Rev. William E. Booth-Clibborn

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

1893 ~ 1969

William and Catherine Booth were the founders of the Salvation Army. When their daughter "Catherine Booth" married Arthur S. Clibborn they changed their names. They and their descendants, beginning with 10 children of their own, would be known as Booth-Clibborn. Arthur and Catherine established the Salvation Army  in both France and Switzerland and also ministered in Holland. But in 1902 they left the Salvation Army and went into independent ministries. Six years later they came into the Pentecostal movement which was just getting started in London.

William E. Booth-Clibborn was the son of Arthur and Catherine Booth-Clibborn. In 1908, at the age of 15, William received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This life changing experience prompted  William's parents and siblings to also pray for the Baptism. William became the best known of the Booth-Clibborn children, having a worldwide ministry of evangelism and writing. Pentecostal periodicals in the 1920s and 30s carried many of his sermons and articles.  

After William E. Booth-Clibborn accepted the Oneness doctrine and was baptized in Jesus' name, he wrote a song, copywritten in 1921, that is still sung and reveared among all Oneness people today. The song is entitled, "Down From His Glory". The lyrics of the song reveal the powerful revelation that William received during this time. The first verse says, "Down from His glory, ever living story, My God and Savior came, and Jesus was His name, Born in a manger, To His own a stranger, A man of sorrows, tears and agony." The chorus says, "O how I love Him! How I adore Him! My breath, my sunshine, my all in all! The Great Creator became my Savior, And all God's full-ness dwelleth in Him."

Although William E. Booth-Clibborn did not remain with the Oneness movement, he left us a reminder of just how powerful the revelation of the name of Jesus really is.  Meetings he conducted in Australia during the early 1930s helped found several Pentecostal churches. He later founded Immanuel Temple in Portland, Oregon, where he died in 1969.