Rowan, Edgar. Wilson Carlile and the Church Army: Third and Revised Edition, with Portraits and Illustrations. London: Church Army Bookroom, 1928. Third Edition. [9266]
Red cloth with bright gilt titles, 7 1/4 x 5 inches; (xiv), 222, (2) clean pp., many b/w plates. Very good. Hardcover.
First published in 1905, this third revised edition includes the part played by the Church Army during the Great War and after until 1926.
Wilson Carlile (1847-1942), Anglican priest and evangelist, founder of the Church Army. He was a very successful young businessman, learning French, German, and Italian to further the business concerns of his grandfather in Europe. He was converted 1873 by the reading of W. P. Mackay's Grace and Truth. He then associated with the Plymouth Brethren in London, and, upon the arrival of Moody and Sankey in 1875, volunteered to help with their campaign. His musical ability was recognised, and Moody encouraged him to enter the field of evangelism.
Carlile joined the Church of England, passed his examinations at the London School of Divinity and was ordained a deacon, and was later made curate at St. Mary Abbots, Kensington. He used his place as a means of public evangelism, holding open-air meetings, which brought him evangelistic success along with opposition from the police and others. Resigning his curancy, he devoted himself to "slum missions," receiving some training from the Salvation Army.
Unwilling to leave the Church of England, he envisioned and founded a ministry within the Church modeled on the methods of the Salvation Army, which he called the "Church Army." Their first evangelistic crusade was held in Belfast in 1883. Carlile was careful to work within the bounds and permissions of the Church of England, and met with frequent opposition in the early years. His work gradually became more accepted, and received Church approval. The Church Army became the largest home missions effort of the Church of England by 1925.