War Cry 22 June 2019: selected articles

Kudos/ITV

22 June 2019 • WAR CRY • TELEVISION 3

TRULY NOBLE? Linda McTurk sees if an Englishman in India can overcome suspicions about his background

T

HE rumours spreading across Delhi in 1795 are true.

Englishman John Beecham (Tom Bateman) is to become the master of a grand mansion in the city, in ITV’s new drama series Beecham House, which starts tomorrow (Sunday 23 June).

No one is quite clear why John is in Delhi or even who he is.

Servants wonder whether he is ‘a nobleman’ or a high-caste ‘Rajput’. But the more important question is simply whether he has a noble character.

When he arrives at his new home with his infant son of mixed heritage, eyebrows are raised. The servants are keen to find out the identity of the boy’s mother, but John keeps it a secret. ‘You will learn that I am a private man,’ he says.

What little is known about John’s past does not help him to fit in with his neighbours. General Castillon (Grégory Fitoussi), a French mercenary for Emperor Shah Alam, arranges to meet him, but their conversation turns icy when the general

Judge me not by my flag but by my actions confronts John about his time at the disreputable British East India Company. John insists that he has severed ties with his former employer and that he is looking to trade independently, but Castillon is not convinced.

Not everyone, however, sees John as a threat. A kindly neighbour offers to introduce him to the emperor (Roshan Seth), so that John can ask for a licence to trade. But when they meet at the royal palace, the emperor is wary of believing anything that he is told. The past pillaging of India by the British is still fresh in the emperor’s memory.

Despite these setbacks, John wants the chance to make a clean start. He says to the emperor: ‘I implore you, judge me not by my flag but by my actions.’

John’s predicament highlights a human problem. Many of us would like to cut ties with the past, but find it difficult. We want to be known as trustworthy, but our reputation can be tainted by mistakes – sometimes our own. We hope to be given a chance to do things differently, but people may see us only as who we used to be. We may feel haunted by the shadow of our old selves and unable to start afresh.

Across history, many people have taken comfort in knowing that their past does not need to determine their future. We can always have a fresh start with Jesus. He does not exclude us from his love even when we have made a lot of mistakes.

In his earlier days the Bible writer Paul had made many harmful decisions. But when he chose to follow Jesus, he was able to put them behind him. ‘Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person,’ he wrote. ‘The past is forgotten, and everything is new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17 Contemporary English Version).

We do not need to be mastered by our past. If we turn to Jesus and admit our wrongdoing, he will free us from any guilt or shame. If we trust in him, he will grant us the key to a noble life – one full of lasting love, joy and peace.

John Beecham is seeking a licence to trade

8 FEATURE • WAR CRY • 22 June 2019

A room with a pew T

HE concept has altered – or altared – how hundreds of people spend their time off. In only a few years, the Churches Conservation Trust scheme that allows people to stay overnight in historic places of worship has spread out from All Saints in Aldwincle, Northamptonshire, and is now in 19 churches across the country.

And it seems that this year people will carry on Champing.

Chana James helped to lay the foundations of the scheme, and, through her work with the Churches Conservation Trust, she can see the attraction of the buildings.

‘The Churches Conservation Trust

ANDY MARSHALL

A scheme is allowing people to camp overnight in historic churches. Philip Halcrow hears how Champing works – and why people enjoy going to sleep with angels watching over them

St Cyriac and St Julitta in Swaffham Prior is one of the churches that hosts Champing

is a national heritage charity that looks after historic redundant churches,’ she explains. ‘The churches come into our care through the Church of England when they’re no longer needed for regular worship. They remain consecrated, but there isn’t a congregation to support them.

They’re all historically important – most of them are grade I listed – so we conserve them, open them to the public and hold events.

‘And now we have Champing, which is a great way of getting a different audience into our churches. It also brings in income.

‘I’ve been Champing a few times. It’s

22 June 2019 • WAR CRY • FEATURE 9

a unique feeling to stay in an 800-yearold building, to be lying on a camp bed, looking up at a massive ceiling. It’s so atmospheric in the candlelight.’

The concept of Champing was pioneered by some scouts – although neither they nor the Churches Conservation Trust realised it at the time.

‘Back in 2012,’ Chana remembers, ‘as a one-off project, some scouts went to do some cleaning of a church, and they camped in the church and the churchyard.

We were sort of joking about it, and

then Peter Aiers, who is now our chief executive, said: Why don’t we use the idea of camping in churches?

‘So we tried it at All Saints, Aldwincle, and it was so well received that the following year we added two more churches, and the scheme has grown from there.’

This summer people can go Champing in 18 churches in England and one in Orkney.

Generally, says Chana, people champ in groups.

Turn to page 10

Champer Annabelle Blackham in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Warminghurst

➥

JOSEPH CASEY/The Churches Conservation Trust

10 FEATURE • WAR CRY • 22 June 2019

Champing in Emborough

The churches have nice walks or rivers nearby

Chana James of the Churches Conservation Trust

From page 9 ‘People do it for the experience, and it’s an experience they want to share with friends and family. Some of the churches can hold 12 to 14 people. You have the church to yourself – you’re not sharing with strangers.’

Chana gives a guide to the practicalities of Champing. ‘Champers pick up the key to the church in the afternoon or evening,’ she says.

‘We provide tea-making facilities, cushions, beanbags, chairs and camp beds. The churches aren’t heated, which we’re upfront about on the website and which is why we run the Champing season from spring into summer. Inside a church it’s a similar temperature to when you’re in a tent. People bring their own bedding, but if they are travelling far – and some visitors come from abroad or are backpacking and don’t want to carry things – they can order sleeping bags and pillows.

‘Most of our churches weren’t built with facilities, so there’s a compost toilet, which is much nicer than it sounds.

‘And at many of our churches we can offer an option of breakfast, whether that’s a hamper or something at a nearby café or pub.

‘Each church has a Champ Bot, a paid member of staff who cleans and sets

everything up and then takes everything away when the champers leave in the morning, because the church will still be open for visitors.’

Champing churches have been chosen so that when champers step out from them, there are activities that are available to them.

Chana points out: ‘The churches are all in rural locations and have nice walks or rivers nearby. So you can go canoeing or cycling.’

Annabelle Blackham is one happy champer. She organises walking weekends and estimates she has been Champing ‘probably about 20 times’ with groups ranging in numbers from about four to eighteen.

She says: ‘I heard about Champing on Radio 4 and thought it sounded interesting. The glamping thing has become fashionable and ridiculously expensive. So Champing seemed an ideal way to get a bit of a different experience of camping with the added benefit of not actually being outside.

‘I normally design a walking weekend so that we walk in the area, then go to the church, set up all our bits and bobs, and then sit down, have a cup of tea and a

22 June 2019 • WAR CRY • FEATURE 11 Accommodation at churches in Wolfhampcote and (inset) Warminghurst

Champers appreciate how quiet it is

piece of cake and just enjoy being in the space.

‘A church does not come with all mod cons, but it is simply not a problem. There are often games left in the church that you can play and there are fairy lights.

In the church at Fordwich there are box pews that you can put your bed inside, so you’ve effectively got your own bedroom up to head height.’

Annabelle also appreciates the information leaflets that are left in the church so that groups can ‘have a little wander to find out more about the building’.

At St Andrew’s Church in Wroxeter her roamers were confronted by Rome.

‘The Romans had a town there,’ says Annabelle. ‘Nearby was what had been the Roman baths. And the church’s font is made from the top of a column that had been taken from that Roman settlement.

It was fascinating to go round the whole church, finding bits that dated back to Roman times.’

Other Champing locations have also left an impression.

‘There was some beautifully painted decoration at Edlesborough in Buckinghamshire,’ she says. ‘And the church in Booton in Norfolk took our breath away. It was refurbished only about 125 years ago. It has slim, twin towers, and when you go inside and look up at the ceiling, there are the most beautiful roof angels. They must be about six foot tall. When you’re lying in bed, you’re looking up at these amazing carved angels.’

Annabelle says that she is ‘not a churchgoer’ and that the groups she walks with include ‘people who believe and people who don’t – but Champing brings everyone together in this reflective space’.

It chimes with what Chana has heard about people’s experience of Champing.

‘People are sometimes anxious about visiting churches,’ Chana says. ‘They think that because they’re not religious, going into a church is not for them, but a historic church is there for everyone to enjoy.

‘Champers often say they appreciate how quiet it is. They love waking up and seeing the sun shining through the stained-glass windows or being able to hear owls at night. They enjoy being away from the TV. They chat and tell stories.

There’s also something special about staying somewhere that’s so old.

‘A lot of people say they initially felt a sense of trepidation, because they were not sure what to expect, but then they enjoyed it.’

Chana believes that the Champing

churches can be appreciated for a variety of reasons.

‘We like to highlight their stories,’ she says. ‘St James’ Church at Cooling in Kent has a link to Dickens – it was the inspiration for the opening of Great Expectations, the scene out on the marshes.

‘John Betjeman wrote a poem about St Katherine’s in Chiselhampton, Oxfordshire, while Fordwich near Canterbury has links with the cathedral and with St Augustine of Canterbury.’

As well as connections with A-list historical celebrities, the churches on the Champing list offer a variety of architectural styles.

‘We have one in Buckinghamshire that’s very gothic,’ says Chana, ‘and we have Regency churches and medieval churches.’

The Churches Conservation Trust describes the 350-plus churches in its care as irreplaceable because of their architecture, archaeology and art. Chana adds that they should be valued because ‘they tell the stories of ordinary people in history – the people who would attend the church several times a day because it was central to their lives’.

And Champing, she says, is helping the Churches Conservation Trust carry out its mission.

‘Champing highlights our work of saving churches. Even if people don’t go Champing themselves, people are becoming aware that historic churches are important and that if we don’t care for them, many of them will be at risk.’

12 INNER LIFE • WAR CRY • 22 June 2019

Prayerlink YOUR prayers are requested for Aaron, who is depressed; for Wendy, who is worried about her future; and for Kerry, who is on probation.

The War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their ­circumstances. Send your requests to Prayerlink, War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, Lon­don SE1 6BN. Mark your envelope ‘Confidential’.

Becoming a Christian There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Amen Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

Nigel Bovey gives chapter and verse on each book in the Scriptures

Isaiah HE warnings of the prophet Isaiah to T the people of Judah run parallel to the events described in 2 Kings chapters 15

to 20.

This book is divided into two parts.

Chapters 1 to 39 focus on judgment and chapters 40 to 66 major on restoration. Scholars see this as indicating that the book is the work of more than one author.

The first section is set against the background of Assyrian attacks on Judah. The reason for the turmoil, Isaiah discerns, is Judah’s rebellion against God. Judah is a ‘sinful nation’ (1:4) and the capital Jerusalem is a ‘prostitute’ (1:21) because its people have abandoned God’s command of having no other gods but him. Instead they practise divination and idolatry (2:6).

God’s message through Isaiah is twofold: repent of your sin and return to me or face the consequences (1:18 – 20). If rebellion continues, God will use Assyria to punish his people (8:7).

While there will be a day of judgment (2:12), there will not be a total annihilation of the people. David’s kingdom will continue

(9:7), a ‘remnant’ will remain (10:20), and a ‘shoot’ of new life will rise from the tribe of Jesse (11:1).

After these prophecies against the surrounding nations (chapters 13 to 34),

The ‘suffering servant’ pays the price of human sinfulness

the second section of the book focuses on renewal.

There will be a ‘way for the Lord’ (40:3), a Spirit-filled servant (42:1) and a repopulating of Judah (44:26). Babylon will fall and Judah will be freed from exile (chapters 47 to 49), Jerusalem will be restored (chapters 51 and 52), there will be a ‘year of the Lord’s favour’ (61:2). Ultimately, God will create new heavens and a new earth (chapters 65 and 66).

Central to the possibility of spiritual renewal is the ‘suffering servant’, who pays the price of human sinfulness and rebellion against God. On him, God lays ‘the iniquity of us all’ (53:6). He is ‘crushed for our iniquities’ and ‘pierced for our transgressions’ (53:5). He bears the punishment that can bring us peace with God. It is by his ,’ wounds that we can be healed.

‘Come now, let us settle the matter are like Christians believe this defining says the Lord. ‘Though your sins prophecy is fulfilled in the person of w’ sno as te whi as scarlet, they shall be Jesus Christ. al Version)

Key verse

(Isaiah 1:18 New Internation

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