What was the main issue William Booth had to face why was it a problem?

Answer 1

William Booth was concerned with drunkenness in East London. In his day, even youngsters were often seen reeling through the streets, and drunkenness was a serious problem.

Booth and his band, called at first "The Christian Mission" tried to reach these people with the Gospel of Christ. Thus, he went into the streets with his message and suffered considerable opposition and hostility. Many early Salvationists were injured by mobs.

Some of the converts of these efforts were so notoiously "bad" that the churches of that time did not want them in the congregations. Thus, the Salvation Army was born as a church to take these people in and to nurture them with the Word of God. The Army is a world-wide church today.

In addressing drunkenness, Booth thought that those who sought deliverance should be gotten out of the city and taken to the country. There they would receive good food and honest work and be given a program of recovery from alcoholic addiction.

At the present time, the Army has various ARC's (Adult Rrehabilitation Centers) where men and women who suffer from addiction to alcohol or durgs can get spiritual and practical help. They receive good care and fine food, and they do practical work such as sorting out the various items that are given to the Army for resale in their stores. The profits of these stores go to support the work of the Army in rehabilitating addicts.

The success rate of these ARC's is something over 80%. This is a considerably higher rate than some other methods of rehabilitating drunkards or drug addicts. It is the spritual aspect of the program which produces better results.