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William Booth

1829 - 1912 Author of "Boundless Salvation" in The Cyber Hymnal Rv William Booth United Kingdom 1829-1912 Born in Sneinton, Nottingham, his father, well-off, lost much of his wealth and descended into poverty when William was young. William was apprenticed to a pawnbroker at age 13 to pay for schooling fees. He was converted at 15 and read extensively and trained himself in writing and speech. He eventually became a Methodist preacher. He did evangelistic work with his friend, Will Sansom, preaching to the poor on Nottingham. He would have stayed with Will, but Sansom got tuberculosis and died in 1849. William spent a year looking in vain for work. He finally found work with a pawnbroker in London, but the small amount of pay from that and preaching was insufficiennt, so he resigned as a lay preacher and turned to open-air evangelism in the streets and on Kennington Common, London. In 1851 he joined the Methodist Reformed Church and became a full-time preacher at their headquarters at Binfield Chapel in Clapham. In 1853 he became Reformers' minister at Spalding, Lincolnshire. He married Catherine Mumford in 1855 in London. Over the years they had eight children. As a reformer minister he found he had to neglect some duties in order to carry on evangelistic campaigns. After three years as pastor at Gateshead, he requested freedom to pursue evangelism, but was refused. He resigned his ministry of the Methodist New Connexion. Soon he was barred from campaigning in Methodist congregations, so he became an independent evangelist. He started a match factory, making boxes of “Salvation Army” matches and paying his workers more than the competition. He founded the Salvation Army in 1865 and became its first General (1878-1912). The Christian movement, with a quasi-military structure and government, spread from London to many parts of the world and is known for being one fo the largest distributors of humanitarian aid. He and his wife opened the Christian Revival Society in London, holding regular evening meetings. It became the East London Christian Mission, in an old warehouse. It was one of 500 charitable groups in London's east end. It began serving food as well as ministry. Over the years the ministry name changed to Salvation Army (SA), but the struggle to minister and serve poor people was ongoing. Eventually, the SA expanded to other countries in the British realm, then to countries outside. During his lifetime, the SA was in 58 countries and colonies, as he traveled extensively and held Salvation meetings. He authored books and published a magazine. He also composed several songs. One book, “In darkest England and the way out” became a best seller after 1890 and set the foundation for SA's modern social welfare approach. He had many antagonists until his late years, when antagonism turned to acceptance, and finally to approbation, when he received honors from English leaders and the monarchy. His funeral, held at London's Olympia, was attended by 40,000, and 150,000 people filed past his casket, World leaders paid him homage. John Perry

Ballington Booth

1857 - 1940 Person Name: General Booth Author of "The Heavenly Gales Are blowing" in Waves of Glory Rv Ballington Booth United Kingdom 1857-1940 Born in Brighouse, England, the 2nd son of William Booth and Catherine Booth, founders of the Salvation Army, he became a Christian minister. In his teens he began preaching, singing and playing his concertina at open-air meetings sponsored by the Salvation Army. He became a Colonel in that organization at 23 and was positioned as a training officer. He later moved to Australia, followed by the U.S., and then Canada. He married Maud Charlesworth in 1886. Together they were assigned to the U.S., as the Salvation Army was becoming a world-wide organization. They became American citizens the following year, During the 1890s depression the Booths established shelters for homeless men. Although they played a great part in organizing and structuring the Salvation Army in America, Ballington disagreed with his brother, Bramwell, Chielf of Staff, and his father about being reassigned to areas outside the U.S., and he and his wife stayed in the U.S., establishing a new organization in 1896, Volunteers of America. It was not intended to interfere or take from the coffers of the Salvation Army, headquartered in England by his parents, but two-thirds of the volunteers left the Salvation Army and joined VOA. Many of the Salvation Army supporters also went with VOA. He became its first General (1896-1940). On his demise, his wife, Maud, assumed his roll as VOA General. John Perry

J. M. Harris

1867 - 1934 Composer of "[Oh, boundless salvation, deep ocean of love]" in Waves of Glory Born: May 29, 1867, Williamsport, Ohio. Died: July 20, 1934, Miami, Florida. John’s wife was songwriter Margaret Harris. His works include: Waves of Glory No. 1 (Los Angeles, California: Nazarene Publishing Company, 1905) (editor) Spiritual Songs, edited with his wife Margaret & G. A. McLaughlin (Chicago, Illinois: Christian Witness Publishing Company, circa 1908) Glorious Gospel in Song (Chicago, Illinois: Christian Witness Publishing Company, 1910) (editor) --www.hymntime.com/tch