Day 42: Thanking God for the role of women in society (1915)

29 July 2024

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Join with Salvationists of the Wales Division for day 42 of 150 days of prayer.

‘God, I need you so much! I look for you, as a thirsty deer looks for streams of water’ (Psalm 42:1, EasyEnglish Bible).

1915

According to the Women, Wales and War website:

‘March 1915 saw the beginnings of mass industrial employment for women. Many had lost jobs in manufacturing during 1914, with a great reduction of employment in “luxury trades”. But poor planning had left the army seriously short of artillery shells. The Ministry for Munitions was established to co-ordinate the manufacture of armaments and, as many men had joined the army, there was a great need for women workers to replace them in the nationalised factories.

‘The suffragette leader, Mrs Pankhurst, told Lloyd George [Minister of Munitions] that “there are very grave complaints being made that women now working for private munitions are being sweated”, being paid well below the rate offered to men. Lloyd George replied that all should be well in the newly nationalised factories. However, women munitions workers, though comparatively well paid, never achieved parity with male workers.’

The rights of women were firmly established within The Salvation Army when it was still The Christian Mission: ‘The 1875 constitution mandated Conference to review the constitution and government of The Christian Mission periodically. Certain subjects were exempted … doctrines … powers of the General … the right of women to hold any office within the Mission.’

(John Larsson, 1929: A Crisis that Shaped the Salvation Army's Future)

The early days of the Army in Wales bore witness to the courageous and capable leadership of women. They were given opportunities for ministry that would have been denied them in other churches; the women of the Shepherd family being a case in point (see Day 5).