What is The Salvation Army?
2 COMMENT AND CONTENTS • WAR CRY • 30 November 2019
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
From the editor’s desk A PAIR of socks from a distant aunt is probably not the most eagerly unwrapped present on Christmas morning. Truth be told, it was probably not the present the aunt felt most excited about when she was gift-wrapping it. But the gift was given to demonstrate that the aunt had not forgotten her extended family and that she wanted to give a gift that would at least be practical, even if not very sought after. However, when Ed Vickers began volunteering in a shelter for people experiencing homelessness he was shocked to discover that socks were the ‘most needed but under-donated’ item of clothing. As he explains in this week’s War Cry, he could not believe how much people walking the streets day and night needed good socks to help with their foot health. It led him to establish Jollie’s, a social enterprise that produces socks for retail – and for every pair sold, another pair is donated to one of 50 shelters across the country. In his interview Ed says how he was inspired to start up Jollie’s by his Christian faith. He wanted to give ‘a signal to people experiencing homelessness that the community cared about them’. His story is a timely one as tomorrow (Sunday 1 December) marks the beginning of the season of Advent. It is a time when all our practical preparations for Christmas intensify and when Christians begin looking forward to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s gift of love to humankind, on Christmas Day. The Bible says that Jesus came into the world to ‘free those who have been treated unfairly and to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness’ (Luke 4:18 and 19 New Century Version). Whether we have a faith or not, let’s hope that it is not only Ed who is inspired by this demonstration of God’s kindness and that we will all do what we can to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
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.
SINCE 1879
140 YEARS
OF THE WAR CRY Issue No 7451
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Claire Brine Staff Writer: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight War Cry office: 020 7367 4900 Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army UK Territory with the Republic of Ireland 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN
Contents
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 Secretary for Communications: Lieut-Colonel Dean Pallant
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 and Wales is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399. Printed by Walstead Roche Ltd, St Austell, on sustainably sourced paper
Your local Salvation Army centre
FEATURES 3
Farming couple grow their dream Documentary depicts how city dwellers cultivated a new life
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Cut-price weekend Sales can encourage us to give
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‘We want people to engage with the Christmas story’ Why there’s more to Advent than calendars
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Best foot forward The sock business that helps others
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Branching out Churches connect with communities through Christmas tree festivals
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REGULARS 4
News and media
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Browsing the Bible
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Now, There’s a Thought!
14 Puzzles 15
War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: Shutterstock
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