Day 48: Praying for single parents (1921)

Join with Salvationists of the Wales Division for day 48 of 150 days of prayer.

• ‘We had heard about the great things that God has done. Now we have seen them for ourselves’ (Psalm 48:8, EasyEnglish Bible). 

1921

‘Florence Booth (née Soper) was born in Blaina, the eldest daughter of an English doctor. She wrote, “The untrammelled existence on the Welsh hills, walking, riding, skating, gave me a love for the simple pleasures of the open-air, which encouraged me to seek such for my own children.’

(Jenty Fairbank, For Such a Time)

Florence Soper and Bramwell Booth fell in love and eventually married, despite the strong opposition of her father. His opposition is perhaps understandable. The Salvation Army was far from respectable – particularly in its early days. It was certainly not the sort of organisation that the daughter of a doctor should be marrying into. 

She became the leader of the Army’s Women’s Social Work. As such, she was responsible for the Hanbury Street Home in the East End of London during the time when Jack the Ripper was active. Indeed, one of his victims was found in Hanbury Street. Early Salvationists, including Florence, needed courage to minister in such areas.

Here is part of an address she gave to the International Social Council in 1921. Basing her comments on real-life stories, she made a plea for the just treatment of unmarried mothers.

‘There is one branch of our work which has been particularly hampered by unjust laws – our work for the unmarried mother and her child… The unmarried mothers of the Western world are more numerous than many people realise. One of the most helpful signs of the times is the awakening of public opinion with regard to motherhood, and the fact that the unmarried mother is not excluded from many of the provisions now introduced to protect motherhood.’

Prayer

• Pray for single parents and their children.
• Reflect on what you could do to support or encourage any single parents you know.