One of my first jobs at The Salvation Army was to cover a 'High Council', or election of a new head of the Army - the General. A very boring assignment!But I learned then that the first ever High Council had been in 1929 and was called to depose Bramwell Booth, son of the first General, William. I also learned then that you didn't talk about it. It was still a live issue for many people.
With the publication of this book by retired General John Larsson, however, the subject is now out in the open.
There's a family story at the heart of it. Bramwell Booth wanted to continue the tradition of the incumbent General appointing his successor, and intended to appoint his daughter. His sister was violently opposed to this and led the reformers around the world who wanted a more collegiate style of leadership.
As the story of what happened in 1928 and 1929 unfolds the moral high-ground keeps shifting and the awful situation that many of the Salvation Army's leaders were in becomes apparent, with loyalty to Bramwell Booth and loyalty to the Army seeming incompatible. Should they stand by the man and see The Salvation Army disintegrate, or depose him while they had the chance and before his choice of successor could take over?
I've met all sorts of people who, like me, are amazed that they could be fascinated by a story about a constitutional crisis in The Salvation Army. It inspired me to make a documentary about it with John Larsson.
I think I'll look this one up. I wonder what John Larrson will write next - a reappraisal of the Fred Brown affair, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteThey didn't teach this to us at Corps Cadets! It's a fascinating story, though here written up primarily for Salvationist insiders, as all kinds of Army references - like the one made in the previous sentence - are left unexplained.
ReplyDeleteI found the contributed foreword surprising. "One of the very few who emerged with dignity intact" was Sam Brengle (but he would do , wouldn't he?), but this is evidently not the case for Bramwell Booth. The author of the preface comes close to saying that he would not have minded had the book not been published at all.
But there is immense penitential value in washing one's dirty linen in public, and religious and secular authorities have had, and will have to continue, to learn to endure it. Certainly Anglicans have no cause for complacency, given the ongoing lawsuits and vitriol in North America; nor do evanglicals, given the uncritical adulation that is commonly lavished upon their perceived leaders.
Colin's comment that, "The author of the preface comes close to saying that he would not have minded had the book not been published at all" is true. The preface was written by the current General and I'm certain that the only reason the book was allowed to be published was that its author was his respected predecessor. Since publication Draconian rules have been introduced restricting access to the papers of the Salvation Army's High Councils. Written permission has to be given by the General!
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