A look back at 125 years of Army mission and ministry in Canada

Salvation by contagion.” There is perhaps no better phrase to describe the astounding success of The Salvation Army in its “glory years” (1878-1890). Hundreds of thousands of people joined its ranks, attracted by its military style, its aggressive open-air ministry and its red-hot revivalism. They had indeed caught the “salvation” fever-a fever that compelled them to spread the gospel any way and anywhere they could. And they rarely waited to be told to do so.
Certainly Eliza Shirley did not wait for official approval before she stepped into the streets of Philadelphia and opened the Army in America. Nor did Charles Saunders and John Gore when they started the work in Adelaide, Australia. And, like them, new immigrants to Canada-William Freer, Jack Addie and Joe Ludgate-were equally impetuous in their desire to bring The Salvation Army to this country.

So it was that, in May and June of 1882, they began holding impromptu Army-styled meetings on the streets of Toronto and London, Ont. While their heads told them they must write to General William Booth, asking him to send seasoned officers, their hearts told them to go ahead on their own and evangelize the nation. And this they did.

Evangelistic Fervour
Soon, of course, the General did send an “official delegation” to set the Army on a firm foundation (making instant officers of Freer, Addie and Ludgate). But it had been individual daring and initiative-a Spirit-filled, spontaneous evangelism-that had gotten the Army started in Canada and that would remain the hallmark of its progress for much of its history.

It was, in fact, that kind of individual daring and faith-inspired effort that saw the Army, in just a few short years, spread across Canada-from Halifax to Victoria. It saw Emma Churchill-Dawson, with her new husband, Charles, conducting meetings in St. John’s in late 1885 (Newfoundland was then still a British colony), several months before the official party arrived. It saw Captain Arthur Young tramping across the prairies in 1887, scouting the barren territory in search of likely places to plant the Army flag. It saw Captains Bella Nunn and Tessie Hall spend time in jail because they dared to defy the local by-law which prohibited them from marching in the streets of London, Ont. It saw “Happy” Bill Cooper and Abby Thompson employ extravagant, seemingly bizarre open-air tactics (“hallelujah runaways” and the like) to entice sinners into their barracks.

Much later, in 1898, this same audacious spirit saw Evangeline Booth make a bold move to send officers to the Klondike gold rush. And, in 1949, it saw then-Captain Arnold Brown begin a series of radio broadcasts called This is My Story, which was picked up by 67 radio stations across Canada. Even today, that same sense of individual daring and evangelistic fervour is manifest in the attempts of officers to retake the inner city and bring the gospel again to the “submerged” members of our society.

Compassionate Care
Those were, and are, the ventures of faith that have made The Salvation Army so successful as an evangelistic force in Canada. And it was largely by such ventures, as well, that the Army became one of Canada’s major social-welfare agencies. Around 1886, female officers took the initiative in providing accommodation for young prostitutes who came under their influence, thus establishing a “rescue” service that, by the turn of the century, offered a dozen rescue homes for such women.

Twenty years later, with an increased public demand for maternity care, these homes gave rise to yet another ambitious social service, the much-loved Grace Hospitals. The first of these was opened in Winnipeg in 1906 and, by 1927, nine Canadian cities could offer the kind of quality care for which Grace Hospitals became noted.

In a similar manner, with equal personal initiative, the Army undertook to meet the needs of socially disenfranchised men. Its first effort in this regard, and the first of its kind in Canada, was to provide care for men newly released from jail. In 1891, officers waited outside Toronto’s main prison with a horse-drawn Red Maria, ready to escort willing men to the first of its many prison-gate refuge centres. By 1898, that program had become so well-accepted by prison officials that Salvation Army officers were allowed access to many jails across Canada, to conduct religious services and interview prisoners with a view to effective after-care. In that year, as well, the first Canadian Parole Act was passed by Parliament. So impressed was the government by the Army’s work (under the supervision of Brigadier W. P. Archibald), that its officers were called upon to supervise Canada’s first parolees.

Charting New Paths
On several other social fronts The Salvation Army emerged as Canada’s foremost social-reform agency. Its many hostels of the 1890s, providing a meal and a bed to transient men, eventually became some of Canada’s best rehabilitative centres, specializing in the re-training of such men on a long-term basis. Some years later, in the 1950s, another social problem, alcoholism, also became the target of intensive treatment at newly established Harbour Light centres. Under the inspired supervision of men like David Hammond and Bill Leslie, and with eventual long-term facilities at places like Miracle Valley, B.C., Harbour Light became a distinctive trademark of Salvation Army social service.

Two other avenues of social service rounded out a comprehensive program. In 1905, acting as an official immigration agency, The Salvation Army sent its first shipload of new settlers to Canada. Chartering the ship, arranging passage, and sending officers to look after shipboard needs and to see the immigrants fully settled, the Army eventually sponsored more than 200,000 British men, women and children as new settlers. Later in the century, during the Second World War, the Army became an auxiliary of the Canadian military, sending its volunteers right into the front lines to help our soldiers keep in touch with home, as well as provide spare-time recreation and offer spiritual counselling. Thousands of veterans still fondly remember the kindness of the “Sally Ann” during those horrendous days.

Obstacles and Challenges
Lest we leave the impression that ours has been a smooth-sailing history, we hasten to remind readers that there have been, along the way, obstacles, setbacks and reefs upon which the Army ship has sometimes become briefly stranded.

In the early 1890s, for example, the Army almost foundered on the rock of rebellion when disaffected officers, not fully understanding William Booth’s plans and unhappy with British domination, caused a great deal of negative publicity, alienating from the Army many soldiers, officers and public supporters. But the experience, like so many other times of testing throughout its history, revealed yet another hallmark of Salvationism-resilience and a decided ability to turn seeming defeat into victory. Army leaders learned from their mistakes and, instead of retreating, advanced with renewed energy and resolve.

A similar resilience manifested itself much later when the Empress of Ireland disaster threatened to demoralize the territory. On May 29, 1914, as some 150 Salvationists were sailing on the Empress to the international congress in England, the ship was struck by a Norwegian collier in the lower St. Lawrence River and, in just 14 minutes, sent more than 1,000 passengers and crew to their deaths. Among them were 130 Salvationists, the bulk of the headquarters staff, including Commissioner and Mrs. David Rees, and many members of the Canadian Staff Band. The tragedy cast a pall over the Army. The rupture in administration seemed irreparable. But once again, with a firm faith in divine providence, Canadian Salvationists turned tragedy into triumph, demonstrating to an astonished public the efficacy of God’s grace.

Heroes of the Faith
Such are the hallmarks of Canadian Salvationism, so evident throughout its history. Each reflects the passion, faith and dedication of numerous Salvationists, soldiers and officers.

Recall, if you will, the energy and devotion of those early female Salvationists, many in their late teens and early 20s-Minnie Milliken, Tessie Hall, Maggie Barker, Annie Teagle, Hattie Calhoun-who, in an age of restrictive Victorian propriety, dared to be different, invading the secluded coves of Newfoundland or the frontier towns of Manitoba to bring the message of salvation.

Think of such men as Captain George Arkett, a member of the Army’s “Mountaineer Brigade,” who (in the 1890s) rode horseback through the mountains of British Columbia, braving mosquitoes and rattlesnakes, to bring that same message to lonely settlers and ranchers.

Consider Frank Morris and Tom McGill, who struggled up the Chilkoot Pass and rafted down the Yukon River to minister to the beleaguered Klondike gold-seekers. And don’t forget the many missionaries-Solomon Smith in India, Hal Beckett in China, and many, many others-who spent the best years of their lives serving the people of other nations.

Finally, let us give thanks for the many able leaders, from Thomas Coombs and Herbert Booth through to Clarence Wiseman and M. Christine MacMillan, who have set the example of passionate Salvationism throughout our history. Theirs is a legacy well worth celebrating and emulating.

by R. Gordon Moyles, Army historian and author of The Blood and Fire in Canada

Reprinted from Salvationist June 2007