Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Arthur Sydney Booth-Clibborn (''né'' Clibborn) (1855 – 20 February 1939) was a pioneering

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in France and Switzerland. He was the husband of

Kate Booth Catherine Booth-Clibborn (Katie Booth, 18 September 18589 May 1955) was an English Salvationist and evangelist who extended the Salvation Army into France and Switzerland against local opposition. She was the oldest daughter of William Booth, W ...

, the oldest daughter of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Catherine Booth Catherine Booth (''née'' Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mothe ...

Early life

Clibborn was born in

Moate Moate (; ) is a town in County Westmeath, Ireland. The name ''An Móta'' is derived from the term motte-and-bailey, as the Normans built an example of this type of fortification here. The earthwork is still visible behind the buildings on the m ...

, County Westmeath in Ireland, the son of a linen mill owner. At age 13 he was sent to boarding school in France and Switzerland. He graduated from the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

. During this time abroad, he developed his capacity for languages. At age 26 he was appointed a Quaker minister.Malcomson, Keith ''Pentecostal Pioneers Remembered''
Xulon Press (2008) p. 139 ''

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

Salvation Army career

Joining

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

in 1881 at the invitation of

William Booth William Booth (10 April 182920 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first "General" (1878–1912). His 1890 book In Darkest England and The Way Out outli ...

, Major Clibborn became

’s chief of staff during her mission in France. They married on 18 February 1887. On marriage, Arthur and Kate changed their surname by deed poll to Booth-Clibborn at the insistence of General Booth. They had ten children, including the

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

preacher William Emmanuel Booth-Clibborn. A grandson was Stanley Eric Francis Booth-Clibborn, who became the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bishop is David Walker who ...

. The Booth-Clibborns were posted by The Salvation Army to Switzerland in 1889. However, opposition to their movement eventually led to the Swiss government's order that all Salvation Army halls be closed, and Arthur Booth-Clibborn was imprisoned for a time. Following the birth of their tenth child the Booth-Clibborns resigned from

in January 1902, unhappy at the restrictive nature of the Army's military style of government. A commission of enquiry had already decided to dismiss him from officership.

Post-Salvation Army

At her husband's wish, Kate and the children travelled with him to the religious leader

John Alexander Dowie John Alexander Dowie (25 May 18479 March 1907) was a Scottish-Australian minister known as an evangelist and faith healer. He began his career as a conventional minister in South Australia. After becoming an evangelist and faith healer, he im ...

's Zion City, a township about 40 miles north of Chicago. Kate Booth-Clibborn did not believe Dowie's grandiose claims – in 1901 he declared himself the prophet Elijah the Restorer, and in 1904 the first apostle of Jesus Christ – and she was offended by his criticism of her father even though her resignation had made her an outcast from both her family and The Salvation Army. For the rest of her life Kate Booth-Clibborn had almost no contact with her father or with those siblings who remained in The Salvation Army.L. E. Lauer, ‘Clibborn, Catherine Booth- (1858–1955)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edition, October 200
accessed 26 May 2010
/ref> After converting to

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

in 1906 the Booth-Clibborns together continued preaching and spreading the Gospel as travelling

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

s in Europe, the United States, and Australia for the rest of their lives. Catherine Booth-Clibborn on ''The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre'' websiteMissionary Sheet
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clibborn, Arthur 1855 births 1939 deaths Salvation Army officers Commissioners in The Salvation Army Zionism in the United States Irish Quakers Irish Salvationists Irish Pentecostals Evangelists William Booth family