Reviews

Energetic worship

Captain Ben Cotterill (Clapton) reviews Anna Lamplough’s album Gospel Explosion

GOSPEL Explosion is a must-have album for people who connect with the gospel genre that has permeated modern Salvationist gatherings in the past 20 years. Anna Lamplough has put together an album of sublime quality featuring some of the biggest tunes of recent years. Salvationists who have come through the youth scene in the past two decades will recognise amazingly revamped tunes from giants of the gospel scene, such as Kirk Franklin’s ‘I Smile’, Israel Houghton’s ‘You Are Good’ and William McDowell’s ‘I Give Myself Away’.

The vocals are of an extremely high standard, as are the brass backing and the incredible arrangements. If you saw Anna Lamplough lead worship at Together 2022 in Birmingham, you would have been blown away by the quality of musicianship and spiritual impact of Anna’s musical ministry.

Tracks to look out for in particular include Planetshakers’ ‘Born to Praise’, arranged by Nick Roberts. This track wouldn’t be out of place in the UK charts, with great commercial recording quality and vocals and rap that will surely make this a favourite for many. ‘Everywhere That I Go’ is also a stand-out song, which will leave you singing along while also remembering the abiding presence of God in our lives.

You will discover your own favourites – but only if you buy the album, either as a gift for a birthday or Christmas, or to encourage someone in their walk with God.

Thanks to Anna and all her talented friends for this gift to The Salvation Army and beyond – it is truly a musical explosion of energy, worship and adoration. I want to hear it live somewhere soon!

Gospel Explosion is available from sps-shop.com priced £9.99 plus postage

REVIEW

An ambitious illustrated history

Steven Spencer, director of the International Heritage Centre, reviews The Salvation Army: 150 Years of Blood and Fire by Stephen Huggins

STEPHEN Huggins’s research for his book The Mob and the Mayor led to this more ambitious text, taking in the whole history of the Army. In 200 pages, he covers the major events, people and stories familiar from other publications. The illustrated history contains photographs from Army archives around the world, as well as online resources and the author’s own collection.

Huggins, formerly the parish priest at the Anglican church in Bexhill, is sympathetic, and emphasises the Army’s pioneering role in female equality and the development of social services, emergency response and an anti-racist, egalitarian colonialism.

A chapter on the international Army includes work in the USA, South Africa and India. While mainly providing a familiar narrative, Huggins does draw from recent publications, including details on the 1929 High Council and the development of The Salvation Army’s periodical press.

Understandably for a book covering such breadth in a limited space, there are a number of small slips of fact. Some stories are included, such as William Booth offering to ‘say a word’ on Mile End Waste in 1865 and delivering the ‘I’ll Fight’ speech in the Royal Albert Hall in 1912, but the accuracy of these has been challenged by recent historians.

The final two chapters provide Huggins’s most original contribution to Army history. One on the Army and the media takes in the use of theatre-style posters in the late 19th century, the development of periodicals beyond the War Cry and The Young Soldier, and early films made by the Australian Limelight Brigades. The last chapter, ‘Unresolved Issues’, asks perhaps the most challenging questions. A concise overview of Bramwell Booth’s deposition as General is followed by an assessment of the Generals since: ‘There have only been three women Generals and none at all of colour.’ Huggins acknowledges the societal and historical imbalances that have led to this and discusses the 2000 International Commission on Officership. The final section considers the Army’s position on human sexuality.

In his conclusion, Huggins suggests that the 20th century saw the Army ‘becoming rather introspective and losing touch with the very communities it would serve’. His final, enigmatic sentence observes: ‘The Army […] must look to new ways, for as William had once so astutely observed, anyone who has ever tended a fire knows that there are times when it must be stirred up.’

The Salvation Army: 150 Years of Blood and Fire is available from pen-andsword.co.uk priced £20 plus postage