The Salvation Army identifies itself as an evangelical organisation. The four basic tenets of evangelicalism are an emphasis on the conversion of the individual, human effort and action, a high regard for the Bible, and an emphasis on the death of Christ, rather than His earthly ministry.174 These four evangelical beliefs could both empower women in
their ministry in The Salvation Army, but also work to marginalise them. Catherine Booth had used her extensive knowledge of Scripture to justify women’s public preaching but The Salvation Army never challenged the idea of a woman’s submission to her husband. Evangelicals emphasise the suffering of Christ, and the Biblical command of Jesus to his disciples that “[i]f anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”175 This emphasis on the sufferings of
Christ and the need for sacrifice and self-denial for Christians, as has already been discussed, is often problematic for women. The Salvation Army had a strong emphasis on the need for conversion and all were welcome, regardless of class, race, educational ability or gender in the salvation war. Women in The Salvation Army were seen as having a vital part to play in the organisation’s evangelical work and their particular ability to work for, and convict the unsaved of their need for salvation, and to minister to the needy, was constantly reiterated by the organisation. This emphasis on
conversion and The Salvation Army’s requirement to publicly witness to this conversion experience could work against women. Testifying in public, both in Salvation Army meetings and at open air gatherings was considered necessary and following their enrolment as a soldier, public testimony to the impact of salvation was a requirement. The Salvation Army must have recognised there was a problem with male Salvationists
174 D. W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History From the 1730s to the 1980s (London:
Routledge, 1993) eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), (accessed May 9, 2017), 2-3
51 dominating public meetings and with women Salvationists being reluctant to speak in public, as its The Orders and Regulations for Field Officers state
The sisters are so trained up from childhood to give the leadership to men, that they will never open their mouths in their presence, unless an opportunity is made for them to do so and they are pressed to avail themselves of it.176
The F.O. [Field Officer] must insist upon the woman having an equal opportunity for active service… Not all husbands are willing to sit silent and allow their wives to have a fair turn in the ring or on the platform, although their husbands know that their wives will speak more acceptably and usefully than they can themselves. This will not be done because of any set purpose to keep wives and sisters silent, but because of a thoughtless habit on the part of the men of taking up the time themselves.177
Comments such as those in the women’s edition of The War Cry of 1892 would suggest that women were often too timid to speak, and too softly spoken to be heard clearly.178
“S.U.B.” in her article in The War Cry of 26th December 1891 also indicates that male
domination of public events was not unknown in The Salvation Army in New Zealand.179
There are clear differences between the conversion narratives of men and those of women.180 Male narratives focus on sins of the body, rather than sins of the mind. They
often describe their conversion as a rejection of the activities they once enjoyed and often feature narrow escapes from death or some cataclysmic event. For women bodily sins are rarely mentioned, childhood and youth is described as a time of searching, and there is less of a dramatic turn from the sinful life to that of the converted sinner. This
176 The General [William Booth], Orders and Regulations for Field Officers of The Salvation Army (London:
Headquarters of The Salvation Army, 1900), 219
177 The General [William Booth], Orders and Regulations for Field Officers of The Salvation Army (London:
Headquarters of The Salvation Army, 1900), 224-225
178 See for example, Hoare, “Before and After Marriage,” The War Cry, June 25, 1892, p. 5
179 See also the quote on page 28 of this thesis which is an extract from “S.U.B.” “Women’s Rights,” The War Cry, December 26, 1891, p. 7. Further quotations from, and comments on, S.U.B.’s article are made in the conclusion of this thesis.
180 Walker, Pulling the Devil’s Kingdom Down, 75-84 andLundin, “The Salvation Army in Sweden and the
52 put a Salvationist woman at something of a disadvantage when it came to speaking of her conversion. With many of them coming from other Protestant denominations, a dramatically sinful past was less likely to be part of their life narrative. A male Captain who was an “ex-Jail Bird” and who could sing his prison experience was always going to attract more attention and visibility than a young woman testifying that she had been saved “from all sin, from worldly dress, feathers and flowers.”181 There are, however,
some occasions when women officers achieved greater results than their male
colleagues. Fanny Worsdell, a Salvation Army soldier and later an officer, happened to attend the opening of the Oamaru Corps and was the only person able to get a hearing, “the crowd simply howled down any of the men officers and comrades present.”182
Evangelicalism emphasised the importance of individual effort and action, both in spreading the Christian message and in caring for the less fortunate. This attitude opened up many opportunities for Christian women in all Protestant denominations. Whilst in other churches this was likely to be limited to tasks such as home visiting and Sunday School teaching, in The Salvation Army the scope for all women, both officers and soldiers, was considerably wider. The effort and action required by The Salvation Army’s determination to evangelize the highways and byways of New Zealand often came at tremendous cost for its women officers. The career cards of women officers and articles in The War Cry indicate that many women officers suffered from exhaustion and significant health problems and many resigned when the amount of human effort and action required became intolerable. The resignation of officers of both sexes was a constant problem for The Salvation Army and a chapter of the Orders and Regulations for Field Officers was devoted to it. There were approximately 576 officers working in New Zealand from 1883-1912 and of these 208 are known to have resigned from their role as officers.183 Of the 289 women listed as officers in this period, 109 are listed as
181 “The ex-Jail Bird,” The War Cry, March 24, 1888, p. 2 ; Alice Wilkinson, “Lines From the Lasses,” The War Cry, March 24, 1888, p. 4
182 Kirk manuscript, held at The Salvation Army New Zealand, Fiji & Tonga-Heritage Centre & Archives,
p.18. Harry Combs, in his book, Growing Up in the Forty Mile Bush, (Hamilton: Paul’s Book Arcade, 1951),71-73 recounts the impact of the arrival of the first two Salvation Army women officers to Dannevirke and their success, when two previous male officers had failed, in establishing the Army in 1892, in what was seen as a male dominated unruly sawmilling community.
183 These statistics are taken from a book at The Salvation Army New Zealand, Fiji & Tonga-Heritage
53 resigning, with 99 men also resigning during this period.184 Some former officers
continued their involvement with The Salvation Army as soldiers, but many moved to other Protestant Churches.185 The pages of The War Cry are full of accounts of officers,
both male and female, experiencing health problems. In the month of July 1894, fifteen officers with health problems are mentioned in The War Cry and The Salvation Army operated a Home of Rest for officers who were ill or needing a rest. A number of married women officers are mentioned as taking on the work of running the corps when their husbands are unwell. For example, “Captain Drew is going on a much needed furlough. Mrs Drew is to ‘hold the fort’ at Whangarei during his absence” and when Captain Burton was resting it was reported that “Mrs Burton is so well, strong and able, that she should take an appointment somewhere while he continues to rest. We are therefore giving her the command of Cambridge.”186 These examples do serve to
further illustrate that women officers, including married women officers, were actively involved in running corps in The Salvation Army in New Zealand at this time.