Posted by Richard Rawlinson

If you watch this 1912 film of the funeral of the Salvation Army founder William Booth, you’ll notice that many of the mourners in the streets of London are wearing white armbands. Salvationists see the death of the faithful as a ‘Promotion to Glory’, hence the white armbands on uniformed ‘soldiers’ of the church, along with the uplifting sound of a brass band. 

ED’S NOTE: The hymn you hear is Shall We Gather at the River, an old spiritual. Below is a version by Willie Nelson.