William longed to return to London to be with his wife, but he knew she would not want him to do that. Catherine had insisted from the day they met that he put his work for God first.
As the date of the baby’s arrival approached, William returned to London by train. On March 8, 1856, Catherine gave birth to a son. They named him William Bramwell, after an evangelist who had preached his way through northern England fifty years before. Bramwell Booth, who had his mother’s dimple and his father’s long legs, was a strong, healthy child from the start. The following year, on July 28, 1857, Catherine gave birth to a second son, whom they named Ballington after Catherine’s favorite great uncle. During this time the growing Booth family had no home of their own, and they stayed with friends or in make-shift rented rooms.
Finally, two years after he and Catherine were married, William completed his preaching tour of Great Britain, and the family settled into a house together. They did so just in time, because baby number three was born on September 18, 1858. This time it was a girl, whom they christened Catherine.
From London, the New Connexion assigned William to a church in a small mill town in Yorkshire called Brighouse and then to Gateshead, a stone’s throw from the huge industrial city of Newcastle. In Gateshead, on January 8, 1860, William and Catherine’s fourth child, a daughter named Emma, was born.
William had plenty to do inside the church, but it was the people outside, the people who never dreamed of setting a foot inside a church, who really concerned him. As he looked out his study window, William would ask himself, In how many of those gray, dreary homes is the name of Christ ever mentioned? What am I doing here in a chapel filled with Christians who are eager to learn about God when I could be out there bringing the message to those who do not want to hear it?
Despite his desire to be ministering to those who never set foot in church, William did his best to be a good pastor. Two years passed, until something happened inside the church that stirred up everyone, including William.
Chapter 6
Catherine’s Preaching Gift
It was Whitsunday 1860, and William stood at the pulpit preaching. Looking out at the congregation, he saw Catherine, with four-year-old Bramwell sitting beside her, and several local dignitaries who had come to hear him. Just as he was about to announce the final hymn, William noticed Catherine stand up and walk deliberately down the aisle and up the altar steps. His mind raced. What could possibly be important enough for her to interrupt the service? Perhaps there was a disturbance outside or she was feeling ill.
As his wife’s skirt swished up to him, William whispered, “What is it, my dear?”
She looked at him with steady eyes. “I want to say a word.”
“At the pulpit?” he whispered back.
Catherine nodded.
William was astonished. Women did not take over the pulpit! But he knew that Catherine must have some good reason to do such a strange thing, so he turned to the congregation. “My dear wife wishes to speak,” he said and then sat down.
Catherine spoke in a clear, high voice. “I dare say many of you have been looking at me as a very devoted woman, but I have disobeyed God. I have made a promise to God that I will obey Him from now on, and it was His Holy Spirit who urged me to stand up and speak to you all. I, like my husband, have been called to preach the gospel from the pulpit, and I am ready to do that, even if it means that I look like a fool—at least I shall be a fool for Christ.”
William looked out over the congregation. Many people were weeping. Catherine continued to talk for a few more minutes, and then she beckoned William to step up to the pulpit. William hurried to her and whispered in her ear, “I can see that God is moving through your words. Will you preach again tonight?”
Catherine nodded, and William stepped forward to the pulpit. “My dear wife will be the preacher tonight,” he announced.
Following Whitsunday many people questioned William as to why he had allowed a woman to take over his pulpit. He always gave the same answer: His goal was to bring curious people within the sound of the gospel, and if a woman preacher, or anyone else for that matter, helped to do that, William was all for it.
As it happened, soon afterward Catherine was able to put her newfound preaching skills to work helping William through a difficult time. When William collapsed from nervous stress, she took over his preaching and visiting duties at church until he recovered. And once William recovered, he and Catherine together formed a determined team.
Of course, not everyone was happy about this. A woman preacher was outside the comprehension of most Methodists. Christian wives were supposed to be at home looking after the children or sewing kneeling cushions, not standing up in front of men telling them how to live their lives! Complaints, along with some compliments, began to pour into the New Connexion headquarters. By May 1861, the date of the annual conference, the future of the preaching team of William and Catherine Booth had become a contentious issue. William had asked the conference to release him from his church responsibilities so that he and Catherine could run revival meetings in New Connexion churches throughout the area.
On Saturday, May 25, the matter finally came to a head. Dr. Cooke, principal of William’s old seminary, stepped in with a suggestion that he hoped would address the concerns of many while opening the door for William and Catherine to hold their revival meetings.
“How would it be,” Dr. Cooke asked the conference, “if William Booth was put in charge of the entire Newcastle circuit. Then, when things were going smoothly, he could take time off to hold revival meetings in other areas.”
William’s heart sank. This was not what he had been hoping for. For one thing, no mention was made of Catherine’s preaching gift, and for another, he doubted if things would ever be running smoothly enough in Newcastle for him to “take time off.” Newcastle was a very difficult area to be the superintendent of.
A discontented murmur went through the crowd at Dr. Cooke’s suggestion. The president of the New Connexion, Dr. Crofts, stepped to the front and glared at those in the room.
“This will not do!” Dr. Crofts boomed. “We must have order. Clear the public gallery, and we will continue to discuss William Booth’s future in a closed session.”
There was a scurry of activity behind him, and then William heard a strong, clear voice rise from the gallery. “No…never!” It was Catherine. William looked around to see his wife being escorted toward the door. At that moment William Booth made a choice. His fate would not be discussed in secret away from his wife and the members of his congregation who had come to support him. William stood up, waved his hat in the air as a salute to his wife, and walked deliberately out the door. Catherine was standing on the steps, and he hooked her arm in his and headed down the street. Neither of them looked back. William’s days of being a New Connexion pastor were over.
The question William now had to grapple with was, what lay ahead? He was a thirty-two-year-old man with a wife and four small children to house and feed. After mulling over the problem for two months, William still had no answer as to what to do next. The family had just enough money to buy train tickets and return to London. Should they go there, or should they stay and buy food? William and Catherine prayed hard about the situation and in the end came to the conclusion that they should return to London to live with Catherine’s parents while they waited to see what doors of ministry would open up for them. They packed their bags and set off for London.
As soon as they were settled into the Mumfords’ home, William began looking for work. He got the occasional odd job and spent the money he earned on soup bones and two-day-old bread to feed the family. Yet he never doubted that he had done the right thing in resigning from the New Connexion. He knew his future lay in preaching. He just wished the situation were not so hard on Catherine and the children. When he tried to apologize to his wife for the way things had worked out, Catherine replied, “Trust in God, William. He will not give us more than we are able to bear. A way will open for us soon. You will see.”
And a way did open up, though for William not a very promising one. John Stone, a convert from William’s Chester revival meetings, had become a pastor in Hayle, Cornwall. The Reverend Stone wrote a letter inviting William and Catherine to preach in his chapel, though he warned that his congregation was small and elderly and that the chapel could afford to offer him only a few shillings’ remuneration for his efforts. It was the only offer William had, and he gladly accepted. In August 1861 the Booths left their children with the Mumfords and traveled to Cornwall.
Since he had last seen John Stone, William had been experimenting with a new format for his revival meetings. This new format involved inviting members of the audience who wanted to repent of their sins and become Christians to come to the front of the church. There they publicly stood at the “penitent rail,” confessed their sins, and asked Jesus to come into their lives. The New Connexion leaders had opposed this way of doing things because they felt it made too much of a show over sin, that it was better for such matters to be dealt with in a private manner. Thankfully, the Reverend Stone agreed with William’s approach and gave him permission to use a penitent rail in the chapel.
The results of the meetings in Hayle were astounding, even to William and Catherine. Each day the number of people attending the special services grew, until fishermen were rowing ten miles across rough seas to reach the chapel, while others, including families with young children, hiked over the coastal trails to get there. At every meeting a mixture of people from burly miners to little old ladies to young people stood together at the front of the chapel, weeping and asking God to forgive them for their sins.
News of what was happening in Hayle spread throughout the neighboring towns, and soon William and Catherine were invited to speak in churches all over Cornwall. In the nearby town of St. Just, more than a thousand people joined local churches in the time the Booths spent there. And in St. Ives so many people came to the meetings that the newspaper reported the town was all but shut down. All of the shopkeepers and customers were involved in the revival meetings.
Other eyes were watching the Booths as well. The Methodists were pleased to see their churches and funds growing. The Wesleyan Times reported:
During the eighteen weeks Mr and Mrs Booth conducted their services in Redruth and Camborne at least 3,000 souls were brought to Jesus.… At Redruth we hear the Free Church has given 1,500 pounds for ground and we are going to build immediately the largest chapel in the country.… Since Mr and Mrs Booth commenced their evangelistic work in Cornwall 7,000 souls have been awakened and saved.
Although these leaders liked the growing churches and funds, they were not particularly impressed with a wayward pastor stirring up so much emotion in the people. They argued that revival was “unseemly” and “undignified” and had to be stopped. So the leaders of the Methodist church ordered the pastors of their churches to close their doors and pulpits to the Booths. William and Catherine were shocked by the decision, as were many local pastors. Soon other denominations began following the example of the Methodists in barring the Booths.
William and Catherine returned to London saddened by the knowledge that despite seven thousand people being converted under their preaching, they were no longer welcome in most churches. But having tasted success in their preaching, neither William nor Catherine was ready to give up holding revival meetings.
Back in London, on August 26, 1862, Catherine gave birth to another son, whom they named Herbert. Even with five children, Catherine urged William to find a way for them to continue their preaching work. The question was, how?
