Quotes from the media

FOOD BANK USE REMAINS HIGHER THAN PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS, TRUSSELL WARNS

The need for food banks in the UK remains well above pre-pandemic levels, the Trussell Trust has warned. The charity reported … that more than 5,100 emergency food parcels a day were given out during the six months to September – an 11 per cent increase on the same period in 2019.

The latest figures … suggest that families with children have been the worst affected. In the six months from April 2021, 935,749 parcels were handed out. Of these, 356,570 were given for children, an average of 2,000 parcels a day, compared with almost 1,700 in 2019…

Winter is the busiest time of the year for the Trussell Trust, especially around Christmas. Its network of food banks expect to hand out more than 7,000 food parcels each day in December. The universal credit cut earlier this year, rising fuel costs and inflation exacerbate the situation, forcing parents to skip meals to pay for food for their children or heat the home, the charity reports.

Its chief executive, Emma Revie, urged the government to strengthen the social security system and called for public donations. ‘Everyone in the UK should be able to afford the essentials – to buy their own food and heat their homes.’

Church Times

LOOK OUT LADBABY, CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHOIR IS COVETING YOUR CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE

Only divine intervention will stop Adele, Elton John, Ed Sheeran, Abba or the bookmakers’ favourite, LadBaby, from bagging Christmas No 1, but one unlikely artist claims to have God on side.

The Church of England has released its first Christmas single, working with Classic FM to commission a new version of the carol ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.

It was composed by Rebecca Dale, who has topped the classical charts, and recorded by St Martin’s Voices, a choir at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

Martin Hoyle, a social media performer known as LadBaby, has secured the top spot for three years... He is the favourite again this year...

Bookmakers had not yet appeared to take into account the church’s offering...

The Times

THINK OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN – CHARITY HEAD SAYS CHRISTIAN RESPONSE IS NEEDED TO SOLVE THE REFUGEE CRISIS

The co-director of a charity which supports refugees when they arrive in the UK says there needs to be a more Christian response to the crisis.

Phil Kerton from Seeking Sanctuary says politicians should think about the individual lives of people trying to make the journey from France to the UK…

‘There needs to be a people-centred solution that is based on Christian values. If you look at the parable of the good Samaritan – he saw someone who was from a hated alien race in trouble and he made certain that he was looked after, that his needs were looked after. His first reaction was to treat the person as a human being with a humanitarian response.’

Premier

ATTENDANCE AND GIVING SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED BY PANDEMIC, STUDY FINDS

The Evangelical Alliance’s Changing Church report, which surveyed 552 church leaders and 1,676 church members, reveals a significant shift in the habits of churchgoers since the start of the pandemic…

The research finds that attendance at weekly in-person services has dropped by 32 per cent…

This finding was also reflected in what individual respondents reported about their own church attendance, with 92 per cent saying they had attended church services in person on a weekly basis prior to the pandemic, but only 68 per cent saying they do so now. This is contrasted by a 16 per cent rise in fortnightly and monthly in-person church attendance…

The research also reveals that changing patterns of church attendance have had an impact on giving, volunteering and youth work.

Some 60 per cent of church leaders report a decrease in giving. Only 15 per cent said this had increased, while one in five (19 per cent) said it had stayed the same.

Christian Today

SALVATIONIST

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Staff are working from home and may not be contactable by phone or able to deal with non-electronic correspondence EDITOR Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts – 020 7367 4901 MANAGING EDITOR Ivan Radford – 020 7367 4891 EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Simon Hope – 020 7367 4892 Melita Day-Lewis – 020 7367 4887 Major Margaret Bovey ART DIRECTOR Hannah Holden – 020 7367 4883 GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Mark Knight – 020 7367 4895 Louise Phillips – 020 7367 4896 PROOFREADER Chris Horne ADVERTISING 020 7367 4883 advertising@salvationarmy.org.uk

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LIFELONG LEARNING

WHEN he was chief rabbi the late Lord Jonathan Sacks said, ‘Never stop learning. I once met a woman who was 103 and yet who still seemed youthful. What, I asked her, was her secret? She replied, “Never be afraid to learn something new.”’

That could be the motto of the 16 graduates featured in this week’s Salvationist, even though they are quite a bit younger than 103. They were recently awarded their pastoral care with psychology degrees in a special ceremony at William Booth College.

They completed the course while busily engaged in their officer appointments, which, as anyone who has studied while working full-time will know, is quite a challenge. But it was also a key ingredient in their achievement because the course required them to reflect on pastoral issues, learning from real-life situations. That meant their academic study was informed by their day-to-day work and their pastoral care was enhanced by what they learnt. Major Jason Snell points out how helpful this was: ‘The learning, which was always applied practically through the assessments, has already enabled my understanding and practice of pastoral care in so many ways.’

Learning from experience is not limited to academic study – it is something we can do in our daily lives. In another article based on The All Terrain Podcast, Matt Little explores the question: ‘How do we move through suffering?’ Hard as the trials we face might be, they do provide some of the greatest learning opportunities. Matt highlights the experiences of two guests on the podcast, including the territorial commander, who spoke about being involved in the Army’s response to the Lockerbie plane disaster in December 1988. He said that experience helps him cope with suffering today: ‘I can face that suffering, knowing that God is right there in the midst of it with me.’

Other articles this week touch on the issue of learning. In their third Advent reflection Ron Thomlinson and the Rev James Macfarlane look at what Hollywood Christmas ‘schmaltz’ can teach us. William Booth’s letter to Salvationists in 1907 focuses on the need to walk in the light. He outlines the ways in which we discover God’s will for our lives and encourages us to obey it continually. The dawning of light is a good image of learning and understanding, and that theme is continued in the Bible study by Major Liesl Baldwin, who looks at the coming of Jesus, ‘the true light’ (John 1:9). She considers the way John the Baptist learnt to respond to the light of Jesus and ‘worked out how to be a witness’.

Every follower of Jesus is called to be a learner. The Greek word for ‘disciple’, mathétés, means ‘learner’ and the key part of that word is math, which, according to Strong’s Concordance, means the ‘mental effort needed to think something through’. We will never run short of things to think through and learn from – life provides a rich curriculum! And as disciples of Jesus we have additional material to understand about the nature of God and living as part of his Kingdom.

Discipleship, like the graduates’ course, is on-the-job learning – discovering by doing, learning from experience, making mistakes but learning from them and facing problems but growing through them. So, as with that 103-year-old, may we never stop learning.

From the editor Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts

Quotes from the media 2

News 4 to 7

Prayer matters 7

News feature 8 and 9

Graduates celebrate success

by Major Carolyn Clampton

Advent reflection 10

Spotting angels

by Ron Thomlinson and the Rev James Macfarlane

A word from William 11

Walking in the light

Photo feature 12 and 13

2021 in pictures

Feature 14 and 15

Our Christmas tree

by Steven Spencer

All Terrain questions 16 and 17 How do we move through suffering?

by Matt Little

Bible study 18 and 19

Reflecting true light

by Major Liesl Baldwin

Through the week with Salvationist 18 and 19

by Lieut-Colonel Ray Oakley

New commitments 20

Adverts 21 and 23

Announcements 22 and 23

The Salvation Army and me 24

featuring Sam Smith

COVER PICTURE

PAUL HARMER

SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS

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

ANNIVERSARY

STAINES After 18 months of being unable to meet due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the corps gathered to celebrate 25 years of worship in its current hall and community centre. The anniversary weekend started with a fireworks display with parents and children who take part in the midweek activities invited. More than 100 people attended and enjoyed light refreshments. The celebrations continued with a video of the hall’s opening, featuring the then territorial commander, Com mis sioner Dinsdale Pender, cutting the ribbon, accompanied by Dionne Morgan, the newest junior soldier at the time. After the video, Dionne and Commissioner Winifred Pender cut a bright red ribbon draped across a large picture of the building, which was positioned on the platform. A montage of corps activities was then placed over the picture. The band and songsters brought music old and new, reminding everyone present that God continues to work through all that they do in his name. The Unison Choir, the newly renamed singing company, shared ‘I’ll Stand for Christ’ and Commissioner Bill Cochrane provided a timely reminder that a church is not a building but the people in it. – AR

EVENT

MERTHYR TYDFIL The Christmas Fayre was well attended and supported by friends from a nearby care home who attend each Sunday. Christmas gift stalls, cakes and festive refreshments were on offer and the band played carols. The event raised more than £500 for the community fund. – LB STRAWBERRY FIELD A Hopefulness course, written by Fresh Expression team member Karen Carter, underwent a successful pilot. The six-session course centred on Strawberry Field’s aim to be an inclusive community with God at the centre. The hourly sessions explored how to cultivate and nurture hopefulness amid life’s ups and downs, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants connected with what hopefulness meant to them, took time to be still and imagine more hopefulness, got involved in a creative activity and took action to jump-start a sense of hope. The course will run again in January 2022. – LB

Salvationist wants to hear your news

Corps press representatives can email salvationist@ salvationarmy.org.uk. Good quality pictures will be included. COMMUNITY

FUNDRAISING

WOKING A capacity congregation enjoyed a Covid-safe concert by the Friary Band, organised by Major John Martin, which raised approximately £600 for the Big Collection. Music items ranged from ‘Prelude to an Occasion’ to ‘Just As I Am’ and included solos performed by Lauren Straker (flugelhorn), Chris Straker (euphonium) and Izzy Daws (trombone). – MH

ANNIVERSARY 50

years of mission in Bangladesh

SEE PAGE 6

LEEDS WEST HUNSLET Commissioners Dorita and John Wainwright led a meeting of praise and salvation in celebration of the 137th corps anniversary. They spoke of God’s blessings and invited members to share their thanks for what the Lord has done for them. After the meeting the commissioners shared in lunch to thank God for 137 years of faithful service in the area. Covid-19 restrictions were observed by using larger tables to enable social distancing, but this did not dampen members’ enthusiasm as everyone celebrated another milestone in the history of the corps. – LM

£735

raised for corps funds

SEE PAGE 7

2.2

miles walked for Big Collection

ANNIVERSARY

Celebrating 130 years

BALHAM

THE 130th corps anniversary celebration was heralded by a composite band on the forecourt, which attracted some enthusiastic spectators. During the meeting, the congregation enjoyed wor shipping through well-loved songs and celebrated blessings past and present. Music items included solos by Peter Bale (saxophone) and Denise (euphonium) and songs by the African choir and children’s singing group.

At the end of the meeting, the children marched in with bricks while the congregation sang ‘For I’m Building a People of Power’ (SASB 813). This symbolised the building up of the church and the anticipation of God’s blessings in the future.

The meeting included an inspiring video message from Territorial Commander Com mis sioner Anthony Cotterill and concluded with joyful and Spiritfilled singing of ‘To God Be the Glory’ (SASB 279) with cries of ‘Hallelujah’ and a spontaneous chorus of ‘Give to Jesus Glory’.

Following the meeting, more than 80 revellers made their way to the Lochinvar Hall, where an afternoon tea awaited them. – JM

PRESENTATION

Lurgan corps officers Majors Ann and Russell Tucker present a certificate of appreciation and flowers to Yvonne Bentley as she retires after 31 years’ service as home league secretary

Like our page @SalvationistOnline to keep up to date Follow Salvationist on Twitter @SalvationistUK COMMUNITY

SALISBURY The corps is enjoying another fruitful partnership with The Entertainer, which is supporting the Christmas appeal by matching donations made by its customers. The partnership is part of a national initiative by the toy shop chain and the Army. Last year the corps supported more than 100 families. This year it has already received more requests for help from health visitors and family workers who distribute the gifts. The corps has also established strong links with schools in the area, which support the appeal and provide opportunities for corps officer Captain Martin Davison to explain the Army’s values. – MD

INTERNATIONAL

PRESENTATION

Chatham Salvationist Joan West retires after 27 years’ service as a prison chaplain and receives a certificate of appreciation from Divisional Commander Major Mark Herbert

OUTREACH

SHEFFIELD CITADEL Soldier Helen Kayani was invited to St Chad’s 127th Brownies, which she attended as a child, to talk about The Salvation Army. The girls had worked hard for their Charities Interest badge, decorating bags and filling them with Christmas edibles for the corps food bank, along with a message of friendship. Helen thanked them for their generosity and was asked to return for another talk about the Army with the Guides. – GB

FUNDRAISING

NORTHERN IRELAND The 2021 Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Family Appeal is under way. The joint Christmas appeal has helped families enjoy a brighter Christmas for more than 40 years. With one in four children impacted by the pandemic and living in poverty, demand for support this year is expected to be at a record high. Thousands of toys have been donated in previous years. However, due to the pandemic, the toy collection has been replaced by the opportunity to make an online donation. Divisional Commander Colonel Neil Webb said: ‘We are inspired by the Christmas message to reach out to people in need. Through our community work, we have seen first-hand the impact of the pandemic on the families we support. That’s why we look forward to working with our good friends at St Vincent de Paul again to bring Christmas cheer to children and young people who might otherwise go without.’ – AR

Army celebrates 50 years of mission

BANGLADESH

A VIRTUAL visit by General Brian Peddle and World Presi dent of Women’s Ministries Commissioner Rosalie Peddle was a highlight of the Bangladesh Command’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

More than 100 officers and cadets met in person in Savar, in the Dhaka District, with some people meeting together for the first time in almost two years. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, larger numbers were not allowed to gather, so streaming the meetings online was important to reach as many people as possible.

The meeting was filled with joy and thanksgiving to the Lord for half a century of God-inspired ministry. The Salvation Army’s work in the command began after emergency responses to a cyclone in 1970 and a refugee crisis in 1971.

This history was explored but consideration was also given to the present situation and future vision for the command. Cadets sang a group song and sent traditional ‘showers of blessing’ by throwing flower leaves into the congregation. A group of officers praised God with timbrels and the congregation danced and made music.

The General and Com missioner Rosalie shared greetings and congratulations from London in an online video. In his Bible message, the General called on Salvationists to be obedient, believe and surrender to God. He encouraged his listeners, reminding them that God will not abandon his people and that he is too powerful to fail.

The officer commanding, Lieut-Colonel Zothanmawia Khiangte, shared Matthew 6:33: ‘All these things shall be added to you’ (New King James Version). He said that this will only happen when God’s people seek his Kingdom.

When a call to the mercy seat was made, officers and cadets moved forward to pray together and surrender their lives again to the Lord.

The celebrations continued with gatherings taking place in the Dhaka and South Western Districts. There are plans for an event in 2022 that will include other churches and organisations. – AVH

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