Four ‘epochs’ that defined the early Salvation Army in Australia
- deansimpson7
- Oct 1
- 3 min read
BY BARRY GITTINS
Next year will mark 125 years since The Salvation Army celebrated “four epochs” in the history of The Salvation Army.
These epochs are eras that marked God-sent leaders who galvanised Salvationists and thundered into battle with them, making an impact “in this southern land”.
The September 1901 issue of The Victory commemorated such early “pioneers as Brigadier Saunders, from the motherland”, who, with his comrade John Gore, “first planted the Army flag [with] no public demonstrations, no enthusiastic send-off”.
The Salvation Army started with whispers of hope; whispers that led to roars of joy.
The story of Salvationism Down Under evokes the lyrics of Earth, Wind and Fire’s evergreen anthem, September: “Do you remember? Love was changin’ the minds of pretenders, while chasin’ the clouds away … Our hearts were ringin’ in the key that our souls were singin’ …How we knew love was here to stay.”
Epoch 1: Colonel James Barker
The Victory lauded the epochs that followed, starting with James Barker, whose “advent created a sensation and a furore of revival enthusiasm”. Ten thousand people crowded into Melbourne’s Exhibition Building for the Army’s first Victorian anniversary; 8000 turned up the same year to celebrate the same anniversary in Sydney.
Epoch 2: Commissioner T. Henry Howard “The arrival of Commissioner Howard was another epoch,” the Army added, freeing up Barker “for the Social Work, which the Lord had destined as his life work”.
Howard’s abilities as a holiness teacher were not immediately felt “by the red-hot, rowdy, rollicking Salvationists of those days [but his] immense value soon became evident … as his deep, heart-searching holiness meetings and spiritual campaigns sifted the pure and the spurious, bringing hundreds into the experience of full salvation.”
Epoch 3: Commissioner T.B. Coombs Commissioner T.B. Coombs’ arrival and role as “an evangelist, sensational and emotional, full of dash and go-aheadism [and] a teacher and preacher of the inner secrets of the spiritual life”, ushered in “the next epoch [leaving] a fragrant memory for many tried officers and soldiers”.
Epoch 4: Commandant Herbert and Mrs Cornelie Booth “The fourth epoch commenced when Commandant Herbert and Mrs Cornelie Booth arrived in Australasia in 1896,” The Victory crowed, with Salvos “claiming the appointment as an answer to their prayers”.
Declaring the Booths’ leadership as “full of actual and tangible increase, and so productive of good [that] it will largely affect the future of the Army flag in Australasia”, the article noted the incessant labours of the couple, bouts of ill health and their constant efforts “in the depths of the slums and the higher circles of society” embodying “real hard work and the manifestation of a restless, energetic and indomitable spirit … during the past five conquering years!”
The laudatory words of the article are kind; indeed, kinder than subsequent actions.
Early in 1901, the emotional toll on Herbert from his strained relations with his father, General William Booth, and his big brother, Bramwell, led Herbert to resign his commission as a Salvation Army officer.
His Gethsemane days were spent at a Salvation Army property on the Collie River in Western Australia, preceding his departure and the negotiations for his severance.
Herbert left the work knowing from the experience of some of his siblings that he could be ostracised by his family and by the Army. Commissioner James Hay even had Herbert’s name removed from foundation stones and building plaques [some were later restored].
So, it was fitting that the Booths’ contribution to the growth and health of The Salvation Army was noted in print before he became persona non grata.
The work of salvation and The Salvation Army went on, despite the all-too-human frailties of God’s servants.
