The evangelist Samuel Porter Jones, a mighty Methodist who could match wits with Mephistopheles, was a wonderful supporter of The Salvation Army in his home state of Georgia. At a time when Salvationists were facing persecution for having open-air meetings on the street corners of Atlanta, he said to a journalist: 

“I am a Salvation Army man myself … wherever you find a band of Salvation Army workers you will find the most heroic, consecrated, Christ-like people the sun shines [sic] in this world. They are here to rescue the perishing, to save the fallen. There is music in their drums and tambourines and songs—there is power in their sermons and glory in their souls” (Atlanta Constitution, April 29, 1899). 

Jones was known to help The Salvation Army with their financial contributions. During his evangelistic meetings, he would remind people, “Don’t criticize The Salvation Army; they have got religion, and that’s all that ails them” (Nashville Banner June 2, 1892). Jones was assisted by Salvation Army officers in Minneapolis in 1887, Dallas in 1893, and Cartersville, Georgia in 1905. It was in The War Cry, dated November 3, 1906, that a headline read, “Rev. Sam Jones Passes to His Heavenly Reward.” It mentioned a Southern officer named Major Berriman who said that “in Sam Jones, The Salvation Army lost its greatest champion in the South. He never failed to shake hands and give a word of encouragement to any Salvationist whom he met in his travels.” 

Following his death, one might have wondered if anyone would remember Sam Jones. The Founder, William Booth, came to Nashville, Tennessee to give a series of sermons on the platform of the Ryman Auditorium. The local Salvation Army officers told him that the edifice he was in was built by Captain Thomas Ryman, who had been influenced by the preaching of Sam Jones. What influence are you having on the world around you? Are you supporting fellow believers around you, or has your faith fizzled out?

Image provided by Captain Charles Smith | This article was originally titled “A Holy Advocate for The Hallelujah Army” in the October 2024 issue of The War Cry.