The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity providing services in the community, particularly to those who are vulnerable and marginalised. Motivated by our Christian faith, we offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK to all who need them, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. To find your nearest centre visit salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church
What is the War Cry? The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.
WAR CRY Issue No 7526
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN Tel: 0845 634 0101 Helpline: 020 7367 4888 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Editor-in-Chief: Major Mal Davies Published weekly by The Salvation Army ©The Salvation Army United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399. Printed by Walstead Roche Ltd, St Austell, on sustainably sourced paper
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INFO 2 • WAR CRY • 22 May 2021
EDITOR From the editor’s desk
EIGHTEEN months ago, people would have struggled to picture a time when drinking a flat white inside a coffee shop would be cause for celebration. Yet this week, people have celebrated being able to do exactly that as most of the UK took further steps out of lockdown. It was not only coffee shops welcoming back the public. Indoor play areas, cinemas and museums were also able to open. As were art galleries. In this week’s War Cry we report on the National Gallery in London reopening its doors with the immersive Sensing the Unseen exhibition. Centring on Jan Gossaert’s 16th-century painting The Adoration of the Kings, which shows the baby Jesus being visited by kings, the exhibition allows visitors to step into pods where they can zoom into high-res digital imagery of the work while also experiencing sounds and poetry. In the article, the curator Susan Foister explains that the painting was commissioned by a high-ranking nobleman in what is now Belgium and whose portrait may be included in the painting as one of the kings. Some 500 years before the age of smartphone selfies, someone wanted to put themselves in the picture. And yet, Susan explains, the message of the painting was not of that nobleman’s importance. ‘The point of the story being told is right at the centre of the painting – this tiny naked child,’ she says. ‘He is placed in the middle of a setting in which everything earthly is crumbling.’ Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has felt to many people as if the certainties of life and society have crumbled. They have found it hard to picture how life will be in the coming weeks, months and years. However, anyone who takes the example of the painting and put Jesus at the centre of their life can know his peace and presence every day – whatever the future may hold.
FEATURES
CONTENTS
What is The Salvation Army?
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Solo stories New drama series streams online
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Going for a song How will the UK’s Eurovision entry fare?
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A whole new world Author reflects on the birth of the Church
8 In the picture National Gallery reopens with immersive exhibition
REGULARS
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War Cry World
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Team Talk
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Now, There’s a Thought!
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Puzzles
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War Cry Kitchen
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Front-page picture: JASON LAVERIS
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