GOD STILL A MAINSTAY OF CORPS' WORK

Evangeline Booth, daughter of Salvation Army founders William and Catherine Booth, visited Cape Girardeau on May 14, 1940, to help dedicate the Arena Building and urge the community to "do your part to bring God to a troubled world."

The desire to bring God to a troubled world continues to shape the mission of the Salvation Army, which this weekend celebrates its 100th anniversary of coming to Cape Girardeau.

Commissioner Robert A. Watson, the Salvation Army's national commander, will be present for the local corps' centennial celebration, which will feature a music festival, worship services and a civic dinner. Watson is the highest-ranked officer to visit the city since Booth.

But even in the midst of the celebration, the focus of the weekend will be the Army's continuing mission in the city, said Capt. Robert Gauthier, the local commanding officer.

"Our mission is to meet people's needs and to bring them to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. With those two things, their quality of life will change," Gauthier said.

As Cape Girardeau grows and many churches relocate from older to newer sections of town, the Salvation Army remains a fixture on the city's south side.

"If we are going to meet the needs of people, we've got to be where the people are," said Gauthier from his office at the corps' Community Center on Good Hope.

Gauthier considers the work of the Salvation Army today to be a continuation of the mission of William and Catherine Booth.

William Booth, a Methodist minister in England, began an organization called "The Christian Mission" in 1865. Its purpose was to preach the gospel even as it ministered to the physical needs of the people in the London slums.

Thirteen years later a pamphlet writer for the organization spoke of the Christian Mission as "a voluntary army" in the service of God. Editing the pamphlet before publication, Booth scratched out the word "volunteer."

"We are not volunteers," he said. "We feel we must do what we do, and we are always on duty."

In place of the word volunteer, Booth substituted the word "salvation," and the Salvation Army name was born.

The Army first came to the United States in 1880, and to Cape Girardeau in late December 1897, when Sgt. Major and Mrs. Parr came from St. Louis to lay the groundwork for the opening of further Salvation Army work in the city. In February 1898, two women, Capt. Dalton and Lt. Emma Potts, took charge of the work in Cape Girardeau.

The early years of work in the city by the Army were not easy with four commanding officers and six assistants coming and going in less than two years. In December 1899, the Army ceased to operate on a full-time basis here.

The Salvation Army has been an active part of Cape Girardeau life since it reopened on a permanent basis in March 1916.

In the intervening years, there was activity by the Army and affiliated groups in the area. An article in the Feb. 1, 1910, edition of the Daily Republican applauded the efforts of the Salvation Army to establish a post on Water Street under the direction of Major C. Coleman.

"Members of the Salvation Army are doing a great deal of work, and as their efforts reach a class of people who are seldom aided by other societies their good works are to be commended," the article read.

Even though Maj. Coleman's effort to establish a post in 1910 were unsuccessful, an affiliated organization, the Provident Association, remained active.

Although it is unclear what the connection was between the Provident Association and Army, the association did similar work as the Army, raising money and providing donations of food and clothing to needy persons. When the Association disbanded in 1922, its funds were given to the Salvation Army.

In its first two decades of service after being permanently re-established in the city, the Army had a dozen different locations in Cape Girardeau, most of them in the downtown area.

From its headquarters at Main and Independence, the Army sent out 30 Christmas baskets on Dec. 24, 1916, in what would be its first big work at Christmastime in Cape Girardeau. Later, the practice would develop into the Army's Tree of Lights campaign.

The 1997 Tree of Lights brought in $176,000, which will continue the Army's mission of providing immediate help to families and individuals in crisis situations. In 1997 alone, more than 15,000 people received financial assistance through the Salvation Army social services.

It is the excellent public support of the Army that makes Gauthier optimistic about their mission. "When you do something beyond the ordinary, good things are going to happen," Gauthier said.