Abstract

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, initially preached in Methodist Churches, later left this position and formed a social and religious formation called the "Christian Mission". This movement was named "Salvation Army" in 1878. The Salvation Army, organized in many countries, has established nursing homes for elderly, women and children and continues to attract attention and increase its reputation both locally and internationally with aid organizations, rehabilitation of prisoners, natural disasters, fight against human trafficking and aid to refugees. In every region where The Salvation Army is located, there is an administrative centre known as the regional headquarters. Headquarters are headed by the district commander at the international headquarters in London. Smaller districts are run by colonels, larger districts by commissars. Resembling the Catholic Church due to its episcopal structure, the Salvation Army accepts the same beliefs as this church at the point of belief. Although the movement has also the appearance of a Protestant and evangelical church, it approaches the sacraments from a different aspect. In this research, the history, organizational structure, activities, belief principles and practices of the Salvation Army have been tried to be revealed. Descriptive, comparative and chronological methods have been used while conveying the aforementioned issues in order of importance. In addition, the literature was scanned and various sources belonging to the emergence period of the Salvation Army and especially those belonging to them were examined.