Salvation Army Founders' Day

April 10 is the birthday of William Booth (1829-1912). He is the creator of an international religious and charitable movement called the Salvation Army. Born in Nottingham, England, he worked as a London pawnbroker who familiarized Booth with all forms of human misery and economic hardship, and he turned to Methodism, transforming his career as a Methodist lay preacher and eventually as an independent missionary.

With the help of his wife, Catherine Mumford, he founded the East London Revival Society, which soon became known as the Christian Mission Society and later the Salvation Army, which was characterized by its military rank, military rank, uniforms, flags, tapes and rule books. Booth's work included social reform as well as religious conversion, and he established maternity and children's homes, food and shelter stations, and agencies to help freed criminals. In 1880, the Salvation Army expanded to the United States and today it has appeared in more than 80 different countries around the world.

Although Booth's birthday celebration is commemorated differently at Salvation Army outposts around the world, however, there will be a big celebration around the organization's 100th anniversary in 1965. In the United States, there are openings at Salvation Army facilities, special commemorative religious services and other celebratory events. In London, a centennial congress was held at the Royal Albert Hall. The Salvation Army considers 1865 its founding year because on July 2 of that year, William Booth first lectured at an open-air meeting in London's East End, a slum known for its crime and poverty rates.