12 minute read
Quotes from the media
FEARS FOR CHILD ASYLUM SEEKERS GOING MISSING FROM UK HOTELS AT RATE OF ONE A WEEK
Child asylum seekers are going missing from Home Office hotels after being left at risk of exploitation and human trafficking, charities have warned.
They are disappearing at a rate of one a week, data obtained by The Independent and other organisations shows, and the whereabouts of dozens of vulnerable teenagers is unknown.
An open letter signed by 60 charities and campaigners said children as young as 11 had gone missing...
A freedom of information request by the Every Child Protected Against Trafficking (Ecpat) charity showed that 45 unaccompanied child asylum seekers went missing from hotels between June last year and the end of March…
The open letter, written by Ecpat and Children England and signed by groups including the Refugee Council and Asylum Aid, called the arrangements an ‘unofficial shadow system in which children … may disappear from sight’.
The Independent
IMMIGRATION CHARITY CREATES LIVED EXPERIENCE PANEL TO PLAY ‘PIVOTAL ROLE’ IN STRATEGY
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) is recruiting people with recent experience of the UK’s immigration system to form an advisory panel…
Currently, 40 per cent of its staff and trustee team have lived experience of the UK’s immigration system and many are migrants or children of migrants.
But the charity said it wanted to draw on the ‘particularly relevant expertise’ of people with more recent experience…
The JCWI told Civil Society News: ‘JCWI is committed to … demanding an immigration system that treats people with dignity.’
Civil Society News
FACULTY GRANTED TO REMOVE MURAL WITH ‘UNFORTUNATE CONNOTATIONS’ OF GRENFELL TOWER FIRE
An apocalyptic mural over the entrance to St Peter’s, St Helier, in south London, which has ‘acquired unfortunate connotations’ since the Grenfell Tower fire, is to be removed, after a faculty to do so was granted by the consistory court of the diocese of Southwark…
The large mural of the Last Judgement over the door, which depicts a city in flames, was commissioned in 1977…
The vicar since 2021, the Rev Tracy Marlow, and the church wardens ... filed a petition for its removal earlier this year, which was supported by the diocesan advisory committee and was unopposed.
Church Times
EXTREME HEAT ‘MAKING US SICK’, SAY HOMELESS IN BRISTOL
People who are homeless say being stuck outside in extreme heat is ‘horrendous’ and ‘makes me sick’.
Bristol Street Outreach Team, operated by charity St Mungo’s, has been carrying out additional shifts and giving out water, advice and sun protection…
Michael, who sleeps rough in the city, said even sitting in the shade was ‘tiring and sweaty and uncomfortable’.
James Bennett, an outreach worker for the St Mungo’s Rough Sleeper Service – which is funded by Bristol City council, said: ‘A lot of the people who are sleeping rough are quite vulnerable so it can be quite dangerous in the heat’…
St Mungo’s said it encouraged those who pass by homeless people to hand out bottles of water, or in an emergency call 999 or contact Streetlink, which provides support for rough sleepers...
Many councils have activated a Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (Swep), which is usually used to help rough sleepers during extreme cold weather.
In Bristol, Swep has been activated twice already this year for hot conditions…
BBC News
SALVATIONIST
salvationist.org.uk/media/magazine Issue No 1873
EDITOR Major Mal Davies
MANAGING EDITOR Ivan Radford
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Simon Hope, George Tanton, Lyn Woods, Major Margaret Bovey
ART DIRECTOR Hannah Holden
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Mark Knight, Louise Phillips
PROOFREADER Chris Horne
Published weekly by The Salvation Army and printed on paper from sustainable sources by CKN Print, Northampton. © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory. ISSN 2516-5909.
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The good phone?
AT one stage in my previous appointment, as a corps officer, I had an older member of the corps ask if they could have a word with me after the meeting. That phrase – ‘Could I have a word with you?’ – sends a shiver down the spine of many corps officers because ‘a word’ can easily become about 500 words, many of them quite pointed!
So we found a quiet corner and this dear old saint told me of her great disappointment in our large group of young adults and teens who, as soon as the address started, pulled out their mobile phones and kept checking them throughout the sermon. She was most disappointed by their lack of interest and felt that I should admonish them.
I listened to her patiently and, when she’d concluded, I said to her that I highly valued what the youth were doing and I wish more people would do the same! She stared at me wide-eyed.
Then I added that they were following the address and looking up Bible passages on their phones. Most of them had Bible apps that allowed them to highlight text, mark passages for later reference and even add notes. I encouraged them to do what they were doing!
On page 14 of this week’s Salvationist you’ll find Major Sarah King asking if there is a difference between reading the Bible in print or on a digital device. It’s an interesting article; I’ll let you discover the answer for yourself when you read it.
On pages 8 and 9 we read a report from the Enabled Summer School of Arts covering the wide range of activities undertaken, including Bible study groups.
You’ll read elsewhere about the Design for Life weekend retreat being arranged by Territorial Candidates Directors Majors Mark and Andrea Sawyer, and the Bible studies that will be included in the event.
Pages 10 and 11 include a thorough report on the North Scotland Division campaign recently led by territorial leaders Commissioners Anthony and Gill Cotterill. I’m thrilled to see it also contains comment on the Scripture messages that were presented, including references.
As usual, we have a Bible study for you, and Lieut-Colonel Goff Payne considers a passage from Numbers 20.
You’ll also find an interesting interview with Mike Royal, general secretary of Churches Together in England. When asked about the main purpose of the group, he says: ‘It is to fulfil the scriptural mandate that Jesus gave us in John 17:21 – that we all might be one as he and the Father are one.’
Flowing through and around all that we do is Scripture. In it we can read advice and encouragement, and it can provide us with direction and purpose.
As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’
In the past year or so, our territory has released new identity statements, including the statement of our intention to ‘Love God, Love Others’, as well as a Valuing People framework, statements on our values and behaviours and, most recently, resources on diversity and racial inclusion.
All these documents were loaded with Scripture and Bible references. It would have been impossible to release them without referencing the Bible.
So do you want to be ‘thoroughly equipped for every good work’? As you read this week’s Salvationist you’ll read about people who have chosen this objective. People who base their ministry on the Bible, people who encourage others to study the Bible, and people who live out what the Bible teaches.
MAJOR MAL DAVIES
Editor Salvationist
CONTENTS
Quotes from the media 2
News 4 to 6
Prayer matters 6
Army snippets 7
by General John Larsson
News feature 8 and 9
Members rejoice at Enabled Summer School
by Chris Stringer
News feature 10 and 11
Territorial leaders inspire in divisional summer campaign
by Major Steve Dutfield
Interview 12 and 13
Being churches together
with Mike Royal
My dissertation explained 14
Reading the Bible
by Major Sarah King
Preview 15
Design for Life
by Majors Andrea and Mark Sawyer
Bible study 16 and 17
Water from the rock
by Lieut-Colonel Goff Payne
Through the week with Salvationist 16 and 17
by Major Jane Kimberley
New commitments 18 and 19
From the archive 20
The sound of silence
by Major Joy Webb
Announcements 21
Adverts 22 to 24
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (2011), unless otherwise stated
INTERNATIONAL
Inspiration at Old Orchard Beach
MAINE
THE USA Eastern Territory celebrated a long-awaited return to camp meetings in Old Orchard Beach with the Chief of the Staff Commissioner Lyndon Buckingham and World Secretary for Spiritual Life Development Commissioner Bronwyn Buckingham.
Although such meetings have been a staple of summer ministry since 1883, gatherings at the venue came to a halt when safety became paramount amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Almost three years later, amid a heatwave and surging fuel prices, Salvationists from around the territory resumed the meetings. Joined by friends visiting from Canada and beyond, they sang, danced and praised the Lord from the pier and the beach to the chapel and the pavilion under the theme Together: Nothing Shall Separate Us.
Alongside the Chief of the Staff and Commissioner Lyndon, territorial leaders Commissioners Lorraine and William Bamford inspired congregations, supported by Bible study leaders Commissioners Mark and Sharon Tillsley and Majors Brett and Jessica DeMichael.
The New York Staff Band and the Eastern Territory Staff Songsters presented music and Commissioner Bronwyn gave a message of challenge.
The Chief of the Staff spoke about how Salvationists have regrouped in the response to the pandemic.
‘We were created to give honour and glory to God, and he wants to celebrate with us,’ he said. ‘But we must take it beyond here. On our lips, in our conversations with our families.’ – WM
FUNDRAISING MUSIC
MAIDSTONE The corps hosted its first concert since the Covid19 pandemic. It opened with the band, supported by 11-year-old Camille on the drumkit, playing ‘Shine On Us’. The band and songsters performed a variety of music styles in a spirit of celebration, including ‘The Kingdom Is Theirs’ and ‘I Love to Sing’. Bandmaster Stuart Atkinson surprised one young lad, James, by volunteering him to conduct the band in performing ‘Ask!’. James did exceedingly well, helped along by a clapping audience. It later transpired that his greatgrandfather was bandmaster at Leeds West Hunslet Corps many years ago. Afterwards everyone enjoyed coffee and cake made by members of the band and songsters. – GP
EVENT
Harold Hill youth enjoy paddleboarding as part of an activity day including high ropes, archery and laser tag
OUTREACH
Juliet and Peter Parker host Ipswich Citadel’s first annual strawberry tea since the Covid-19 pandemic, raising £200 for the Big Collection and Bible Society
MUSIC
BLACKBURN As part of their tour of Belgium, the band played at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres. The tour also included a service at the Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Cemetery and a concert in the bandstand at Ostend. – EM/MB
ANNIVERSARY ARMY NEWS
Compassion key to addiction recovery
THQ
THE Salvation Army has emphasised the need for a person-centred approach to supporting people with addiction, after the release of the latest drug death figures.
Assistant Director of Homelessness Services (North) Malcolm Page said the figures were ‘deeply concerning’, but added that people ‘must not accept them as inevitable’.
‘The Salvation Army’s approach to supporting people living with addiction takes a harm reduction approach, which means we support someone to tackle not only the addiction itself, but also the roots and causes of their behaviour in the first place,’ he explained.
‘We have seen lives transformed with this person-centred approach and government figures show that a harm reduction policy works. Moreover, the Scottish Drug Deaths Taskforce’s recent report also called for a compassionate approach to tackling addiction and we back the taskforce’s call for a significant increase in funding for therapeutic addiction support services.
‘The Salvation Army works with some of the most vulnerable people but despite that we can report an incredibly significant reduction in drug-related deaths in the last year. We believe in seeing the person not the problem. Investing in services that offer this approach to addiction is the most effective way of reversing levels of drug and alcohol deaths. Compassion and connection saves lives.’ – AR
COMMUNITY
SUDBURY The corps celebrated 140 years of loving God and loving others in the town with a weekend of opportunities to gather and thank God for his faithfulness. People who had not attended in a long time turned up after corps members wrote to them personally. Saturday included an open morning, with visitors contributing to a display by sharing their connections to the Army. The Generation Game followed in the evening. Majors Jonathan and Vickie Harvey (Northwest Division, USA Western Territory) led Sunday morning worship, and people testified about God speaking to them. The celebrations concluded with a barbecue and fellowship. – RH
FUNDRAISING
BECCLES The corps raised £150 for Christian Aid by hosting The Big Brekkie. Pictured are corps members Steve Weatherley, Corps Assistant Harry Woods, Major Sheila Barfoot and Jan Skuse. SALISBURY The hall is the location for a new defibrillator unit thanks to a kind donation from one of its soldiers. Joy Anderson was looking for an appropriate way to remember her daughter, Joy Louise, who passed away in 2020. She was a nurse in the Salisbury area and soldiered at the corps. The gift of the defibrillator, which was supplied by the British Heart Foundation, is a fitting way to honour Joy Louise’s memory. It has been installed outside the hall’s front entrance. Pictured is corps first-aider Peter Bayley-Bligh, who will provide training for corps folk to operate it. – MD
HOMELESSNESS
NEW DIRECTION LIFEHOUSE Staff members and volunteers offered drinks and refreshing showers to people experiencing homelessness during the recent heatwave. The team also helped a woman fleeing domestic violence and cooked a meal for a man who had an appointment with Braintree district council’s homelessness team. – AR
