Salvationist 1 May 2021

SALVATIONIST For everyone linked to The Salvation Army

No.1805 Price 70p

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REMEMBERING ABERFAN

SEE PAGES 12 AND 13 26/04/2021 17:06

QUOTES FROM THE MEDIA

PARLIAMENTARY GROUP CALLS FOR GREATER RELIGIOUS LITERACY IN THE MEDIA

JUSTIN WELBY DEMANDS BAN ON NDAs IN CHURCH OF ENGLAND AFTER RACIST ABUSE EXPOSED

THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS SHOULD FOCUS MORE ON ENVIRONMENT, REPORT CONCLUDES

Religion should be part of the required training for journalists to improve their religious literacy and avoid stereotyping, a major new report from parliamentarians has said.

Learning to Listen, by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in Media, says journalists would benefit from using the many resources offered by religious institutions to solve the ‘pervasive’ and ‘well-founded’ perception among faith groups of religious illiteracy in the media.

The report says that religion is ‘misrepresented’ in a ‘wide variety of ways’ including ‘a reduction of religion to its visual, liturgical and doctrinal facets’, ‘sensationalising religion’, the ‘reinforcement of problematic stereotypes’, ‘basic mistakes and imprecise language’, ‘ignoring diversity within faith groups’, and ‘misleading use of representatives’.

It calls for accurate representations of religion and faith communities, and for the required hours of religious programming at the BBC to be ‘protected’ in future reviews.

Another recommendation says that religious literacy should be covered in courses for professional media qualifications and industry training.

Non-disclosure agreements must no longer be used in the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury has told staff, after victims of racist abuse were paid off to ‘buy their silence’.

The Most Rev Justin Welby told Times Radio … that he was ‘horrified’ to learn of racist abuse aimed at priests and staff within the church, as exposed in a BBC Panorama documentary…

He said that he had been unaware that non-disclosure agreements, known as NDAs, were being used to prevent those who received payouts over racist abuse from speaking publicly about the incidents.

Welby revealed that he and the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, have written to ‘senior people’ within the church’s administration telling them that the confidentiality agreements must no longer be used…

‘In every large group of people you’ll find people with racist ideas. But within the church and institutions of the church we have to stamp that out,’ [he said].

Theological education must be updated urgently to include teaching on the environmental crisis, if church leaders are to be equipped to minister during the climate emergency, a consultation has concluded.

The report The Environment in UK Theological Institutions … says: ‘As the environmental crisis deepens this century, it is vital that we provide training and formation for ministers to be effective leaders and ministers of the gospel in the challenging contexts that they are likely to face.

‘They will be ministering in communities who might be impacted by severe weather events, future pandemics, challenges of land use change and potential food shortages. They will be part of a global Church, with communities in low income countries facing even more severe outcomes with few resources to meet them.

They will be seeking to engage and support young people who are deeply committed to eco justice.’

Ministers will also need to support people suffering from mental health issues as a result of the crisis, the report says.

The Times

Church Times

RE BODIES LAY THE GROUND FOR TEACHING NON-RELIGIOUS WORLDVIEWS The Religious Education Council of England and Wales and RE Today Services will be working together on a new suite of resources over the next three years.

Over the course of the project, the charities will create a toolkit to support schools in building a syllabus for the teaching of RE that teaches religious and non-religious worldviews side-by-side – a key recommendation from the 2018 Commission on Religious Education.

Christian Today

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EDITOR Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts – 020 7367 4901 MANAGING EDITOR Ivan Radford – 020 7367 4891

Christian Today

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FOUNDER William Booth

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CONTENTS

FIGHTING TALK

THREE years ago Major Andrew Stone, editor of the War Cry, commissioned a survey by the market research organisation YouGov to find out what kind of impact the paper was making. One of the questions was about whether the title would stop people buying it. Only 11 per cent of the 2,059 people surveyed said it would. ‘I wondered whether the name was a little old-fashioned and a little bit too brutal for the public to engage with,’ Andrew said. ‘The market research showed that wasn’t the case.’

It seems that people are generally happy with this military terminology, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise because fighting talk is quite common. We often hear phrases like ‘the fight for justice’, ‘the war on drugs’ or ‘the battle against racism’ – and in the past year, a number of wartime analogies have been used during the fight against coronavirus.

The Salvation Army has always believed that there is a war to be fought. Although this war is spiritual in nature, it is also expressed in outward actions and at times the Army has been opposed with physical violence. In this week’s issue we feature a new book about the early Army, The Mob and the Mayor, which shows how things got rough in the south-coast town of Eastbourne. Author Stephen Huggins researched the situation in depth, learning about the hostility of anti-Army mobs and the local officials who encouraged them. He also discovered how women Salvationists were a target for the mobs and highlights their courage and faith.

In his weekly message the territorial commander makes use of a military metaphor in calling us to be ‘battle-ready’ – not perhaps to face the kind of opposition witnessed in the Army’s early days, but to put love into action, relying on the power of the Spirit.

Being ready to put love into action has been a hallmark of the Army’s response to all kinds of situations. One of the most well-known examples was the 1966 Aberfan disaster, which resulted in the tragic loss of 116 children and 28 adults. Salvationists were soon on the scene, the first being Major Dorothy Graham. In an interview that took place in 2010 and has never been published before, Major Dorothy, who was promoted to Glory in December last year, recalled how the Army responded by offering practical help and comfort.

Most examples of love in action are less dramatic and public. Peter Woods demonstrates that fact by describing three encounters in which people’s lives were touched by words of encouragement and hope. He believes many others are active in this way and calls it ‘the unseen, mostly unrecorded, work of The Salvation Army’.

In the first of a series of articles in which different people reflect on the Candidates Sunday theme Be Willing, Commissioner Harry Read OF refers to his military service and sees parallels with his Christian service. He says that in both spheres ‘new strategies are always needed’ if we are to remain effective.

Salvationists serve on many fronts and in various ways – in our corps and centres, at home, at work and in our communities. But what matters just as much as where we serve and what we do is how we do it. May our service always be motivated by the love of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit and characterised by courage, faith and compassion.

From the Editor Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts

Quotes from the media

2

Message from the territorial commander 4 News

5 to 7

Prayer matters

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Feature 8 Willing to learn

by Commissioner Harry Read OF

On my bookshelf Challenging reads

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by Lieutenant Sam Tomlin

Interview A dastardly duality

10 and 11

Stephen Huggins talks to Simon Hope

Interview 12 and 13 Weeping with those who weep Major Dorothy Graham interviewed by Steven Spencer

The Jericho road Part 4: Walk on by

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by Lieut-Colonel Gilbert Ellis

Thinkaloud 15 The poetry of the Psalms

by John Coutts

Bible study You are my God

16 and 17

by Major Philip Layton

Through the week with Salvationist 16 and 17

by Major Lynda Levis

Reflection 18 and 19 The power of personal testimony

by Peter Woods

Viewpoint 20 Making the most of waiting

by Major Ray Hobbins

Review That Contentious Spirituality reviewed by Major Brian Slinn

Viewpoint 21 Mean what you sing

by Brian Colley

Announcements

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Adverts and quiz answers

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Quiz Mind Games

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SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS Scripture quotations in Salvationist are from the New International Version (2011), unless otherwise stated

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NEEDED BY MONDAY 26 APRIL

A MESSAGE FROM THE TERRITORIAL COMMANDER

Action stations

T

HE Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral service included many of his personal touches. Not least was the one right at the end. After the Last Post the Royal Marines buglers sounded Action Stations, which would have been played on battleships, calling the crew to get ready. I thought it must have been a personal word for the family: ‘OK, now it’s time to get on with this.’ But perhaps there was another message for all of us, that we need to be battle-ready.

When I heard Action Stations my mind jumped back to when I was a boy watching the TV series Stingray. With puppets similar to those in Thunderbirds, Stingray was about a futuristic submarine that would deal with baddies and save the world. Each programme began with an explosion in the water and the announcement: ‘Stand by for action. We are about to launch Stingray!’ Then as the alarms rang, the commander of the Stingray base would say, ‘Anything can happen in the next half hour.’

I wondered whether Stingray was the inspiration for the song ‘Church on Fire’, which came from Hillsong and was published in the Salvation Army songster journal Sing to the Lord in 2005. It says: ‘The Holy Spirit is here and his power is real,/ Anything can happen and it probably will;/ Something very good,/ Something good is going on around here.’

I thank God that there is so much good going on at this time. There is so much to be thankful for, even as we continue to journey through these days of pandemic. Here in the United 4

Kingdom we are seeing the continuing blossoming of the hope of a brighter reality. But we who should be ready for action will not be stood down. In recent days, when record numbers of people have been infected by Covid-19 in places like Brazil and India, when the evils of racial injustice and oppression have been evident and when football has been on the front pages of our newspapers rather than on the back pages, exposing greed and selfpreservation indicative of significant swathes of our society, we know there are matters that need us individually and corporately to take our stand, to be at action stations. We are not only to be ready for action, but to be in action.

In 1 John 3:18, John says, ‘Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’

And in Romans 12:9–18, which in some versions has the subheading ‘Love in action’, Paul says: ‘Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.

Practise hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on

you, live at peace with everyone.’ It’s action stations.

You might want to revisit that passage and ask yourself again: ‘What does this mean for me?’ Not asking yourself what it means for The Salvation Army or for your church, although we need to be asking those questions as well. But asking yourself: ‘What action do I need to take?’ As the song says, ‘The Holy Spirit is here and his power is real.’ And, to paraphrase Stingray, anything amazing could happen, even in your next half hour, if having heard Action Stations you and I decide to move from simply hearing to action itself, doing whatever is required of us.

For some that might need courage – even to pick up the phone, send an email or send a cake, and to be a friend, a comforter, an encourager. You might be called to stand up against greed, to stand up over matters of justice and righteousness. But remember: we have God by his Spirit with us to help, enable and empower us.

Song number 981 in The Song Book of The Salvation Army is ‘Sound the Battle Cry!’. The last verse says: ‘O thou God of all,/ Hear us when we call,/ Help us one and all/ By thy grace.’ And the chorus encourages us, ‘Rouse, then, soldiers, rally round the banner!/ Ready, steady’, then goes on to say, ‘Onward, forward’.

So, as Action Stations is sounded, what are we waiting for? It’s time for us to get up and get on with it.

ANTHONY COTTERILL COMMISSIONER TERRITORIAL COMMANDER l This

message is based on a video that can be viewed at facebook.com/ SalvationistOnline or youtube.com/ salvationarmyvideo

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NEWS

MEETING

Palm Sunday celebrations with international leaders MAIDSTONE GENERAL Brian Peddle and Commissioner Rosalie Peddle were special guests at the corps Palm Sunday celebration on Zoom.

Palm Sunday was also the International Day of Prayer for Children and Youth and was an

opportunity to celebrate the young people of the corps.

During the virtual meeting Commissioner Rosalie reminded everyone that Jesus’ kindness and goodness were attractive to people. The General enrolled Gemma, Bethan and Alexi as junior soldiers, and young people unwrapped gifts of books or CDs encouraging them on their spiritual journeys, which had been delivered to their homes.

The meeting also celebrated one year of successful online Sunday schools, children’s

praise videos, youth cell group Bible studies and socials. A short video gave a glimpse of these lessons and activities, many of them sparked by ideas from the young people. The video also demonstrated how youth workers had adapted during the pandemic and used their unique gifts to find new ways of teaching and interacting with the young people online.

The YP cell group presented the Bible reading, Scarlett, Camille and Hannah prayed powerfully, and James introduced the benediction song that had come to mean so much to them. – GP

CORPS

MEETINGS

REDDITCH AND BROMSGROVE The two corps joined together with members of the public over Easter weekend for an Easter trail. Fourteen stations of the cross were spread around the communities. Participants were given a map, a quiz and a leaflet explaining Easter. They were challenged to find pictures and Scripture readings and answer the quiz questions to help them understand the importance of Easter, before reporting back to the cross at Bromsgrove Corps to receive an Easter egg and hot cross bun on Good Friday, shortbread and an Easter egg on Saturday and cake and an Easter egg on Sunday. Associate leader Territorial Envoy Hazel Ellison is pictured at station one. – DE

SKEWEN Commissioners Carol and Ivor Telfer led the Easter weekend meetings via Zoom. On Good Friday corps officer Captain Jo Walters introduced the theme of He Chose the Nails. Matthew 26:17–66 was read in four sections during the meeting, with each part showing how Jesus accepted the nails. The Easter Sunday meeting took the theme Easter Is for Us. Commissioner Ivor spoke of the film The Case for Christ and stressed that Easter is not only for salvation but for sanctification.

During the evening meeting four people shared their memories of Easter. Commissioner Carol affirmed that everyone has been put together for a purpose. An Easter version of the song ‘Hallelujah’ was played, followed by the Scripture reading from Mark 16:1–7.

Commissioner Carol concluded the meeting with a challenge to be the bigger picture. – SL Darlington On Easter Saturday home­ made afternoon teas were distributed to more than 130 people linked with the corps. After the Zoom worship on Easter Day, corps folk delivered more than 250 Easter eggs to nearby households, with an Easter card to share the message of the risen Lord. – SM

NORTON Easter Sunday was celebrated with drive-in worship in the hall car park.

Corps officer Lieutenant Gill McCredie led worshippers in considering their brokenness, made new in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection. ‘It was wonderful to be able to worship together,’ Lieutenant Gill said. – AR

COMMUNITY PRESTON The corps gave out food vouchers to struggling families during the Easter holidays to ensure more than 150 children did not go hungry. Funding was received as part of the Church Revitalisation Trust’s #LoveYourNeighbour campaign, which supports churches to provide practical care and hope for vulnerable communities during the coronavirus pandemic. While most of the donation was spent on vouchers for parents whose children receive free school meals, the money also enabled the corps to fund a community assistant and buy a freezer and shelving for its food bank. – AR Send your news reports to salvationist@salvationarmy.org.uk.

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NEWS

MUSIC

Easter Music Course goes online UKI AFTER the Easter Music Course was cancelled in 2020, the Music and Creative Arts team decided to hold this year’s event virtually via Zoom.

Delegates from previous years were invited to join in with a week that would give the flavour of what the Easter Music Course is all about.

Bible study sessions led by Territorial Evangelist Major Noel Wright, Divisional Leader for Leader Development Major Mandy White (Devon and Cornwall) and Divisional Commander Major Martin Hill (Central East) gave everyone the opportunity to reflect. Guests Bandmaster William Himes (USA Central Territory) and Major Len Ballantine (Canada and Bermuda Territory) shared some of their experiences in music ministry over the years.

Two of the assistant directors of music and creative arts, Paul Sharman (Brass and Choral) and Stephanie Lamplough (Creative Arts), wrote a song that was learnt on the Monday evening and sung at the conclusion of each subsequent session as a benediction.

As well as time to share socially with each other, there was also a Dance Fit and Fellowship session, some practice tips for the brass play­­ers from Bandmaster Gavin Lamplough (Birmingham Citadel) and a bake-off.

The week concluded with a Desert Island Discs-inspired session, in which delegates shared their favourite music.

The week gave opportunity for the Easter Music Course community to connect and be inspired, both musically and spiritually, until it is possible to meet in person again. – PS

OUTREACH STRAWBERRY FIELD After a Facebook Live reflection, the Fresh Expressions team took a handmade cross to individuals in the community who had agreed to join them.

They stood in the street together, shared a reflection and then had a few moments to pause at the cross. One family who had been shielding for the past year were blessed as they stood outside their house. A small group of volunteers crafted Easter bunnies and delivered them to homes during the Easter weekend. One lady cried on her doorstep as she was ‘so overwhelmed by the kindness shown from Strawberry Field’. On Easter Sunday a reflection by team member Karen Carter was posted on social media and presented on Premier and BBC Radio Merseyside. A new song of hope, written by team member Joe Doogan and some of Strawberry Field’s trainees, was also shared. – LB

MEETING

FUNDRAISING

CARDIFF Cardiff City Football Club players and staff members donated a van-load of chocolate eggs for families supported by The Salvation Army. Defender Curtis Nelson and winger Josh Murphy took time during the international break to hand over the chocolate treats. – AR

LEADGATE In August 2020, corps member Clare Thompson raised £285 for the corps with her first ‘take-out’ afternoon tea, catering for 36 people. On Easter Monday, Clare was determined to beat that total and received 54 orders. The effort also provided an opportunity for outreach as 14 people with no Army connections ordered tea. Clare’s mother, her sister, Elaine, daughter, Zoe, and corps member Liz Bailey helped make the afternoon teas. A total of £450 was raised for the corps. Clare thanked all those who donated food or money. – DP

TEDDINGTON The corps and the local Baptist church produced 60 Easter activity packs for children in the community. No children currently attend the corps, but packs were given to children living near the hall and encouraging conversations took place, building on relationships made during the Christmas mince pie outreach. – EW

BARROW-IN-FURNESS More than 200 Easter eggs were delivered to families in the area, thanks to generous donations from Morrisons customers and Siemens Offshore.

The chocolate treats were accompanied by a Christian magazine and a support leaflet.

Among the recipients were families referred to the corps for support at Christmas. – AR

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CIRENCESTER Although unable to have the town’s usual Churches Together Easter activities due to Covid-19 restrictions, the corps hosted online Maundy Thursday and Good Friday meditations. Organised by corps leader Territorial Envoy Kim Whyard, the meditations were followed by a Zoom meeting on Easter Sunday, which included displays of artwork from the young people of the Gap Sunday club. A small group from the band provided some of the music. Although open-air activities could not take place, the Crucifixion and Resurrection scenes were displayed in the window of the hall as a reminder to passers-by. – MG

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SCRIPTURE FOCUS: JOHN 4:1–42 A PRAYER FOR INTERCULTURAL MISSION

by Intercultural Mission Enabler Major Jonny Smith

COMMUNITY PORTSMOUTH CITADEL Food and Fun at Home packs were prepared and delivered to families who might need food and affordable, fun activities during the Easter school holidays. The packs included recipes and ingredients for four healthy lunches and dinners, with fruit and vegetable characters to help teach the benefits of healthy eating, plus crafts, games and outdoor activities. A message about how Easter is a time of new beginnings and hope, with an online link to the Easter story for children, was also included. The corps is grateful for the help and support of Home-Start and Hive Portsmouth volunteer drivers, Holiday Activities and Food, the Fruit Basket in Stubbington, and insurance company Zurich, which donated Easter eggs. – AS

SATURDAY 1 MAY – FREEDOM (JOHN 4:23 AND 24) Freedom through Jesus is clearly shown in this Bible passage, and it’s beautiful to see. Pray today for those who are held back by something that restricts them from being free and from experiencing Jesus to the full.

SUNDAY 2 MAY – INFLUENCE (JOHN 4:39) From a woman who has been cut off from her community, we see the power of Jesus and the influence he has through people. Arguably the first evangelist in the Bible is a socially excluded Samaritan woman who is changed through Jesus. Pray today that you will be a good influence in the places where you are, so that through you the Kingdom will grow.

MONDAY 3 MAY – INCARNATIONAL (JOHN 4:40) What a tremendous intercultural story! It shows Jesus entering a land that few Jews would enter, talking to a person that many would have ignored, and finally moving into the village for a few days’ stay. We are called to be like Jesus, and so may we pray for courage today to be Jesus in the places where we dwell, to engage interculturally, and be willing to be mutually inconvenienced and help create a fresh story of hope in our communities.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S MINISTRIES FOCUS

by Lauren Westwood, digital content producer (IHQ)

TUESDAY 4 MAY Sarah Bessey writes that, as followers of Christ, we each have a responsibility to ‘remember the big story of women in the world and to pay attention to their voices’. Lord, let us not take a single voice for granted in your Kingdom, regardless of gender. Equip us to help the voiceless find a voice and to truly listen to their stories.

SNETTISHAM Marianne Fowke created an Easter garden with help from her husband, Stephen. This was displayed outside the hall over the Easter weekend and drew a lot of interest in the village. On Easter morning the stone was rolled away to reveal an empty tomb, complete with folded grave clothes. – AK

WEDNESDAY 5 MAY Women around the world face injustices of many kinds. Each day more women are wronged, abused and discriminated against just because of their gender. Lord, let the injustices committed against these women not just be statistics that fall upon deaf ears. Instead, fill us with a holy anger against gender inequality and inequity, and stir us into action in your righteous name.

THURSDAY 6 MAY It must break your heart, Father, to see your children neglect to protect each other. We repent if at times we have allowed the world’s broken and twisted view of women to be reflected in our own relationships and actions. Banish any wrong, dangerous or hateful feeling that is harboured in our hearts and in the hearts of those we encounter.

WELLING Corps folk handed out Messy Church bags to encourage families to engage with the Easter story in a new and exciting way. They handed out 50 bags and more than 100 Easter eggs. Repeatedly asked how much they were charging, they responded: ‘It’s Easter and we want to bless our community.’ The corps folk were delighted that many families who had linked up with them through the food bank visited them specifically to receive a Messy Church bag. – KS

FRIDAY 7 MAY Lord, seeking justice in our broken world can be exhausting; we cannot do it in our strength alone. You have taught us that rest is important. Today, we ask that you would both comfort and strengthen us. Bless our homes with warmth, but also grant us the courage to step out of those warm, safe spaces into places rife with injustice. We want to rise up and live each day wholeheartedly for you. l A PDF of the Prayer Matters booklet is also available to download from salvationarmy.org.uk/resources Salvationist Salvationist1310March April 2021

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FEATURE I Candidates Sunday

Commissioner Harry Read

Willing to learn

As we approach Candidates Sunday (16 May) Salvationists explain what the theme Be Willing means to them Not for the last time I discovered that new strategies are always needed. Should those strategies not work, then others must be devised, the presumption being that there is always a satisfactory answer.

This has to be true in our service for the Lord. While still on military service I was more than just willing to be a Christian soldier. I had to learn to identify needs and speak healingly.

It was there that I led my first soul to the Lord.

Providentially, he was not the last.

During my military Commissioner Read was admitted to the Order of the Founder by the General in July 2019 ‘in service the Lord called me recognition of a life of outstanding Christian to officership. It was a call I witness in word, verse and deed’ accepted gladly and, on demobilisation in 1947, I became a cadet in the King’s Messengers session. After WAS born just a few years after the Commissioning I was retained at the First World War. It was hopefully, but college to be a cadet-sergeant, with erroneously, considered to be the war responsibility for the young people’s that would end all wars. Instead of work. It was there I met and fell in love returning to what the prime minister, with Cadet-Sergeant-Major Winifred David Lloyd George, called ‘a fit country Humphries. The love was reciprocated for heroes to live in’, its survivors and we married in 1950. returned to unemployment, the everAs corps officers in Chichester we present demands of poverty and the willingly learnt to serve our people, conviction that there would be another learning their needs and helping them war in the foreseeable future. grow in their faith. We also learnt how to I was just 15 when the Second World revive corps programmes that lacked War began in 1939, but when I was able effectiveness because they had become to enlist to become a wireless operator routine. What a wonderful gospel we in the Royal Signals we were informed have! My service for the Lord more than that a new airborne division was due to matches the excitements of military be launched and wireless operators service. would be needed. I volunteered and, on In subsequent appointments the completion of my training, joined the vitality of our calling amazed us. We newly launched 6th Airborne Division on learnt so much. To our surprise we were 25 May 1943 and began training to be a recalled to the International Training parachute soldier.

College to help train cadets for their Within weeks I was a wireless future work. What a joy and what a operator in the 3rd Parachute Brigade.

I

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learning experience! We valued the teaching experiences and the opportunities afforded us to see the strategies required to fulfil the Army’s God-given role. It was there I learnt to write scripts and songs. This was followed by a further corps appointment, then a move to Scotland to become a divisional youth secretary. After that it was, surprisingly, back to the college for another seven years.

Willingness brings joy, variety and rich fulfilment. The opportunities given by my various appointments, including being the Army’s press officer, a divisional commander and training principal, followed by transfers to Canada, Australia and back to the UK as British Commissioner, have all been immense.

In retirement I was asked to write the Army’s daily devotional book, Words of Life. This I did for 10 years. Win and I established a weekday Bible study at the corps and also led that for 10 years.

Opportunities to speak at officers councils and the occasional congress in other territories followed. O, the fulfilment that willingness gives!

As a near 97-year-old officer, now living alone since my wonderful wife went to be with the Lord, I follow a full programme. I have inevitable health problems but still have a rewarding worldwide ministry – principally, though not exclusively, through Facebook.

The Lord has led me to write books and another is scheduled. It is a far cry from the young ‘para’ who was willing to do whatever the Lord required of him.

There are no limits to the vision and grace the Lord Jesus has for those who are willing.

COMMISSIONER READ, OF, LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN BOURNEMOUTH

Next week Major Lindy Rose

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ON MY BOOKSHELF

Challenging reads People have been revealing their bookshelves on video calls in recent months. Salvationist asked a number of people to tell us about books on their bookshelf – this week, Lieutenant Sam Tomlin (Liverpool Stoneycroft)

THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS IF you like novels, history and theology then this is the book for you. Written by Scottish novelist Naomi Mitchison in 1939, it tells the story of a group of Christian slaves and their masters in Rome at the time of severe persecution under the emperor Nero.

The main dramatic storyline weaving through the book follows the life of Beric, the son of a defeated Gaulish king, who has been taken under the wing of Flavius Crispus, a Roman nobleman who treats Beric more like a son than a slave. When Beric finds out that some of the other house slaves are Christians, we follow his journey of being compelled by the story of Jesus and tempted by a life of relative comfort, with the promise of one day becoming a Roman citizen.

Which way will he go?

In the comfortable West we have often forgotten what it might mean to be persecuted and marginalised for our faith. While not wanting to romanticise persecution, this book will deeply challenge believers and at the same time give them a fascinating historical and political history of the early Church and Roman empire.

GILEAD MARILYNNE Robinson is a celebrated writer of our time, and this is perhaps her most well-known novel. It considers ideas of death, generations coming and going, and racism and poverty, among other things.

Set in 1950s America in a small Iowan town called Gilead, it follows an ageing Congregational minister, John Ames. He writes a number of letters to his six-yearold son, anticipating that he will not see him grow up. The letters are beautifully crafted and describe John’s own father and grandfather and how they helped shape who he is.

It is a profound reflection on life and its meaning, and invites the reader to consider what they might say to future generations as they reflect on what they have learnt in their lives.

WHY WE CAN’T WAIT MARTIN Luther King Jr was one of the most famous activists of the 20th century. Reading him in his own words is important if we want to understand the motivations and realities of the man behind the headlines and popular conceptions of his life.

This volume includes several of his writings concerning the history and politics of the 1963 campaign for equality and civil rights in Birmingham, Alabama.

What struck me most about this book was the way in which King subverts accepted categories of thought and challenges the reader to confront the uncomfortable realities. The ‘white liberal’ is a target of much frustration, for example, as he or she continues to uphold racism unconsciously.

King’s foundational Christian faith also shines through the book in a way that is arguably forgotten in much contemporary analysis.

Racism remains an issue for us today.

We have a way to go as an Army to uncover the conscious and unconscious racism in our midst, something we are thankfully beginning to talk about a little more.

THE HAUERWAS READER IN recent years I have been deeply impacted by an American theologian called Stanley Hauerwas. This collection of his essays would be ideal for someone looking to get into his work.

Widely considered to have changed the face of modern Christian ethics, Hauerwas transcends the traditional ‘right-left’ political spectrum. For example, he is both a pacifist and someone who holds to the sanctity of life before birth – positions that do not often go together. He encourages Christians to consider ways in which their formation and imagination have relied upon narratives foreign to the gospel and teachings of Jesus, but which they assume are compatible.

Hauerwas’s work is not without its criticism, which he tries to address in some of the essays. While Salvationists may not agree with everything, I do think there is much for us to consider as a denomination trying to navigate the complex realities of the 21st century.

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INTERVIEW

A dastardly duality Stephen Huggins speaks to Simon Hope about his book focusing on the person who propagated anti-Army violence in Victorian-era Eastbourne

‘I

’VE had a soft spot for The Salvation Army since I was a boy,’ Stephen Huggins reminisces.

‘I lived in Hove, just around the corner from the citadel. Every Sunday evening the band would play outside the hospital across the road. It became a regular part of our week.

‘I wasn’t a Christian then – we were not a Christian family – but it left an impression on me. I didn’t know then the high price people had paid for the right to play music in the streets.’

Today, Stephen is a semi-retired vicar living in Bexhill. It was his longstanding admiration for The Salvation Army that led to his recent book on anti-Salvationist violence, The Mob and the Mayor.

‘I first came across the fact that the early Army had been violently attacked when I was a student at King’s College,’ Stephen says.

‘I was reading history and sociology and it was part of an article about social control.’

While the article he read was not entirely pro-Salvation Army – framing the rise of the Skeleton Army and the riots of the late 19th century as the Movement’s fault – the information stuck with him. Later in his studies he discovered the extent of the violence. Of particular interest to him was what happened in Eastbourne, only a short drive from his home.

Setting off to the records office, he delved into the minutes of old council meetings. A quick trip up to London to peruse the records of the International Heritage Centre, and the book was well on its way to becoming a reality.

‘There wasn’t a great deal written about the riots until just a few years ago,’ Stephen points out. ‘And what was written was on the boundary of sociology and history. Most of the time these were written by sociologists who had no real sympathy towards religious faith.’

Then Major Nigel Bovey released

It was absolutely awful.

I can’t help but feel admiration for them

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Blood on the Flag, a comprehensive overview of the Skeleton Army. After this, Stephen began writing The Mob and the Mayor to home in on the situation in Eastbourne and expand upon the local context.

‘I was aware of the problem,’ says Stephen. ‘But it was Nigel’s book that provided the Salvationist understanding of the situation. While my book does cover the tensions between the Skeleton Army and The Salvation Army, it also looks more at what happened in Eastbourne.’

Wherever the Skeleton Army raised its head, there was usually a great deal of spontaneity – people got drunk or riled up and attacked Salvationists.

The peculiarity of the situation in Eastbourne was that, while the mobs arose of their own accord, they were further enabled by leading officials, who not only supported the riots but also abetted them and took part.

‘It’s an astonishing story,’ Stephen marvels. ‘The mayor at the time seemed in every other regard a perfectly decent fellow. But there was something about The Salvation Army that just enraged him.

‘I found it hard to understand at first.

How can you compartmentalise your life in such a way? But this guy had it tied up! He was a churchgoer and a big supporter of charities. He even had a time in his office when people could just turn up and he’d give them money.

‘From any other viewpoint, the mayor was a nice bloke, apart from the fact that he just did not like The Salvation Army at all. There would probably have always been incidents in Eastbourne, but it wouldn’t have gone on so long and it wouldn’t have been as violent without the mayor.

‘There also appears to have been some sort of collusion with the two chiefs of police, but all three did seem like genuinely nice blokes. In the minutes of a parliamentary meeting discussing the problem, a QC makes

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Eastbourne Salvationists, 1891

the point that in every regard the mayor was a thoroughly decent fellow, except in his view of the Army.’

Highlighting one noteworthy incident, Stephen describes a visit from Camberwell Band that attracted a large mob.

‘It was said that the mayor shouted: “Lock them up!” Now, he claimed that he was referring to the crowd, but that doesn’t seem likely, given his other Louisa Clark in her Lewes Prison pronouncements about the Army and clothing because the police locked up the bandsmen!

‘It was a huge court case that went to the Old Bailey. It couldn’t be tried in Sussex because feelings were running too high. It dragged on and on and on and caused the Army huge costs and human resources.’

Another disturbing trend that revealed itself was the way in which Salvation Army women were treated. They were particularly targeted with sexual abuse.

Moreover, the mobs assaulted them by tearing their clothes in a way that wasn’t done to the Salvationist men.

‘I have to say that these women, with their courage and their faith, were just so admirable,’ says Stephen. ‘Lots of them were sent to prison. They were degraded. They were falsely accused

of things of a sexual nature. It was absolutely awful. I can’t help but feel admiration for them.’

Taking a moment to step back and look over everything he discovered, Stephen suggests there is a lot to be learnt today about tolerance: ‘We are living in a time when toleration and sympathy and understanding are becoming alarmingly short in supply in a way that I never imagined I would see in my lifetime. The Mob and the Mayor is an example of what happens when you have religious intolerance.’

On a more personal level, the book has left a deep and lasting impression on Stephen.

‘There’s been so much that I’ve learnt about The Salvation Army that has impressed me and affected my faith,’ he reflects. ‘If you ask my family, I just don’t stop talking about the Army.

‘From seeing a bunch of men and women standing in the rain playing their musical instruments outside Hove hospital, my admiration for The Salvation Army has only deepened.’ l The Mob and the Mayor is available from amazon.co.uk priced £15.59 and as an ebook priced £14.81 Salvationist 1 May 2021

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INTERVIEW

Weeping with those who weep

In an interview with Steven Spencer in 2010, Major Dorothy Graham recalled the Army’s response to the Aberfan disaster

I

N 1966, three weeks of heavy autumn rains saturated a colliery spoil tip on a mountain slope above the village of Aberfan in south Wales. It collapsed on 21 October, sliding downhill as a slurry and engulfing Pantglas Junior School, where lessons had just begun; 116 children and 28 adults were killed.

Among those who responded to the disaster was Captain Dorothy Graham, who was serving as a corps officer at Pentre in the Rhondda Valley at the time. She was the first Salvation Army officer to arrive on the scene.

In 2010, 44 years after the tragedy, Steven Spencer, the director of the International Heritage Centre, interviewed Major Dorothy about the Army’s emergency support work at the disaster. This interview has not been published before.

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YOU WERE TRAVELLING BACK FROM OFFICERS COUNCILS AT SWANWICK WHEN THE DISASTER TOOK PLACE. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED. We had called in for petrol. My friend, the driver of the car, came out and she was broken-hearted. ‘Whatever is the matter?’ we asked. She said there had been a terrible disaster at Aberfan. The mountain had moved and engulfed the school and the area around it, and they needed as many people to help as possible.

We went home, changed out of our best uniforms into older ones and went immediately to Aberfan. We heard the news at about 5pm and we were probably there by 6.45pm.

The disaster happened at about 9.30am, but at 7am they knew the

mountain was moving, so really the children need not have been in school.

However, they didn’t take any notice and the disaster was the outcome.

Aberfan looked like a war zone. It was dreadful. Instead of being level with the road, we were high up above it because of all the slurry that had come from the mountain. It was quite unbelievable that we were walking so high up from the ground.

I was given the job of standing in a long line with lots of other people.

There were all sorts of different people, including Teddy boys and those you could see were well educated. Buckets were being filled with sludge and passed down the line. They couldn’t bring in dredges for fear they would injure the children and that was the only way we could get the slurry out. So, for a couple of hours, we were in line taking away buckets of sludge until we were stopped and new people took over.

After that I went around the various places where they were bringing out bodies and sympathised with the people that were there. One lady was broken-

Captain Dorothy Graham, photographed by ‘The Sun’

hearted because she was waiting for her niece and nephew. She said that if they came out, they would be coming that way, but they didn’t. She just couldn’t believe it. She was really upset. I offered her a cup of coffee or tea. That was the type of work we did.

My friend visited the home of one couple whose child was lost. Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband, had been to visit them and had said, ‘I could not understand, I would never understand, what you are feeling. If it were my child, I would be mortified.’

HOW LONG DID YOU HELP THE BEREAVED? I went home at about 10.30pm. We went back the next day but they said there was no need for us all to be there. They then selected people who lived nearer than we did. I think they were using people who were stationed at Treharris and other corps in the area – and divisional officers were there, as well as social work officers. I was probably only helping for a couple of days, no more than that.

TELL US ABOUT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SALVATION ARMY AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS AT THE DISASTER. The Red Cross and United Bible

Societies were serving cups of tea while we dealt with the bereaved or worked in the mortuary.

The bodies were laid out in the church hall. Many of the parents could only recognise their children by the clothes they were wearing. It was rather sad, but it was the Army’s role at that time.

Major Freda Eveleigh and Major Derrik Tribble were there. Major Derrik worked at the House of the Trees, The Salvation Army’s home for boys on probation near Penygraig. When the disaster happened he was on the scene straight away. I think he organised for the mortuary to be in the church and he worked there all the time.

Major Freda, who worked at divisional headquarters, helped him. Together they did a tremendous job serving the parents, counselling them and helping them as best they could.

YOU WERE PHOTOGRAPHED BY A NEWSPAPER, IS THAT CORRECT? Yes, the lady who was looking for her nephew and niece was really upset. I was offering her a hot drink and I put my arm around her to give her a bit of consolation. The Sun snapped the photograph and it appeared in the newspaper that weekend. The photo has been used by the Army many times since then.

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR FEW DAYS AT ABERFAN HAVE AFFECTED YOU? Well, it had a terrific effect. You wept with the families, felt as though you were involved, that you had lost relatives yourself. But to weep with those who were weeping was a good thing because at least they knew you were human.

CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE SALVATION ARMY’S RESPONSE TO DISASTERS AS A CHRISTIAN ORGANISATION? When there have been disasters the Army has been there and has done a tremendous job. I think secular organisations appreciate The Salvation Army because we can do something that they can’t. Because of our Christian faith we’re able to counsel, console and talk to people.

As one Methodist minister whose son was lost in the Aberfan disaster said: ‘I’m glad it happened to me in a way because I am able to share more with the people than otherwise.’

Editor’s note Major Dorothy was promoted to Glory in December 2020. A tribute to her life was published in the 27 March Salvationist.

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The Jericho Road Part 4:

Walk on by Lieut-Colonel Gilbert Ellis continues a six-part reflection on the parable of the good Samaritan

S

O far in this series we have looked at the cities of Jerusalem and Jericho, the road that ran between them and the robbers who attacked the lone traveller on that road. We come now to the point where other characters enter the story.

First to come along was the priest.

He reviewed the scene, then passed by on the other side.

It has been claimed that the priest did not stop because he was on his way up to the Temple, and if the robbed and beaten man was dead, and he as a priest came into contact with him, then he would be defiled and unable to officiate. However, this approach to the story is a view that is not supported in the parable. It says: ‘A priest happened to be going down the same road’ (v31). Not only was he on the same road as the victim, it also seems he was travelling in the same direction: not up to Jerusalem but down to the cursed city of Jericho.

Remember, this journey down to Jericho is symbolic of humankind’s fall from grace, of descending from the high, lifted up Jerusalem, where God is glorified, to the depths of the cursed, destruction-bound city of Jericho.

The priest represented the Mosaic tradition of the Old Testament, and the reason he did not stop to aid the stricken traveller is because he couldn’t help him. The writer to the Hebrews proclaimed: ‘Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he 14

offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins’ (10:11).

The sacrifices and ceremonies of the Old Testament were only an illustration, a shadow and precursor of the reality that was to come, which was to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For travellers on the road to destruction, wounded and in need of spiritual rescue, the Old Testament sacrifices are of no help. ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).

The next traveller to come across the stricken man was a Levite.

To understand his significance we need to consider the history of the Levites, which goes back to Levi, the third son of Leah and Jacob (see Genesis 29:31–34). As the family grew into a nation, Levi became the patriarch of the tribe bearing his name, the Levites.

Levi’s grandson, Amram, married Jochebed, and she bore him three children. Their first child was a daughter they named Miriam, then followed two sons, Aaron and Moses.

Out of the nation of Israel, God chose the tribe of Levi to serve him, and the sons of Aaron, the great-grandson of Levi, to be the priests. Thus all priests were Levites, but not every Levite was a priest.

When the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land, the country was divided among the tribes, but the Levites were not given a distinct

territory. They were dispersed among the other tribes and later served at the Temple. They cleaned the Temple, manned its gates, slaughtered some of the sacrificial animals and performed music during worship.

The Levite in the parable represented those whose lives were wholly dedicated to the practical upkeep of the Temple and its services. He was a man who knew all about Temple life and the ritual concerning sacrifices.

The Levite was totally concerned with the practicalities of religious life, but his experience was insufficient to help the person who was spiritually struck down. He could help people observe the legal and spiritual requirements of the Law, which could possibly help prevent someone from falling. For the person who had already fallen, however, he could do nothing.

The priest and the Levite passed by on the other side of the Jericho road, representing those who may be willing to help fallen humanity but cannot achieve its salvation because they do not possess the power to do so.

LIEUT-COLONEL ELLIS LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN NORWAY Next week Part 5: Taking the initiative

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The poetry of the psalms

W

ORSHIP is in full swing at Trend Contemporary Church as the band leads the congregation in lyrics written by Martin Nystrom in 1984.

As the deer pants for the water So my soul longs after you.

You alone are my heart’s desire And I long to worship you.

Meanwhile, down the road at St Trads, the congregation sings similar words by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady first published in 1696.

As pants the hart for cooling streams, When heated in the chase, So longs my soul, O Lord, for thee, And thy refreshing grace.

A SIMPLE STRUCTURE The simple structure of the psalms helps transmission too. Unlike some forms of poetry, their shape and rhythm can survive translation. Much is uncertain about the pronunciation and accentuation of ancient Hebrew, but the basic forms of its psalmody were worked out by Bishop Robert Lowth, a professor of poetry, whose Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews was published in English in 1787. He noticed what he called ‘parallelism’. Lines come in pairs, and often the second echoes or expands the first: ‘The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,/ the world, and those who live in it’

But what about me? I could be humming a chorus I learnt years ago in the Efik language of the Cross River State, southeast Nigeria: As the ebet is thirsty and longs for the water of life, So my soul thirsts and longs for the Lord.

We are all recalling the first verse of Psalm 42, one of 150 poems composed in ancient Hebrew. The psalms have enriched the praise and prayer of Jews and Christians for more than 2,500 years. What is the secret of their enduring poetic appeal?

UNFORGETTABLE IMAGES Scholars aren’t sure about the exact species of that thirsty animal. Nystrom simply calls it a ‘deer’. Tate and Brady have imagined a ‘tally ho’ hunt with hounds (‘when heated in the chase’) while my dictionary tells me that an ‘ebet’ is ‘the smallest species of antelope known in Calabar’.

Precise classification doesn’t matter, because everyone can be moved by the plight of this desperate creature, as well as by thoughts of ‘the miry clay’ (Psalm 40:2 King James Version), ‘the rock that is higher than I’ (Psalm 61:2) and ‘a tree planted by streams of water’ (Psalm 1:3).

The vivid images presented in the psalms speak movingly across time and space.

Psalm 1 in a 13th-century Latin Psalter (Psalm 24:1 New Revised Standard Version). But the second line may also contrast with or even contradict the first: ‘The Lord watches over the way of the righteous,/ but the way of the wicked will perish’ (Psalm 1:6 NRSV).

Although that is the basic format, sometimes we come across groups of three lines, or even more elaborate patterns. Other features, including alliteration and occasional rhyme, present baffling problems for would-be translators. A number of psalms are acrostic, with each verse or section beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet – an effect that Roman Catholic scholar Ronald Knox gallantly

Thinkalou

by John Coutt

s

d

tried to reproduce, for example in Psalm 34: ‘At all times I will bless the Lord... Be all my boasting in the Lord... Come, sing the Lord’s praise with me’ (vv1–3).

SO FAR AND YET SO NEAR Most Christians have favourite psalms, with ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Psalm 23) as a probable No 1. But when we read the Psalter right through, we find ourselves in a world very different from ours. Sometimes the psalmists confess their sins, but more often they protest their innocence and call on God to deliver them from their enemies – spiritual, human or both. Not every line is suitable for Christian worship. Many psalms are attributed to King David and some clearly refer to the exile in Babylon, but others cannot be pinned down to time or place.

The composer of Psalm 42 has been banished from the Temple and its choir, but we cannot be sure when or why.

At St Trads you might be handed a hymn book and at Trend Contemporary Church asked to gaze at a screen, but in old Jerusalem you would have witnessed repeated animal sacrifice. The world these ancient poets inhabited seems far from ours – and yet still close at hand, for they speak to a living God in words that we can make our own.

When St Columba reached the end of his life on the holy island of Iona, his last action was to copy out the acrostic Psalm 34. Like so many, Columba had discovered, and wanted to pass on, the ABC of good and godly living. When he reached verse 10 – ‘Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing’ – he put down his pen for ever.

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BIBLE STUDY

You are my God

Major Philip Layton explores David’s relationship with God while under extreme pressure

PSALM 63

T

HE context for this psalm is King David fleeing from Jerusalem into the Judean wilderness to escape the wrath of Absalom (see 2 Samuel 15:13 to 17:22). The psalm can be divided into two parts: in verses 1 to 8 David expresses his praise, worship, confidence and desire for God; and in verses 9 to 11 he voices a desire for justice.

QUESTION l Given the context, why do you think David begins the psalm with these words: ‘You, God, are my God’ (v1)?

I wonder where you would place the emphasis within that phrase: on the word ‘you’, ‘God’, ‘are’ or maybe ‘my’. I have often found a shift in emphasis can subtly change the meaning of a Bible verse and become a devotional exercise in itself.

Through the week with Salvationist

– a devotional thought for each day

by Major Lynda Levis

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If David’s emphasis is on the first word, ‘you’, then perhaps he is writing the psalm out of recognition that his own strength, knowledge and resources are limited.

Although David is king, perhaps his flight from danger reminds him that he is not invincible and that only God is all-mighty.

QUESTIONS l Have there been ‘wilderness’ times in your life, when you have felt spiritually, emotionally or physically cut off? l To what extent has God used these times to help you focus again on his sovereignty?

Maybe the emphasis should fall on the last word, ‘God’, recognising that, despite current circumstances, nothing is beyond God’s capabilities. Nothing takes God by surprise. We see in verses 2 to 8 how David yearns for God, desires him, worships him, praises and glorifies him.

Although surrounded by danger, David says he would intentionally praise, thirst after, cling to, sing to, glorify and be satisfied by God. QUESTION l How could you use this psalm as a spiritual discipline when feeling vulnerable?

David could be emphasising the timing through the word ‘are’. In the past, the young shepherd David put his faith in God and defeated Goliath (see 1 Samuel 17).

Now, David’s power-hungry son, Absalom, is forcing him out of Jerusalem and things are looking bleak.

A change in circumstance, however, does not alter the nature of God. David makes it known that his faith in God continues to be just as strong as it has ever been. To David the hero shepherd, God was God. To David the refugee king, God is still God.

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

As the deer pants for the water/ So my soul longs after you./ You alone are my heart’s desire/ And I long to worship you.

(SASB 571)

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

(Isaiah 58:11)

As the bird beneath her feathers/ Guards the objects of her care,/ So the Lord his children gathers,/ Spreads his wings, and hides us there;/ Thus protected,/ All our foes we boldly dare.

(SASB 28)

Prayer

Father God, how blessed we are that you care for us and that we live in your presence. Help us each day to be mindful of your great love, which protects us and provides us with all that we need.

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While God does not change, our response to situations and how we spend our time can affect our relationship with him.

QUESTION l How has your relationship with God developed over the years?

Maybe David emphasises the word ‘my’. This is not to suggest there are ‘other’ gods, apart from false ones – David has many flaws, but spiritual infidelity is not one of them. Rather, David’s focus could be on his personal relationship with God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of his father, Jesse, and his predecessor, Saul, is his God too. David has an intimate, personal faith in God. This is just as well, as no other type of faith will do.

God has no grandchildren only children (see John 1:1–14). Our family line, status,

qualifications, education or love for and loyalty to The Salvation Army do not even come close to the necessity of having a personal faith in God and his plan of salvation – trusting in Jesus alone, through faith alone (see John 3:1–16).

QUESTIONS l To what extent do Christians skirt around openly discussing the necessity for a personal trust in God? l What is the difference between faith being personal and being private?

Read verses 1 to 8 again and see how they ooze a personal faith in God that David clearly wants to share.

In verses 9 to 11 we find David’s trust in God for justice – albeit a short-sighted hope for earthly justice – that would see David vindicated and returned to the throne.

Followers of Jesus want to see social

justice and practise it with love and respect to everyone without bias. But we must be careful that we do not become short-sighted. God’s word assures us that there will be eternal justice.

We have all broken God’s moral law and deserve punishment. This is why Jesus came and took our punishment on the cross. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. Everyone who trusts in him will be eternally saved from what they rightly deserve: death. It is an act of amazing love, grace and justice.

This is my God. Is this your God too?

If so, how will you share this good news?

MAJOR LAYTON IS CORPS OFFICER, UPPER NORWOOD WITH WEST NORWOOD

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

(Psalm 139:7–10)

Hold me close,/ Let your love surround me./ Bring me near, draw me to your side./ And as I wait, I’ll rise up like the eagle,/ And I will soar with you,/ Your Spirit leads me on in the power of your love.

(SASB 601)

I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name for ever. For great is your love towards me; you have delivered me from the depths.

(Psalm 86:12 and 13)

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest./ Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest./ Lord we lift up your name,/ With hearts full of praise,/ Be exalted, O Lord, my God,/ Hosanna in the highest.

(SASB 366)

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REFLECTION

The power of personal testimony Peter Woods (North Walsham) shares three stories of God at work through words of witness and encouragement

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T was during the return trip from a business engagement in the West Country that Jenny first opened up to us. She was chauffeuring my wife, Myra, and me back home when she broached the subject of faith. We had met several times previously and, because she knew we were committed Christians who attended The Salvation Army, she felt at ease discussing such matters with us.

Jenny was unsure where she was on her journey towards a real commitment.

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Was she just ‘tinkering around the edges’? Did her spiritual journey have real substance? Could she honestly consider herself a Christian? Jenny had so many questions and, to seek out the answers, had attended several different churches. However, she had finished up with even more questions.

The fact that Jenny had raised the subject early in our long car journey suggested that she wanted to discuss a range of issues. I listened a lot and tried

to give support and reassurance when it was appropriate. By the end of the journey she seemed a lot happier and indicated that we had left her with a lot to think about. Our suggestions had given her some kind of direction in her search.

The conversation continued during further meetings, and the outcome was that Jenny was much more confident in her faith and even able to support others with similar needs.

One of her friends that she told us about was a young woman, Bethany, who had suffered abuse in childhood, leaving her with serious mental health problems. She needed more support than social services were able to provide, and Jenny had stepped into the breach.

Bethany had been introduced to the love and teachings of Christ during her early years through a friend of the family. This clearly had an impact on her but, over time and amid distressing circumstances, it had been lost, extinguished in her daily struggle with her demons.

Once Bethany was older and receiving improved counselling, Jenny was able to provide additional help. To support both Jenny and Bethany, Myra and I sent words of encouragement whenever we could. These took the form of picture cards that Myra made from my collection of natural history photographs, with appropriate texts and more direct messages that we conveyed to Bethany via Jenny. We also prayed regularly for them both, asking Christ to intervene in their lives.

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This volume brought so much consoling joy to a young child Content in the knowledge that they were now both in safe, loving hands – but still continuing with our input – we thought no more about what we were doing. But the Lord had been at work during the intervening months. A few days before Christmas last year Myra and I received a long, beautifully hand-written letter from Bethany.

She related how much our texts and messages had meant to her and how much she was looking forward to meeting us in a post-coronavirus setting.

This letter was the best Christmas present we could have received.

That, however, is not the end of the story. At one point in her letter she recalled an incident from her troubled childhood. Bethany wrote: ‘I had this beautiful Bible for children: My Book of Bible Stories. It was given to me by a friend of my biological mother.

It was a hardback, with a plain mustard brown covering and red lettering on the front. I used to love the smell of the pages and it had beautiful illustrations. I would read it over and over again on my own.

‘I grew up in a dysfunctional home and my understanding of God was washed away and became lost to me. Mum

made me feel ashamed about loving God and loving my first Bible. I never remember where it went, but the memory of it gives me such joy. I don’t remember my childhood. It’s all black, foggy and muddled at times, so when I get a memory come back that was important to me, I am so happy and full of pure joy.’

This moving testimony gave me an idea. I turned to a second-hand book search facility to see if I could identify the one Bethany had described.

Searching for the title I was confronted by no fewer than 1,210 entries spread over 30 pages. I was unable to whittle this list down as Bethany had not mentioned either an author or editor. But by painstakingly trolling through all the entries I was eventually able to locate the book. I was surprised to discover that it had been published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in New York. Nevertheless, I felt I should try and order one.

Several bookshops in North America had second-hand copies but only two were available in the United Kingdom.

As one of these was a paperback edition, there was only a single copy that perfectly matched Bethany’s description. I ordered the book and, when it arrived, forwarded it to Bethany as a late Christmas present. She was delighted and has rediscovered the God whom she had loved and trusted in her childhood. Her faith grows by the day.

This is still not the end of the story.

About the same time as we got to know Jenny and Bethany, there was a knock

on our door. We were living in Devon at the time. It was a bitterly cold midwinter day, with the temperature hovering around zero. We could not help wondering who could possibly be calling on us in such weather. We opened the door to two Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Admiring them greatly for their commitment to their beliefs we invited them in for a warming cup of tea. We explained that we were Salvationists, but if they would like to tell us a little about their faith, we would tell them something about ours.

The outcome was that we agreed to respect each other’s beliefs and have a chat about matters of mutual interest whenever they were in the area. We have remained good friends ever since.

As a result, I have been able to convey to them the story of Bethany and her childhood book of Bible stories. Despite our differing beliefs, the fact that this volume brought so much consoling joy to a young and tragically abused child so many years ago has been an inspiration to them.

Perhaps in these three mini-stories there is a reminder for us all. Just a few simple words spoken with love in the name of our Lord can touch the lives of many and bring hope and happiness to individuals where formerly there was only fear and despair.

That is the power of unobtrusive, personal testimony. Almost certainly it is happening all around us, but we are not always aware of its existence because this is the unseen, mostly unrecorded, work of The Salvation Army.

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VIEW POINT

M a k i n g t h e m o s t o f wa i t i n g Major Ray Hobbins suggests we use the time before corps programmes resume to look to God for fresh direction WHICH OF THESE WORDS WILL DEFINE YOUR WAITING TIME?

Bewildered or blessed Coerced or convicted Entertainment or evangelism Formality or fellowship Grumbles or grace Hopelessness or holiness Impelled or inspired Listlessness or love Pride or penitence Sentiment or salvation Trivia or truth Vanity or vigilance Zest OR zeal

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A

FTER the ascension of the Saviour the disciples found themselves bereft of the physical presence of the Jesus they had followed, loved and served. They had seen, heard and handled the Word of Life, then he was gone. Of course, they had been left with promises, assurances and the certain hope of his return. They had received instruction on where they were to go – Jerusalem – and to wait for the anointing.

They dutifully obeyed. They did not spend their time in bewilderment and idleness. They prayed, shared fellowship, broke bread together with one accord and chose Matthias to take the place of Judas. No doubt during this time they reflected on their faults, failings and spiritual blindness, but they did not let these things overwhelm them. Their faith held strong.

They waited and waited until the day of Pentecost. Then they were gloriously anointed, filled with the Holy Spirit and enabled to fulfil the task they had been given. They displayed wisdom and grace amid growing opposition and fulfilled their calling to preach the gospel of repentance, mercy and grace.

All of us have experienced a long waiting time during the pandemic, bereft of physical fellowship and worship. I trust we have followed the example of the apostles and those who believed by using this time wisely – considering God’s promises to us and prayerfully preparing for our return.

What have we learnt during this time?

Of course, we still have some time left to contemplate and, for many, to mourn.

How do we see the way forward?

How we need a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit! On the day of Pentecost, although they were together in the same place, each one of the disciples was anointed separately – individually prepared for the way ahead by being enabled and empowered for their specific tasks. At first together, but later persecuted and scattered, each fulfilled their calling. Their methods were prayer,

the word of God, reliance on the Holy Spirit, worship, the preaching of a simple gospel of salvation found in Christ alone, and letters of challenge and encouragement to new churches and individual believers. Some were imprisoned, some were martyred.

Are we just going to trudge on as before or are we individually and corporately going to look to God for fresh direction? Peter had to leave behind his denial. All of them had to renounce their cowardice in keeping their distance at the time of Christ’s passion and their failure to believe the resurrection promises. Thomas had to give up his see-and-believe mentality, and those on the road to Emmaus their misunderstanding until they saw Jesus. Seeing him was, of course, necessary to their witness of the Resurrection. However, their need to see him before believing was reprimanded. Thankfully, they spent their time wisely, until they were anointed to complete their task – then they turned the world upside down!

The pandemic has turned our world upside down. As with many others, I took so much for granted. I pray we may all take a long, serious look at our position before God, well before we open our doors and restart the corps programme.

Believers and non-believers alike have been badly shaken and bewildered. There will be many things to consider. For example, bereaved people who were not able to see their loved ones when most needed and had basic funeral arrangements with few or no relatives may desire memorial services and advice. If we have a thanksgiving service once the pandemic has ended, it surely must be balanced with what has gone before. There will be need for sensitivity but also a boldness to present the gospel of hope. We need the guidance of God in our waiting time that we may serve him as we ought.

MAJOR HOBBINS LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN ABERYSTWYTH

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REVIEW

A book for all seasons Major Brian Slinn (East Midlands DHQ) reviews That Contentious Spirituality by Melvyn Jones

T

HIS generous book places Salvationist spirituality in the context of other lived spiritualities and experiences. These are defined as being an ‘encounter with the transcendent and being changed by it’.

Of necessity it concentrates on the Christian example, but it also makes the reader aware of significant experiences found in other religions – and in a society that has rejected organised religion, yet still searches for the ‘transcendent’ in all its various forms.

Augustine’s ‘restless heart’ is both an ancient and contemporary example.

Major Mel Jones entered ministry during the 1970s and encountered the phenomenon of Eastern religious influence. Did the training principal know Cadet Jones was visiting the Palace of Peace in East Dulwich to listen to Guru Maharaj Ji? The challenge to social deference, the breaking down of long-held certainties and the searching for new realities – all legacies of the 1960s – were common at that time and

expressed in popular culture. Mel Jones writes from his experience of contending with a changing world, and engaging with what it meant in a Salvation Army context for the congregations he served and the leader he became.

This is not a parochial book. While speaking to the Salvationist, the focus is upon spirituality – how it is shaped and experienced from different traditions, the challenges that have enlarged the possibilities of spiritual encounter and allowed their validity as a vehicle of change.

It is, however, a book with a mission.

It invites us to engage with the suggestions made about spirituality – not dogmatically, but as an invitation to explore and think together, helped by an informed mind aware of historical, social and cultural changes that impact us all. It is contentious because it will challenge perceptions.

The author does not shy away from the challenge of aggressive atheism.

He also reminds the reader that there

are further issues to be addressed as The Salvation Army grapples with its spirituality in a changing world.

It is a book for all seasons – individual study, academic enquiry and group discussion – and is commended.

•

That Contentious Spirituality is available from sps-shop.com priced £8 (plus postage and packing) and as a Kindle ebook from amazon.co.uk priced £7

VIEW POINT

Mean what you sing Brian Colley (Clowne) warns us against absent-minded singing

A

S part of his preface to The Salvation Army’s songbook of 1899, William Booth wrote: ‘Take in the meaning of every song.

How thoughtlessly many sing familiar words! Yet here is a great treasury of truth, if you will only search into its riches. Be determined by God’s grace you will never sing what you do not really mean, and that you will be fitted to sing all you find here.’

He was referring to 870 songs and 216 choruses, a number of which appear in the latest edition published in 2015. With the addition of some more recent songs, the current songbook contains 1,041 songs.

If William Booth were able to introduce it, he surely would have repeated his words.

It is easy for us to sing songs automatically, without thinking about their meaning. Sometimes we don’t notice the words because we know them so well, having sung them regularly over the years. Someone once said that when we become Christians we don’t tell lies any more, we sing them. That would appear to be true at times.

How many sing, ‘The vilest offender who truly believes,/ That moment from Jesus a pardon receives’ (SASB 279), then when someone else publicly

shows penitence comment that they’ll never change? How many sing, ‘To be like Jesus!/ This hope possesses me’ (SASB 328), then behave anything but Christlike? They gossip, say nasty things about others and, worst of all, cannot or will not forgive. None of this is being like Jesus. He would build bridges, not put up barriers.

There are many other examples like these of words that can be sung absent-mindedly, and which make us hypocritical at times. There is a need for us to be careful and follow Booth’s advice. Better still, be like Jesus, believing the words from song 328: ‘His Spirit helping me,/ Like him I’ll be.’

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+ANNOUNCEMENTS

ARMY PEOPLE APPOINTED Effective 24 June l Captain Helen Froud, assistant director, Research and Development Unit (Research), Mission Service WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES Platinum (70th) l Ann and John Ward, Woodhouse (12 May) Emerald (55th) l Majors Joy and Rodney Beacham (14 May) RETIRED OFFICERS Birthday congratulations l Major Pamela Saunders (85 on 9 May) l Major Brian Miller (80 on 12 May) l Colonel Gordon Becker (85 on 13 May) PROMOTED TO GLORY l S/Reservist Lily Budding, Newcastle City Temple l Kenny Ball, Leadgate, on 21 February l June Metcalf, Leadgate, on 4 April l Viera Ellitson, Ipswich Bramford Road, on 15 April BEREAVED l Dep BM David Budding, Newcastle City Temple, of his mother S/Reservist Lily Budding l Major Antony Mugford, Guisborough, of his father Brian Mugford l Gerry and Sandra Griffiths, Cradley Heath, of their son Tim Griffiths, TE Mathew Griffiths, Malvern, of his brother

WHAT’S ON DEVELOP PODCAST The latest episode highlights how the Army in Ukraine is providing young people with practical skills and emotional support. l Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud or Google Podcasts

TRIBUTES MAJOR GEORGINA ATKINSON BORN in Trieste in 1914, Georgina Zega was the oldest of four children. Raised in a Lutheran church, when the Army ‘opened fire’ in Trieste she was attracted to the lively form of worship and soon started attending meetings.

22

After some time in Austria, Georgina returned to Trieste in her late teens. She trained for officership in Rome, being appointed to Brescia the day before her 22nd birthday.

Further appointments in Italy followed, and the start of the Second World War saw her stationed in Naples, where the fascist authorities pursued Salvationists, the Army’s work having been closed down.

Appointed to Red Shield work, Captain Zega met Captain Matthew Atkinson and they married in 1949. Their first joint appointment was to Lisburn in Matthew’s home country. Corps appointments in the UK and Italy followed before transfer to National Headquarters in 1974 and then IHQ until Matthew’s promotion to Glory in 1978.

Although retired, Georgina continued to work at IHQ and soldiered at Croydon Citadel until, aged 80, she transferred to Boscombe. These years were among the happiest of her life.

Relishing the busyness, Georgina soon volunteered to help in the charity shop, organised weekly Bible studies, joined her beloved home league and seized the opportunity to join the home league singers.

Georgina was an active participant in corps life well past her 100th birthday and was a much-loved member of the congregation.

Her final months saw her accepting the hard choice to move into care. On her recent 107th birthday, staff at the home asked for her secret to long life. She replied simply that she ‘thanked the Lord’ and so, in her small way, continued her witness even until the end.

She is much loved and missed by her family, of whom she was immensely proud.

– FM BARBARA CARRE, GUERNSEY BARBARA was born in 1930 in Guernsey. The eldest of six children, she was brought up in St Peter Port Corps.

During the occupation of the island in the Second World War, Barbara was evacuated to Glasgow but was later reunited with her mother and taken to her grandmother’s home in Goldthorpe, Yorkshire. The family attended the corps in that village and, when she left school, Barbara took a job as a gents’ outfitter.

When she returned to the island, she played a very active part in corps life,

including serving as Torchbearer leader and songster leader.

After her marriage to Roy, Barbara transferred to L’Islet Corps and joined the songsters, taught in the Sunday school and became the singing company leader.

Following the promotion to Glory of her son and husband, Barbara devoted her life to raising her other son, Paul. Barbara was a shining example of what a Christian and a Salvationist should be. – JH ARCHIE CROOKSTON, SHEFFIELD CITADEL ARCHIE was born in Scotland in 1933 and moved to Clowne when he was around three years old. On leaving school he trained for a while as a surveyor, but then settled on a career with the National Coal Board at several pits in the North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire areas.

As a member of Clowne Corps he was singing company leader from the age of 16.

At the age of 20 he became songster leader, a position he held for 33 years. He was also scoutmaster and played in the band.

In 1958 he married Dorothy Wileman and they had two children.

Archie and Dorothy transferred to Sheffield Citadel in the 1980s and he particularly enjoyed his ministry with the band for many years.

Archie was promoted to Glory from home and is dearly missed by his family and many friends. – HD MIKE UPSON, HARPENDEN COMING from a Methodist background, Mike entered into corps life in a number of ways, always preferring to work behind the scenes.

His help as an adherent was appreciated through many years as a stalwart of the Men’s Monthly Monday meeting, offering lifts and assisting in practical ways. Mike’s unfailingly reliable support of fundraising efforts at the corps was valued.

A keen Bible student, Mike enjoyed sharing his insights at Bible studies, and he put his analytical skills to excellent use as a popular editor of the corps newsletter.

Well known locally as a devotee of cricket, Mike made a point of treating people gently and with good humour. He is greatly missed by his loving wife, Avis, and their family. – SP

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CHURCH AND ARMY KNOWLEDGE

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ANSWERS TO THE MIND GAMES (PAGE 24)

BIBLE MATHS CHALLENGE

FAIRHAVEN CHRISTIAN HOTEL (LLANDUDNO)

Numbers in parentheses show the result of each calculation 1. 66 2. 14 (80) 3. 8 (10) 4. 9+6+9=24 (34) 5. 176 (210) 6. 5 (42) 7. 7 (6) 8. 24 (144) 9. 12x5 (60) 10. 40 (100) 11. 6 (600) 12. 490 (110) 13. 99 (11) 14. 12 (132) 15. 150 (18) 16. 3 (6) 17. Word

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1. a. 1,231,838 2. c. 29 3. b. His holy bride 4. d. Take-over Bid 5. c. 50 6. The name ‘Bramwell’: Dr Eleanor Bramwell; Bramwell Booth; and Bramwell Tovey 7. The word ‘Booth’: Voting booth; phone booth; William Booth; Booth island 8. They are all marches named after Salvation Army national or territorial music schools 9. The word ‘Flint’: Annie Johnson Flint; William Himes (who was born and worked in Flint, Michigan); and the

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MIND GAMES

Test yourself with a quiz and a mathematical tour of the Bible that ends with an important word as your final answer.

CHURCH AND ARMY KNOWLEDGE QUIZ by Bandmaster Adrian Lyons (Colchester Citadel)

1

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2

6

As of 1 January 2020, how many soldiers are there in The Salvation Army? a. 1,231,838 b. 2,515,103 c. 567,038 d. 117,054 As of 1 January 2020, how many general hospitals are operated by The Salvation Army? a. 10 b. 25 c. 29 d. 50

3

According to Samuel John Stone’s hymn ‘The Church’s One Foundation’, Jesus came and sought her to be what? a. His sacred building b. His holy bride c. His witness in this world d. His shelter from the tide

4

Which Gowans and Larsson musical was the first to be produced? a. The Blood of the Lamb b. Glory! c. Jesus Folk d. Take-over Bid

How many denominations are members of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland? a. 20 b. 35 c. 50 d. 80 What links these people?

a. The fictional doctor who runs a free hospital for the poor in London’s East End during the late Victorian era b. The second General of The Salvation Army c. The music director emeritus of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

7

9

What connects these three things?

a. The writer of number 30 in the Army songbook b. The writer of number 568 in the Army songbook c. A 1960s TV cartoon featuring Fred, Wilma and their daughter, Pebbles

10

What connects these songs?

16

Divide by the number of excuses for not attending the great supper mentioned in Luke 14.

17

Now turn to John 1 (New International Version or King James Version). Starting from the beginning, count the words up to the number you have calculated.

What is the word?

a. ‘I Know Thee Who Thou Art’ (SASB 79) b. ‘Someone Cares’ (SASB 10) c. ‘On God’s Word Relying’ (SASB 809) d. ‘I Bring Thee All’ (SASB 419) e. ‘Jesus, My Lord, Through Thy Triumph I Claim’ (SASB 713)

What connects these four things?

a. Voting b. Telephones c. The Salvation Army d. A Canadian island

8

What connects these brass band marches? a. ‘Tylney Hall’ b. ‘Cobham Hall’ c. ‘Hadleigh Camp’

BIBLE MATHS CHALLENGE by Garry Reed (Barnstaple)

1 2

Start with the number of books in the Bible.

Add this number: ‘Take care of them until the ___ day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight’ (Exodus 12:6).

3 4 5 6 7

Divide the result by the number of people who entered Noah’s ark.

Add to this figure Methuselah’s age when he died (see Genesis 5:27).

To this add the number of verses in Psalm 119.

Divide by the number of stones David selected for his battle with Goliath.

Divide by the number of times Naaman was dipped into the River Jordan (see 2 Kings 5:14).

8 Untitled-5 2

Multiply your total by the number of chapters in Luke’s Gospel.

9

Multiply the square root of your latest answer by the number of disciples with names beginning with ‘J’ in Luke 6:14–16.

10 11

Now add the number of years the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness.

12

Subtract the number of times Peter was told to forgive someone who sinned against him (see Matthew 18:22 King James Version).

Multiply by the number of Marys mentioned in the New Testament (according to gotquestions.org and other authorities).

13 14

Subtract the number of safe sheep in the parable of the lost sheep.

15

Multiply by the number of leftover baskets after the feeding of the 5,000 in Luke 9.

Subtract your latest answer from the total number of psalms in the Book of Psalms.

l Answers to quiz and Bible maths challenge on page 23

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