Fitting badly into any system - William Booth.

The world and society owes a lot to the pioneers of mission in 19th Century. One pioneer was William Booth.

By the middle of the 19th century, England had become a largely industrial nation. Many more people had moved from the countryside to live in the growing cities and towns. The way the population was spread through the country had changed. On the other hand, the Church of England parishes had not, and could only alter slowly. Most of the new town dwellers grew up outside the care of the Church of England. Methodists, with their simple preaching places and local preachers, did have greater success in reaching them.

Other nonconformist churches also expanded into the new urban areas, but many people in the industrial areas remained untouched by Christianity. Part of the problem was the linking of social classes to particular Christian denominations. Only in some of the chapels would working class people feel at home. William Booth was a man who cared very much about this situation. He spoke of "darkest England", because of its ignorance of the Christian faith. He had worked as a Christian preacher in a number of churches, and was an ordained minister of a Methodist church. But he tended to fit badly into any system: he liked to "do his own thing". He was too concerned about the need for people to hear about Jesus Christ to be content to stay in one place.

In 1865 Booth was in the East End of London, preaching to crowds of people in the streets. Outside The Blind Beggar public house some missioners heard him speaking and were so impressed by his preaching that they invited him to lead a series of meetings they were holding in a large tent. The tent was set up on an old Quaker burial ground on Mile End Waste in Whitechapel. The first of these meetings was held on 2 July 1865. To the poor and destitute of London's East End Booth brought the good news of Jesus Christ and his love for all.

Booth soon realised he had found his destiny, and later in 1865 he and his wife Catherine opened 'The Christian Revival Society' in the East End of London, where they held meetings every evening and on Sundays, to share the repentance that salvation can bring through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to the poorest and most needy, including alcoholics, criminals and prostitutes. The Christian Revival Society was later renamed The Christian Mission. Slowly The Christian Mission began to grow but the work was difficult and Booth would "stumble home night after night haggard with fatigue, often his clothes were torn and bloody bandages swathed his head where a stone had struck", wrote his wife. Evening meetings were held in an old warehouse where urchins threw stones and fireworks through the window. Outposts were eventually established and in time attracted converts, yet the results were discouraging. 

Booth and his fellow brethren in Christ practiced what they preached and from hearts of love and passion  opened “Food for the Million” shops (soup kitchens), not caring if they were scoffed at or derided for their work.

Booth was a maverick, a rebel, who in his time would not heed the established church, who had a passion for the poor and needy on the streets of the east end of London. Booth did what Jesus did and simply "Moved into the neighbourhood" What an inspiration and a challenge to church planting in today's society.