During the 1800s, many Methodists carried the torch of evangelism, preaching the Gospel, and seeing thousands converted to Christ. In many of the large city churches, though, there was an obvious favoritism towards the well-to-do and a disdain for the disadvantaged. Thankfully, there were those who took an interest in the impoverished.
A Mr. and Mrs. Dent showed an interest in a young man who had gained a reputation and the nickname Willful Will. At the age of 15, the Dents brought Will to the Broad Street Wesley Chapel in Nottingham, England. An American revivalist, Rev. James Caughey from Burlington, Vermont was preaching and the Holy Spirit reached Willful Will. In his own words, Will had a “sense of the folly of spending my life doing things for which I knew I must either repent or be punished in the days to come”.1 He gave his life to the Lord that day.
Because of his personal background, Will had a heart for those in the slums of Nottingham. “In the …Broad Street Chapel, Booth noted one thing lacking. Their sermons done, revivalists …would urge people to the communion rail — called also the mourner’s bench, a kind of Protestant confessional–in public acceptance of Christ. Yet the poorest and most degraded never came forward. Nor were they present even at Booth’s own street sermons.
“Will, of course, knew where they congregated–down in “The Bottoms,” one of Nottingham’s cruellest slums, where men shunned church as they shunned prison. These lost sheep he now set out to find.
“Those who made part of Broad Street congregation never forgot that electric Sunday in 1846: the gas jets, dancing on whitewashed walls, the Minister, the Rev. Samuel Dunn, seated comfortably on his red plush throne, a concord of voices swelling into the evening’s fourth hymn:
Foul I to the fountain fly,
Wash me, Saviour, or I die (lyrics from Rock of Ages)
“The chapel’s outer door suddenly shattered open, engulfing a white scarf of fog. In its wake came a shuffling shabby contingent of men and women, wilting nervously under the
stony stares of mill-managers, shop-keepers and their well-dressed wives. In their rear, afire with zeal, marched “Wilful Will”, cannily blocking the efforts of the more reluctant to turn back. To his dismay the Rev. Dunn saw that young Will was actually ushering his charges, none of whose clothes would have raised five shillings in his own pawnshop, into the very best seats; pewholders’ seats, facing the pulpit, whose occupants piled the collection-plate with glinting silver.
“This was unprecedented, for the poor, if they came to chapel, entered by another door, to be segregated on benches without backs or cushions, behind a partition which screened off the pulpit. Here, though the service was audible, they could not see–nor could they be seen.
“Oblivious of the mounting atmosphere, Will joined full-throatedly in the service… All too soon he learned the unpalatable truth: since Wesley’s day, Methodism had become “respectable.”
“The service done, Booth found himself facing a drumhead meeting of deacons under the Rev. Dunn and their instructions left no room for doubt. In future, if Will brought such a flock to chapel they would enter by the side door–and sit in their appointed seats.”2
This was all it took for Will to begin trying to figure out a better way to minister to the downtrodden. By now, you might have figured out that Willful Will was none other than William Booth who, with his wife, Catherine, founded The Salvation Army on this day in 1865. The original mission was to take the Gospel and the church to those most in need. “Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among their first converts to Christianity. And soon, those converts were also preaching and singing in the streets as living testimonies to the power of God.”3
I know nothing of the doctrine of The Salvation Army today. About all any of us know is that at Christmas, the bell ringers are at stores with their kettles, trying to raise funds for their charities.
Looking back to the beginnings of this ministry, it falls right in line with something James taught in James 2:1-7. “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. (2) For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; (3) And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: (4) Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (5) Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this 
world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (6) But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? (7) Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?”
Despising the poor is an ungodly attitude. Treating them with disdain is disgusting. Jesus said we would have the poor with us always (Matthew 26:11) and our treatment and attitude towards them says a lot about where our heart is at.
Let’s take a moment and carefully examine ourselves. Do we have a love for the kinds of people Willful Will loved? Do we see them as those for whom Jesus came to save? Are we willing to go to them in compassion and lead them to Jesus?
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: (9) But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” (James 2:8-9)
1https://others.org.au/army-archives/sparks-that-lit-a-fire-of-salvation-part-1/
2https://www.gospeltruth.net/booth/generalnext.htm
3https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/about-us/our-history/
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