Eliza Shirley
Salvation Army Pioneer
Born
in 1863 to Amos and Annie Shirley, Eliza
Shirley was raised to be a proper Victorian
young lady in 19 th Century England . Though
trained in all the manners and customs to
become a lady of the manor, Eliza longed for
more than an ordinary middle class life.
Growing up in Coventry , England , as a
young girl Eliza spent hours memorizing
sermons preached by her father, a part-time
minister. When she was fifteen years old,
the Salvation Army marched into her hometown
and began a work led by women preachers that
came to be known as Hallelujah Lassies.
In true Salvation Army fashion, these
ladies held open-air meetings in poor
neighborhoods in many cases in front of
taverns. Their mission? To reach the poorest
of the poor, whom no one else cared about,
with the saving message of Jesus Christ.
Eliza
was so affected by the preaching of these
women that she dedicated her life to God’s
service and wanted to become a Salvation
Army worker. Since she was a mere fifteen
years old at the time, her parents, who also
took part in Salvation Army meetings, asked
her to withhold any decision regarding
joining the Hallelujah Lassies until her
sixteenth birthday.
After
she turned sixteen, Eliza was summoned by
William Booth, General of the Salvation Army
to discuss her entry into full time service
with the group. Eliza accepted a post in
Bishop Aukland, a coal mining village in
Northern England .
At her
new post Eliza joined Annie Allspop to
evangelize the area. They lived in
impoverished conditions among the poor of
the village, getting most of their food from
keeping what was thrown at them at the
open-air meetings. Most of the money taken
in offerings to be used to help with the
work was stolen by the crowds before it
reached them. Though times were hard, these
two pretty, petite girls reached this
rough-and-tumble village for God. They saw
God move in that village in a powerful way
as even the worst men were converted to
Christ during their meetings. They remained
faithful to the work, and lives were
changed.
Later
that year Amos Shirley sent word to his
daughter that he and Annie were moving to
America and that he wished Eliza to go with
them. His thoughts were that she could start
a work for the Salvation Army in America .
Eliza contacted General Booth for advice.
While he wasn’t sure she should go, he gave
his blessing for her to test the waters in
the U.S.
Amos,
Annie, and Eliza Shirley arrived in
Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in 1880 and
immediately began looking for a building to
hold meetings. Their first meeting was
attended by only 12 people and the work grew
slowly. The rough crowds often pelted the
three with mud, stones, sticks, and rotten
vegetables.
Nearly
four weeks after their first small meeting,
God intervened. As the Shirleys made their
way to the lot where they would be holding
their open-air meeting, they noticed a glow
in the sky. A fire had been started on their
lot and hundreds of people turned out to see
the spectacle. The Shirleys make use of the
opportunity and began to sing and preach.
After the sermon, a drunken man known as
Reddy came forward and asked if God would
even forgive a drunk like him. Yes, even
him, the Shirleys explained. So, at that
moment, Reddy gave his life to the Lord and
his life was changed…and so was the ministry
in Philadelphia . Reddy became such a living
testimony to the grace of God, that people
filled the meeting house to see it for
themselves.
Soon
after this, Eliza found another building on
the West Side of Philadelphia and opened a
new work for the Salvation Army. She sent to
General Booth for reinforcements and the
work of the Salvation Army spread throughout
America .
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Rescources:
Hallelujah Lass by Wendy Lawton, Moody
Press, 2004.