William Booth, with his wife Catherine and a group of friendly zealots, began The Salvation Army in the late 19th century. I, as Salvation Army Officer, am part of that continuing legacy.

But, I’m not so sure that William Booth would have welcomed me into his version of the Army. That’s ok though, because I do belong in today’s Army.

Anti-Intellectualism in The Salvation Army

In the early days of the Army, a young American with an academic education in Theology and experience as a preacher and pastor in the Methodist church, wanted to join the Army as an officer.

The man, Samuel Logan Brengle, did not get the reception he wanted. Eventually he would be the father of Salvationist holiness theology.

William Booth did not trust Brengle. He disliked his education, looked down on his experience, and thought that his nice middle-class background wouldn’t fit with the Army.

But Brengle wouldn’t be suppressed. He went back and asked again until eventually he was accepted for officer training in London. He has already been in ministry and had several degrees. He had been recognised as a gifted preacher with a bright future.

Bramwell Booth, William Booth’s son, wanted to make sure that Brengle knew his place and gave him the job of cleaning and blacking the boots of the other cadets. Brengle came to terms with it by reminding himself that Christ had washed the feet of his disciples so he could polish the boots of his fellow cadets.

You can read more about that story here.

The Privilege of Unconscious Bias

William Booth surrounded himself with people from poorer backgrounds with limited education. People who were passionate, loud, rough, and eccentric. People who would go to prison for their convictions, hide in a coffin to make a dramatic entrance for their preaching, and who were fanatical enough about seeing the kingdom of God come on Earth that they would give away their blankets in winter and wear sackcloth in protest.

I have grown up in the Army, I’ve worked for the Army almost my entire adult life, and now I am a Salvation Army officer. Yet I’m not convinced that William Booth would have wanted me in his Army.

I am, by inclination and gifting, an academic. I love to study, to read, to theorise and debate. I care about the application of that learning to lived reality, but I also care about getting the theory right.

I am just finishing my PhD, I’ve been published in journals. If I applied to William Booth to join his Army, then I don’t think he would have wanted me. At the least, I’d have ended up polishing people’s boots to remind me of my place!

But a fairly anti-academic tendency remained in the Army until the late 20th century. My interests would have been misunderstood, looked down on, or seen as unimportant. I wouldn’t have belonged.

I’m More Of A Hobbit Than A Warrior

I am not rough and ready. I am not willing to look silly. I am eccentric, but in the sense of playing Warhammer and liking Time Team, not in the sense of preaching on street corners, putting on street plays, or leaping out of a coffin.

I am not about to grind myself into dust in order to try and bring about the second coming – I like my creature comforts, spending time with my family, and going on holiday.

I worked in homelessness services for about a decade. But my particular flavour of neurodiversity has meant that I’ve not been the most personable person, struggling with small talk and carrying conversation.

I’m not one for squatting down in the gutter and starting a conversation, or sitting on a park bench next to a stranger to talk to them. Give me a problem to solve or a deep conversation to be held and I’m your guy. Chatting to strangers or doing small talk over a cup of tea and you’ve lost me.

The Salvation Army Doesn’t Belong To William Booth

So I probably would not have been William Booth’s choice to be an officer. But that’s ok. Because the Army doesn’t belong to the shadow of William Booth, it belongs to God. Since it was God who called me to be an officer, I don’t have to try and measure myself against anyone else.

At a time when there is a drive to see certain forms of leadership take more centre stage positions, I want to remind my colleagues that they don’t need to be anyone but who they are in order to be a faithful officer.

Innovation and pioneering projects are possible for people who are quiet, introverted, and patient.

Passionate kingdom building and evangelism is possible for people who aren’t lovers of people, for those who struggle to start a conversation, for the neurodivergent and the shy. Successful and positive ministry is the promise of faithfulness, not or a certain type of person.

It is ok to be who you are, even if who you are is different.

The Army is a changing, developing, evolving, living creature which does not remain the same. It needs lots of different people with lots of different skills and personalities and interests and ways of doing things.

The Army doesn’t belong to William Booth, nor does it belong to any one person, ideology, or movement. It belongs to God alone.

William Booth may not have wanted me, but that’s ok, because God does.

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