04 October 2022
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The Boys Brigade was founded on 4 October 1883 in Glasgow. ...
The Boys Brigade was founded on 4 October 1883 in Glasgow by Sir William Alexander Smith. Smith was an army officer and Sunday school teacher, born in Thurso, who created the Boys' Brigade with the aim of promoting 'the advancement of Christ's kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.'
The Boys' Brigade motto 'sure and steadfast' comes from a phrase from the King James Bible 'Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.' The earliest Boys' Brigade groups were engaged in physical activities including games and camping, as well as religious services - from its small beginnings, the organisation grew to its present status of 500,000 members in sixty countries.
Image: Boys' Brigade emblem on a stained glass window in Strathbrock Parish Church, Uphall, West Lothian, Scotland, courtesy Kim Traynor
