Church Army

a Christian organization within the Church of England that gives help to those who need it, such as poor people, old people and people without a home. It was started by Wilson Carlile in London in 1882.

Compare Salvation Army.

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▪ British religious organization

      organization of lay evangelists within the Church of England, founded on the model of the Salvation Army for evangelistic purposes in the slums of London in 1882 by Wilson Carlile. Later it became primarily concerned with social work and rehabilitation. After a two-year residential course of training, students are commissioned as officers of the Church Army; the men are called captains and the women sisters. Officers either serve parish churches in England as specialists in evangelism or serve in specialized ministries to children, the elderly, drug or alcohol addicts, the poor, the armed forces, and prisoners and their families. They also serve as missionaries in other countries. Autonomous societies exist in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Caribbean, and East Africa.

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