Mobilised, Serving Army, ready at all times”, 4-6, in The Officer, (London, UK: May/June, 2016), 6.
72 Dean Pallant, Keeping Faith in Faith-based Organizations – A practical theology of The Salvation Army Health
Ministry, (Eugene, USA: WIPF & Stock, 2012), 111.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 41

Badge from World War One, “Captain Mac, The first Australian S.A.
Chaplain” (Garth R. Hentzschel’s Private Collection)

Two biographies of Commissioner William McKenzie
Authors Col Stringer and Adelaide Ah Kow
(Garth R. Hentzschel’s Private Collection)

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 42

LEST WE FORGET:
FIGHTING MAC, THE ARMY AND CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIA

By
Daniel Reynaud

Abstract

One of the jewels in the crown of The Salvation Army in Australia is the life and ministry of
Commissioner William McKenzie. Once almost universally known across the country as ‘Fighting
Mac,’ McKenzie’s work at Corps, Divisional and Territorial level had a huge impact, and yet was
dwarfed by the extraordinary legacy of his three and a half years in the Australian Imperial Forces
(AIF). It was during these years that McKenzie reached many tens of thousands of Australians
serving overseas, as well as civilians at home in Australia, touching their lives in ways that they
would never forget, and forging a platform from which he was able to advance the cause of Christ
through the agency of The Salvation Army for twenty years after World War One.

Adding to his actual achievements, his reputation was subjected to mythological inflation, both
during his lifetime and afterwards. Sadly, despite the incredible work that he accomplished, since his
death, his profile has simultaneously diminished to the point where one of the most recognisable
figures of inter-war Australia is now almost completely forgotten – most tragically by a good number
of Salvationists. But McKenzie’s story is at its most powerful when it is both fully and accurately
remembered.

At a time when The Salvation Army has taken perhaps the most significant hit to its public
reputation, McKenzie still holds the potential to act as a positive bridge to Australian society through
his connection to Australia’s national unifying myth – the story of Anzac. The history of William
McKenzie offers a wake-up call for the Army of the 21st Century.

The purpose of history and memory

The theme of this symposium, ‘History – Our Wake Up Call?’ is inspired by a quote from William
Booth, “We must wake ourselves up or somebody else will take our place and bear our cross and
thereby rob us of our crown.”1 Booth’s statement does not overtly invoke history as the means by
which we may wake ourselves up, hence the question mark in the symposium theme title. Can history
function as a spiritual wake-up call? What is the purpose and meaning of history?

Too often history is dismissed as virtually useless, as embodied in the popular statement
variously attributed to Friedrich Hegel or G. B. Shaw, “the only thing we learn from history is that
we learn nothing from history”. Unsurprisingly, historians have had something to say on the purpose
of their discipline. The seminal Communist feminist historian Gerda Lerner invoked the spiritual

Reference citation of this paper
Daniel Reynaud, “Lest we forget: Fighting Mac, The Army and contemporary Australia”, The Australasian
Journal of Salvation Army History, 1, 2, 2016, 42-52.
The paper was presented at ‘History – Our Wake Up Call?’, Salvation Army History Symposium 22-24 July 2016,
Maroochydore, Australia, The Salvation Army Eastern Territory Historical Society, Brisbane Chapter.
1 George Scott Railton, Commissioner Dowdle – The Saved Railway Guard (2nd ed.), The Red Hot Library No. 8,
(London, UK: The Salvation Army Book Department, 1912), 96.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 43

dimension in asserting that history “gives us a sense of perspective about our own lives and
encourages us to transcend the finite span of our life-time by identifying with the generations that
came before us and measuring our actions against the generations that will follow. By perceiving
ourselves to be part of history, we can begin to think on a scale larger than the here and now.”2 In a
significantly titled work, The Uses and Abuses of History, Margaret MacMillan argued that “History,
if it is used with care, can present us with alternatives, help us to form the questions we need to ask
of the present, and warn us about what might go wrong.” The wording of her statement reinforces
the need for careful history, as history “can have real significance in the present…. For all of us, the
powerful and the weak alike, history helps to define and validate us.” MacMillan also noted the role
of heroes in history, offering both positive and negative potential in understanding and applying
history.3 Clearly, if history is misunderstood, misused and misapplied it can lead to mis-definitions,
mis-validations, false directions, wrong questions and failed warnings.

Renowned French philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s study of the concepts of memory, history and
forgetting offers a framework for understanding the story and myths of Commissioner William
McKenzie, the subject of this paper. Ricouer argued that memory, especially collective memory, was
not the same as history, though the two engage in a dialectic. History differs from memory in that it
seeks to establish facts, search for explanations, and arrange the knowledge it finds in breadth and
significance. This in turn informs memory. Ricouer also spoke of both an excess of memory and a
shortage of memory, which also bear on the McKenzie story. “Speaking about memory necessarily
means speaking about forgetting, because one cannot remember everything,” Ricouer sagely
observed. He labelled the nature of forgetting as both escapist, particularly a negative desire to forget
uncomfortable truths, and active, including forgiveness as an act of positive active forgetting,
allowing a person, group or society to let go of guilt and revenge.4

A religious contemporary of William Booth offers a judgement on the value of history as a
spiritual wake-up call. Ellen White, herself a notable founding figure in a new Christian movement,
wrote at the end of her life, “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way
the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.”5

Ricouer’s insights help us understand the interplay between memory, history and forgetting,
which has occurred in the story of William McKenzie. MacMillan’s observations on the uses and
abuses of history also inform the discussion, making us wary of myth but welcoming of a rigorous
history that may offer a ‘wake-up call’ to the present.

A Pocket History of McKenzie

A brief overview of McKenzie’s life provides evidence of his significance for The Salvation Army
in Australia, as well as for the whole of Australia itself. The Scottish-born William McKenzie came
to Australia as a 14-year-old with his family in 1884, settling near Bundaberg. McKenzie was raised
a ‘rigid’ Presbyterian, describing his childhood as characterised by “porridge, the shorter catechism

2 Gerda Lerner, Why History Matters: Life and thought, (NY & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), 201.
3 Margaret MacMillan, The Uses and Abuses of History, (London, UK: Profile Books, 2009), 154, 53, 17.
4 Paul Ricoeur, “Memory— Forgetting—History”, in Jörn Rüsen (ed.), Meaning and Representation in History, (NY &
Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2006), 9-17.
5 Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, being a narrative of her experience to 1881 as written by herself;
with a sketch of her subsequent labors and of her last sickness, (Mountain View, USA: Pacific Press, 1915), 196.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 44

and plenty of lickings.”6 He grew up to be a powerfully-built, combative and energetic man. At the
age of 19, he underwent the seminal experience of his life, being converted and joining The Salvation
Army. The rigours and demands of his new religion formed a central part of its appeal. Of it, he
spoke in later life:

What a religion! Why, it was the real article! It meant giving up things – drink, tobacco and much
else – and facing scorn and derision. It meant going down to the mud and slime; it meant living
with the lowest and the worst; it meant fighting with the devil himself for the souls of men. Lo’,
it snatched me clean out of myself. It hit me, like a blow. It was so real, so honest. I said to myself
‘here’s the true religion for a fighting man;’ and off I went to be converted and to sign on.7

McKenzie trained as an officer and received his first marching orders in January 1890, serving
in a series of corps and staff posts in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and New Zealand over
the next twenty-five years. In Queensland, he served as corps captain in Charters Towers in 1894 and
spent a week in jail for “disturbing the peace” with his noisy street meetings, but took his revenge by
breaking the handle of every axe they gave him during his hard labour.8 During his corps posting at
Toowoomba in 1893, he met and later married Annie Hoepper, with whom he had five children.

McKenzie’s work as a Salvation Army officer was characterised by high commitment,
overflowing cheerful vitality, inventiveness, extremely long hours, intense prayer and a deep hunger
for souls. His capacity to reach the unsaved grew with experience and his ministry was characterised
by an evident respect for those he worked with and a knack for engaging their attention and affection.
By the start of World War One in 1914, he had become skilled in the art of relating to ordinary people
and in turning the conversations to spiritual things in a natural and easy manner.

In 1914, after Commissioner James Hay lobbied the Federal Government, William McKenzie
was accepted as a chaplain by the Australian Army, eventually being assigned to the 4th Battalion.
While initially unwelcome, McKenzie’s genial disposition, hard work on behalf of the soldiers,
charisma and spiritual integrity soon won over the suspicious soldiers and he became a popular and
influential figure through the 1st Brigade of which his battalion formed a part. Eventually his
reputation spread to the entire division and even across the other four divisions of the Australian
Imperial Force (AIF).

His reputation began with running hugely popular concerts and entertainments for the troops
on board ship and in Egypt, then was grounded in his wholehearted voluntary engagement with the
tough training routines designed to knock the stuffing out of young men half his age, and finally
cemented by his devoted care for their spiritual, moral and physical well-being. In Cairo, he literally
dragged men out of the brothels in the notorious Wassa district, sending them back to camp. His
concerts were legendary, and the soldiers would not allow anyone else to chair a concert if McKenzie
was available, while his church services attracted more than half of the brigade, leaving the other
three chaplains to divide the rest between them.9 In the trenches on Gallipoli, he chased up rare treats

6 William McKenzie, “Australia is my first love,” Melbourne Herald, (Melbourne, 14 June, 1930), 271; Michael
McKernan, “William McKenzie”, Australian Dictionary of Biography, (Online Edition)
www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100299b.htm, accessed 28 June, 2016.
7 Harold Begbie, “Captain Mac... A famous Salvationist,” War Cry, (Melbourne, 3 March, 1917), 3.
8 Adelaide Ah Kow, William McKenzie M.C., O.B.E., O.F. Anzac Padre, (London, UK: Salvationist Publishing and
Supplies, 1949), 17.
9 Daniel Reynaud, The Man the Anzacs Revered: William ‘Fighting Mac’ McKenzie, Anzac Chaplain, (Warburton,
Australia: Signs Publishing, 2015), 79, 81-2.

The Australasian Journal of Salvation Army History, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2016. Page 45

such as eggs and chocolates to break the monotonous diet, lugged stretchers and water up and down
the unforgiving hills, and ran well-attended services in the trenches.

At some point early in the Battle of Lone Pine in August 1915, McKenzie crossed No-Man’s-
Land under fire and began sorting the living from the dead in the captured Turkish trenches even as
the fighting swirled around him, burying about 450 men in the weeks after the battle and leaving
himself so exhausted he could barely crawl. By the end of the Gallipoli campaign, he was a
recognised figure across the Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) units, one soldier
identifying him one of the two outstanding personalities of the campaign alongside commanding
general William Birdwood.10

In France, he continually buried men in No-Man’s-Land under shell fire, and strove to be with
the men in the front lines as often as possible. He also established canteens serving hot drinks to the
soldiers coming out of the line, especially welcome on freezing Northern European winter nights.
Noticing the damage to morale of not receiving mail, he began a ‘To a Lonely Soldier’ letter-writing
campaign that saw many thousands of people in Australia write letters sent to him to distribute to
those men who never got mail.

Despite being ground down by the enormous self-imposed workload, and by the ravages of the
traumas of war which deeply affected this sensitive man prone to bouts of depression, McKenzie’s
spiritual life shone during these war years. Soldier diarists from multiple units recorded his church
services with evident affection, and McKenzie’s evangelistic zeal was intensified by the likely death
of many in his congregations in impending battles. His work probably resulted in the conversion of
somewhere between 2,000-3,000 men during the war.11 His own spirituality had a strong element of
the mystical about it, and he recorded numerous instances of having received specific instructions by
a Voice on the battlefields, each time being saved from death by obeying it. His spiritual convictions
and integrity impressed even the most hardened of non-believers, and ensured that many who might
normally have avoided conversations on spiritual matters actively sought him out, or willingly
listened to his sermons.

Eventually his energetic commitment to the Anzacs and his almost complete lack of self-care
saw him so run-down that he had to be sent home, arriving in February 1918 to a hero’s welcome.
Everywhere he went in Australia, he was feted, with monstrous crowds turning out to hear him speak.
For the next twenty years, his time of leadership in The Salvation Army in Australia was marked by
what was effectively a celebrity status, attracting leading citizens to share the stage with him, and
drawing large audiences to his many meetings. His stature as an Anzac legend ensured that his
ministry, and that of The Salvation Army at large, received maximum positive exposure. While
offering him a platform as a celebrity, McKenzie never sought personal fame, rather using his
reputation to advance the work of The Army during the inter-war years.

10 Archie Barwick, Diary, MLMSS 1493, (Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW), 41.
11 War Cry, (Melbourne, 30 March, 1918), 2.

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Commissioner William McKenzie as often depicted in military trench coat12

12 Lowell Tarling, Thank God for the Salvos – The Salvation Army in Australia 1880 to 1980, (Artarmon, Australia:
Harper & Row, 1980), 57.

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Three years of missionary work in Northern China in the late 1920s was successfully conducted
under the extreme hardship of famine compounded by civil war. His cheery and energetic disposition
reenergised a flagging Salvation Army under his command, and again he spared nothing of his own
time, physique, resources or passion in order to win Chinese souls to Christ.

By the time of his retirement in 1939, with his phenomenal memory close to collapse under the
strain of his service, McKenzie had been touted as one of the most recognisable men in Australia,
and perhaps the most famous Anzac of them all. Probably no Salvationist in Australia has had a
greater public profile, nor more universal respect, than McKenzie.13

McKenzie myths

A straightforward account of McKenzie’s life, service and impact indicates considerable historical
capital which could be of great service to The Salvation Army, leveraging off one of Australia’s great
public figures who was a central player in the story of Anzac. The Anzac legend has morphed into
Australia’s most important national narrative, defining both the idealised Australian and the core
national values. However, just as MacMillan warned of the dangers of misusing history, especially
through the tempting exploitation of heroic figures, so the story of McKenzie comes with caveats,
for he too was subjected to mythological inflation, leading Sydney-based Salvation Army archivist
Dr George Hazell to coin for his story the term “hagio-mythology”.14

Mythologising McKenzie has a history dating back to the Great War itself and continues to
this day. During the war, his work was big-noted, out of affection by soldiers and out of the demands
for war propaganda by journalists. In more recent times, writers, usually with pious motives, have
tried to keep his memory and influence alive through articles and books in the popular press and
through website information, though sadly they have often been characterised by misinformation and
even careless exaggeration in an attempt to make a spiritual impression on a secular society.

Early mythologising tended to embroider his work on the battlefield, particularly after the
Battle of Lone Pine. It wasn’t long before accounts began to circulate that he had led an attack with
a Bible in one hand and a stick or spade in the other. Accounts of this were reported in soldier diaries
(but never as eye-witness testimony) and were picked up by journalists, the stories varying in detail,
with some having him rallying leaderless soldiers and leading a counterattack in the trenches to drive
back a Turkish thrust.15 Later accounts of his story took these as gospel and happily repeated them,
sometimes with additional flourishes.16

But other myths attached themselves to him as well. Some sources had him boxing in
tournaments, knocking out some of the AIF’s best fighters.17 Others had him leading the riot on Good
Friday 1915 where Australian soldiers burnt down several brothels in the Wassa, with later accounts

13 Norman Campbell, “Fighting Mac”, undated news clipping circa 1926, McKenzie file, (Salvation Army Heritage
Room, Bexley North, Sydney).; also quoted in Dale, “Fighting Mac”, and quoted in War Cry, (Melbourne, 9 August,
1947), 6.; Michael McKernan, Padre: Australian chaplains in Gallipoli and France, (Sydney, Australia: Allen &
Unwin, 1986), 3.; McKernan, “William McKenzie”, ADB.
14 In conversation with the author, 1 May 2008.
15 War Cry, (Melbourne, 22 December, 1917), 9.; F. A. McKenzie, Serving the King’s Men: How the Salvation Army is
helping the nation, (London, UK: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918), 56-57.; George Thomasson Gill diary, 19 February
1916, MLMSS 2765, (Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales).
16 For example, Col Stringer, ‘Fighting McKenzie’, Anzac Chaplain: Tribute to a hero, (Robina, Australia: Col Stringer
Ministries, 2003), 73-75.
17 McKernan, “William McKenzie”, ADB.

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asserting that to prevent the flames being extinguished he had beaten up natives and chopped up the
firemen’s hoses in the bargain.18 Still more claimed that he had been three times recommended for
the Victoria Cross, only having it denied because the officers who witnessed his deeds were killed
before they could lodge a recommendation, or because chaplains were not eligible for more than one
medal (he had been awarded a Military Cross for his work on Gallipoli).19 Some had McKenzie
burying 647 men in three days after Lone Pine, on a diet of three biscuits and six pannikins of water.
A Salvation Army newsletter improbably had McKenzie digging and filling many of those graves as
well – a phenomenal feat of human strength and endurance, especially given that McKenzie was
grievously debilitated by dysentery and neuritis at the time.20

A couple of writers have set themselves the task of demythologising McKenzie’s war service.
Graham Wilson, a one-time employee of the Directorate of Honours and Awards in the Department
of Defence, has published two myth-busting books about the Anzacs, one demolishing the overblown
reputation of an otherwise honourable Jack Simpson, the legendary Gallipoli martyr figure who
moved wounded men to the hospital with a donkey, and the other addressing various Anzac myths,
of which one chapter is devoted to setting straight the record on McKenzie, a chaplain who Wilson
respects and admires.21 The other author is the present one, having published an article on McKenzie
myths as well as a biography.22 Wilson is particularly upset by the exaggerations and carelessness of
Queensland evangelist Col Stringer’s hagiographic ‘biography’, written with little regard for the facts
in order to shape McKenzie into the kind of Christian hero Stringer wants to place as a prime mover
in Australian history. But in attacking Stringer’s multitudinous inaccuracies, Wilson himself resorts
to emotive conclusions based on his personal experiences in the Army and the Department of
Defence rather than evidence about McKenzie. He accuses Stringer of “distortions and outright lies”,
adding that “he is certainly the worst historian that has ever walked the Earth.”23 Of the stories that
McKenzie led an attack at Lone Pine, an outraged Wilson wrote, “I cannot believe and will not
believe that William McKenzie was such a poor priest and such a poor soldier that he would have
[taken part in an armed assault],” adding soon after, “To think that a man... who was ever mindful of
his duty to both God and the army as a military chaplain would do something so naive, so crass and
shallow, so totally out of character as to lead a charge on the Turkish trenches armed with a shovel
is totally ridiculous and is an insult to the memory of a great and wonderful man.”24 Of McKenzie’s
universal fame in the AIF, Wilson is also suspicious, dismissing such claims as “simply ridiculous”

18 F. A. McKenzie, Serving the King’s Men, 57.; Daily Mirror, (Sydney, 25 April, 1959), 5.; Sun, (Sydney, 24 April,
1972), 11-13.; Daily Mirror, (Sydney, 28 August, 1981), 60.; Stringer, ‘Fighting McKenzie’, 55.
19 Peter McGuigan, “A Man of Exceptional Courage,” in (no editor), In The Steps of the Founder: Celebrating the lives
of 23 Australian recipients of the Order of the Founder, (Mont Albert, Australia: The Salvation Army, 1995), 72.;
“William McKenzie”, Australian Encyclopaedia, 6th ed, Vol 5, 1996, (Sydney: Australian Geographical Society, 1984).
20 Richard Collier, The General next to God: the story of William Booth and the Salvation Army, (London, UK:
Fontana, 1969), 229.; Barry Gittins and Faye Michelson, “Wars and rumours of wars,” On Fire, (Melbourne, Vol 9, No
8, 26 April, 2008), 9.
21 Graham Wilson, Dust, Donkeys and Delusions: the myth of Simpson and his donkey exposed, (Newport, Australia:
Big Sky, 2012).; Graham Wilson, Bully Beef and Balderdash: Some Myths of the AIF examined and debunked,
(Newport, Australia: Big Sky Publishing, 2012), chapter 9, “Do you think I’m now afraid to die with you?”, 315-344.
22 Daniel Reynaud, “The legend of William McKenzie,” in Lucas, 2:7, June 2014, 7-36.; Reynaud, The Man the Anzacs
Revered.
23 Graham Wilson, Undated letter to the editor, War Cry, Archive Box R15, (Melbourne, Australia: Salvation Army
Heritage Room).; Wilson, Bully Beef and Balderdash, 315-344.; Correspondence quoted in “Peter Hogan v Col
Stringer – evangelical impostor and crook”, www.knol.com.au/aoa/h_s.htm, accessed 31 August, 2007.
24 Wilson, Bully Beef and Balderdash, 340, 343.

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and “the sheerest nonsense”, and arguing that McKenzie’s apparent post-war popularity was the
result of many Salvationists turning up to his meetings as well as the product of effective Salvationist
publicity.25

My own research has involved a careful examination of all the available evidence on each
matter of dispute in McKenzie’s story, and has exposed many elements of these narratives as well-
intentioned exaggeration. But it has also confirmed certain stories as reliable and truthful, even some
of those dismissed by Wilson as hagiographic.

Far from working at the Aid Post during the Battle of Lone Pine, as Wilson insists, and where
two of his fellow padres were stationed in conformity to regulations, the evidence clearly indicates
that McKenzie did go over the top, having been witnessed in the Turkish trenches the morning after
the attack began by an officer who was trying to sneak off from the fight, but who felt shamed by a
glance from McKenzie’s who was working to save the wounded.26 Similarly, while there is no
evidence of his supposed prowess at boxing, nor of Victoria Cross recommendations, it is possible
to show that his wartime reputation in the AIF and his post-war reputation in Australia was soundly
based on his wartime achievements, and was genuine, personal fame and not the result of clever
Salvationist propaganda.27

MacMillan warned against the abuses of history, both in exaggerating and underestimating the
achievements of heroes. McKenzie’s work has been exaggerated, most often by his most partisan
supporters. While some of this work has produced a heightened respect for McKenzie, any reputation
built on exaggeration can only suffer when exposed by the truth. A genuinely great man like
McKenzie deserves an accurate account of his life; anything greater or lesser ultimately diminishes
him in ways that he did not deserve, and even worse, diminishes the spiritual power of his story –
‘lying for God,’ as some Christians do in the hope of making God and religion more impressive, has
a bad habit of backfiring, resulting in far more damage than good. Similarly, Ricouer’s calling on
history to inform memory reminds us that the most valuable remembrances of McKenzie are those
grounded in rigorous historical processes.

On the other hand, the once almost-universally known McKenzie is now virtually unknown in
Australia. Sadly, even many Salvationists remain unaware of his story.28 Ricouer’s notion of
forgetting has come into play in the case of McKenzie due to Australia’s distinctive historical
development. While the Anzac legend has gone from strength to strength in popular modern memory,
McKenzie has been elided from that memory. Arguably it is because McKenzie represents elements
of the Anzac legend that are unsuited to Australian public memory, in particular the religious
aspect.29 A historian has observed that there is “a tendency for secular histories of Australia to omit
discussion of religion or to downplay its significance.”30 Another argues that Australian society
deliberately excluded the divisive topic of religion from public discourse in order to avoid Old World
sectarian strife.31 While Anzac Day memorialisation had its origins through the initiative of particular
clergymen, its overt religious aspects have been dropped in order to make it accessible to Protestant

25 Wilson, Bully Beef and Balderdash, 322, 327-344.; Wilson, Emails to the author, 12 August, 2008, 9 March, 2009.
26 Reynaud, The Man the Anzacs Revered, 111-115.
27 Reynaud, The Man the Anzacs Revered, 233-243.
28 Michael McKernan, “Foreword”, in Daniel Reynaud, The Man the Anzacs Revered, vi.
29 Reynaud, The Man the Anzacs Revered, 242.
30 Hilary M. Carey, “Secularism versus Christianity in Australian History,” in Christopher Hartney (ed.),
Secularisation: New Historical Perspectives, (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014), 17.
31 John Hirst, Sense and Nonsense in Australian History, (Melbourne, Australia: Black Inc, 2009), 13-18.

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