For everyone linked to The Salvation Army
70p / 7 May 2022
SALVATIONIST A LEADER OF GOD’S PEOPLE
PERSPECTIVES ON PIONEERING PAGES 12 AND 13
QUOTES FROM THE MEDIA
RICH COUNTRIES THAT LET INEQUALITY RUN RAMPANT MAKE CITIZENS UNHAPPY, STUDY FINDS Countries that allow economic inequality to increase as they grow richer make their citizens less happy, a new study shows. Until now, researchers have believed that inequality was largely irrelevant to levels of life satisfaction, according to Dr David Bartram at the University of Leicester. But his study of 78 countries spanning four decades – the largest longitudinal research of its kind – punctures that myth, he said. ‘When inequality increases, people with high incomes don’t benefit much from their gains – many rich people are focused on those who have even more than they do, and they never feel they have enough,’ Bartram said. ‘But people who earn little really suffer from falling further behind – they feel excluded and frustrated by not being able to keep up even with people who receive average incomes’… This link between higher inequality and lower life satisfaction is repeated elsewhere, Bartram said… India’s life satisfaction declined from 6.7 in 1990 to 5.8 in 2006 as inequality rose. By 2012 it was still lower than in 1990, despite the country’s prolonged economic boom. The US and Australia also both saw pronounced falls in life satisfaction, but those countries where inequality had fallen were generally happier, such as Poland, Peru [and] Mexico. The Guardian
SALVATIONIST
CHURCH TRASHED BY ISIS HOLDS SERVICE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 8 YEARS Easter was extra special for one Christian community in Iraq … as it opened for services for the first time since being desecrated by Isis militants eight years ago. St Kyriakos’s Chaldean Catholic Church, Batnaya, was attacked by Isis in 2014. Militants decapitated statues, smashed the altar and used sacred images as target practice… After the defeat of Isis… the church and Chapel of the Immaculate Conception received €200,000 towards their restoration. Work is still ongoing but was temporarily paused during Holy Week to allow Easter services to be held – the first services to take place in the church since August 2014.
Rev Helen Cameron has been inducted as the moderator of the Free Churches Group and takes on the role of the CTE [Churches Together in England] president representing those national member churches. Rev Helen succeeded Rev Dr Hugh Osgood who held both those positions since 2014. The new moderator was inducted … at Wesley’s Chapel in London. In her address she said: ‘My deep desire is that we do more than coexist or tolerate each other, but that actually in a generous engagement with one another, we learn from each other and we see each other as gift and not threat.’ Rev Helen Cameron is a Methodist presbyter who currently serves as Chair of the Northampton District.
Christian Today
Churches Together in England
YOUNG CHOOSE NOT TO FIGHT THE OLD SCIENCE V RELIGION BATTLE, RESEARCH SUGGESTS Hostility towards religion in favour of science is declining, new research suggests. The youngest adult respondents to a new survey are more likely to value the place of religion in the modern world than older generations… The report is largely based on a fieldwork study of 5,153 UK adults conducted by YouGov… Sixteen years ago, at about the time of the publication of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, ComRes found that 42 per cent of UK adults polled agreed with the statement: ‘Faith is one of the world’s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.’ The new research tested the same proposition. The proportion now agreeing is 21 per cent… Generation Z were also in stronger disagreement with the statement ‘you can’t be a good scientist and be religious’ (67 per cent) than any other generation... A similar proportion of Generation Z … also agreed that ‘it is possible to believe in God and in evolution’. Church Times
salvationarmy.org.uk/salvationist Issue No 1857
CONTACT US 020 7367 4890 (main) / 020 7367 4901 (editor) salvationist@salvationarmy.org.uk
EDITOR Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts
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MANAGING EDITOR Ivan Radford EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Simon Hope, Melita Day-Lewis, George Tanton, 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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Salvationist 7 May 2022
NEW PRESIDENT FOR CTE
DISTRIBUTION AND SUBSCRIPTIONS Salvationist Publishing and Supplies (Periodicals), 66–78 Denington Road, Denington Industrial Estate, Wellingborough NN8 2QH 01933 445445 / subscriptions@satcol.org @SalvationistOnline
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The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399.
FOUNDER William Booth GENERAL Brian Peddle TERRITORIAL COMMANDER Commissioner Anthony Cotterill EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND PUBLISHING SECRETARY Major Mal Davies TERRITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN 0845 634 0101
A PIONEERING MOVEMENT IN June 1962 an officer couple set sail from Liverpool with their three-month-old baby on a 12-day voyage to Ghana. Their calling to international service had come soon after being commissioned in 1959, when they read a War Cry article about a proposed new clinic at Ba-Entumbil in the country’s Central Region. It said that a married couple would be required to serve there and they believed their previous experience fitted them for the appointment – she had nursing and midwifery training and he had been an RAF medic during his national service. So, living up to their session name of Pioneers, they offered, were interviewed and eventually received the appointment. This story doesn’t feature in any Army history books, but I know about it because those officers were my parents and the baby was me. That is just one example of pioneering, which has been at the heart of The Salvation Army from its earliest days. The Movement came into being because people broke new ground, tried fresh initiatives, took risks and trusted in God for the outcome. As Major Andrew Vertigan explains in this week’s Salvationist, pioneering ministries are still taking place across the territory. Having pioneered a new corps at Wetherby in 1993 with Major Andrea Vertigan, they now serve as the territory’s fresh expressions enablers, ‘developing and supporting pioneers, creating helpful resources and empowering others to engage with new communities for Christ’. This is an inspiring article, and the first in a monthly series in which we’ll be looking at examples of pioneering. The article refers to William Booth as ‘the Army’s most well-known pioneer’, so it’s appropriate that we also hear from him. In a message from 1908 the pioneering spirit of the 78-year-old General shines through as he writes about ‘buried forces’, urging us to do what we can for the Kingdom of God. ‘Might there not be some new plans for attracting the people to your building or getting at them in their own homes or in the streets and marketplace or in their pleasure haunts?’ he asks. General John Larsson featured many Army pioneers in his Salvationist articles over recent years. A few weeks before his promotion to Glory in March he sent in four more articles in his ‘Army snippets’ series. With the kind permission of Commissioner Freda Larsson these will be published over the next months. In this issue he looks back at some new developments he felt needed to take place in one of his early corps appointments. In the weeks leading up to Candidates Sunday (8 May) we’ve heard from various people about what the theme of Becoming means to them. This week Cadet Hannah Turnbull explains that for her it is ‘developing the life I’ve been given by God for him’ – and that has meant training to ‘become a leader of his people’. In his Bible study Major Mal Davies looks at Jesus’ calling of the early disciples and asks, ‘Has God called you to serve him in any way – at your corps, in your community, in ministry?’ Some of us may be called to be pioneers or to leave familiar surroundings to serve God elsewhere. But if not, we can pray for and support those who are. And we can look for new ways in which God can use us just where we are.
CONTENTS Quotes from the media
2
News
4 to 8
Prayer matters
8
Army snippets
9
from General John Larsson
A word from William Buried forces
10
Feature 11 Becoming... a leader of God’s people by Cadet Hannah Turnbull
Pioneering ministry By our very nature
12 and 13
Major Andrew Vertigan talks to Simon Hope
Viewpoint What is truth?
14 and 15
by the Rev Dr Gerald Paisey
Bible study Finding the angle
16 and 17
by Major Mal Davies
Through the week with Salvationist 16 and 17 by Major Lynda Levis
Feature Pastoring with pictures
18
by Captain Teresa Conway
Letters
19
Reflection Counting on the promises
20
by Lieut-Colonel Gilbert Ellis
Read with us 20 Called to Be a Soldier: Chapter 1 Adverts
21 and 23
Announcements
22 and 23
Quiz
24
by Garry Reed
From the editor Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts
SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (2011), unless otherwise stated
Salvationist 7 May 2022
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NEWS
ANNIVERSARY
PRESENTATION HOVE Divisional leaders Majors Mark and Linda Herbert led worship at the 140th corps anniversary celebrations. Four local officers received long-service awards: Roger Wolstencroft and Denise Scutt for 50 years’ service and Barry and Hazel Wolstencroft for 55 years’ service. A new flag was dedicated using funds given in memory of Ina Costan. The meeting was followed by a celebration meal. – LH
MEETING
KILMARNOCK Corps officer Captain Emma Heal presented a farewell card and bouquet of flowers to Karen Simpson, the community champion from Morrisons. Karen has provided items for the corps food bank during the Covid-19 pandemic and volunteered for the corps community outreach by helping to prepare soup and sandwiches for older and vulnerable people as well as making up Christmas parcels. She is leaving Morrisons to concentrate on the development of her own business. Her support for the Army and willingness to help will be missed. – EF
EMERGENCY AID
SALISBURY Children helped the fellowship capture something of the joy and excitement of Palm Sunday by making palm leaves and marching around the hall, while the congregation sang ‘Hosanna in the Highest’. Thanks were given for the community’s donation of £3,400 to help the Army’s work in Ukraine. The money was raised following an appeal in the city newspaper and on the radio. Most of the money was brought in person to the hall, where space was offered for prayer and reflection on the crisis. – MD
STORNOWAY The corps emergency response vehicle was called to help support the services tackling moor fires on the outskirts of the town. Firefighters, the coastguard service and other agencies were out for days fighting the spread of the fires, which engulfed the island with smoke. Corps members and new volunteers provided drinks and food. ‘It was a great opportunity to serve our community in practical ways,’ said corps officer Lieutenant Faith Thompson. – AR
MEETING
MEETING
Welwyn Garden City members wave palm branches they had made during worship on Palm Sunday 4
Salvationist 7 May 2022
YORK On Palm Sunday the corps held its first Messy Church since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 50 children and 80 adults from the community attended. The Easter story was shared, Easter eggs were given out and everyone was encouraged to ‘shine from the inside out’ through crafts, stories and songs. – KC
EVENT
WATERBEACH The corps hosted the Central East Division’s first Enabled event. The day started with a session of Godly Play, followed by Music Man, crafts and photography workshops. Tim Hall-Randle said: ‘I have spent so much of my life being told what I cannot do because people see the “dis” in my disability. Music Man was the first event I’ve been to where they saw the musical “ability” I have! To sing my first ever solo in front of lots of people was overwhelming but in a massively positive way!’ – CS
MEETING
SHOEBURYNESS Captains Lynley and Stephen Oliver (WBC) and cadets led Easter celebrations. As well as conducting meetings at the corps, they led services at nearby churches and Bradbury Home care home. They also helped with Muddy Church at Hadleigh Farm. – RD/CD
OUTREACH
MEETING
Corps officers Lieutenants Emily and Joel Watson lead the first Messy Church at Twickenham Corps, journeying through Holy Week with 20 children and 23 adults
OUTREACH
Aylesbury Fellowship Band play Easter tunes in the town during Holy Week
Merthyr Tydfil Fellowship Band share Easter tunes and Bible readings while giving out hot cross buns and Easter eggs
MEETING
Cwm corps folk celebrate Easter morning on the mountain overlooking the village Salvationist 7 May 2022
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NEWS
MEETING
Nearly 60 people from Hastings Temple and other churches gather for a sunrise service
EVENT
PRESENTATION Retiring Cradle Roll Sergeant Hilary Heath receives a certificate of appreciation from corps officer Major Tracey Mountford for her years of dedicated service at Chelmsford
OUTREACH
Abertillery churches join the corps for a Good Friday walk of witness 6
Salvationist 7 May 2022
CATERHAM An introductory Music Man workshop for the Enabled group took place at the Westway community café in the town. It was enjoyed by all who attended, with many people coming from outside The Salvation Army. A regular Music Man group hosted by the corps has been established as a result. – CS
MEETING
CLOWNE Families were thankful to be together at the first face-to-face Messy Church since the Covid-19 lockdowns. Fifty people attended, joining in Holy Week crafts that were designed to remind them of how Jesus went through everything ‘just for me’. The children started a seed germination experiment to take home and study how new beginnings grow into something. Colourful handprints on heart templates were placed on a cross to create a prayer art display. Puppet friends sang excitedly about the ‘Coming King’, before ‘Any Kind of Weather’ prompted quiet praise for God’s amazing love. – GH
MEETING
EVENT
DUNSTABLE Easter celebrations started on Maundy Thursday with a meal and meditation. Corps officer Major Steve Brevitt led an open-air meeting in the shopping centre on the morning of Good Friday, supported by the band and Dunstable Churches Together. Divisional Commander Major Mike Lloyd-Jones led the evening meeting with impactful illustrations challenging the congregation to look anew at the Easter story and their response to it. Easter Day saw more than 70 people attend a ‘Sonrise’ service on Dunstable Downs, and Divisional Leader for Leader Development Major Lisa Lloyd-Jones led the morning meeting. – SB
OUTREACH
Kilmarnock corps officer Captain Emma Heal joins the town’s Good Friday march of witness, culminating in a short service supported by the band
DONCASTER An Enabled event was held in partnership with the Yorkshire Enabled group. Attendees enjoyed drama, cake decorating, choral, craft, video production and Music Man workshops. The corps provided lunch before everyone gathered together to showcase their work. This was followed by a time of worship, during which the group sang ‘Sing Hosanna’ while marching around the hall playing percussion instruments. Everyone had a wonderful day. – CS
RUGBY Family and friends from across the country joined in the retirement celebrations for Major Anne Myers, who was commissioned in 1978. Divisional leaders Majors Mike and Lisa Lloyd-Jones led worship, sharing messages from Army folk at Anne’s past and present corps. She was presented with her certificate of retirement by Major Mike. The occasion was marked by fellowship and food, including a celebratory cake. – GJ
READING LOWER EARLEY Holy Week activities included an opportunity to spend time in reflection as music and readings were provided by the band and songsters. Corps members contemplated the different gifts of Easter at two Bible studies, and Thursday evening involved a three-course communal meal sat around a cross. On Good Friday, the corps reflected on what it meant to be before the cross. Easter Sunday morning saw a capacity congregation celebrate the good news that Christ is risen. Families from the community later joined in a fun-packed Easter egg hunt in the garden. – RC
MEETING
PRESENTATION After 73 years as Yeovil Corps pianist, Derek Lush receives a certificate of appreciation and retirement from corps officer Major Neil Davies
BURGESS HILL At the farewell and retirement meeting for Major Angela White, greetings and congratulations were shared with the congregation. They referred to Major Angela’s ‘lifetime of dedicated and unstinted service and her unerring love for people’. A cake was cut and enjoyed, decorated with the message: ‘Angela, it’s time to rest, relax and revitalise.’ – DH Salvationist 7 May 2022
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OUTREACH CANDIDATES FOCUS by Major Christine Kingscott (Assistant Secretary for Spiritual Life Development)
Art exhibition says ‘forgive someone today’ ROMFORD AN Easter art exhibition provided the corps with an opportunity to reach out in a bustling shopping centre. Exhibits were prepared by corps members, groups connected to the corps and the wider community, who were asked to consider the themes of Betrayal and Forgiveness. Easter Art for Everyone also included space for people to get involved and express themselves on a graffiti wall, create their own small canvases and offer thoughts and prayers on a prayer wall for Ukraine. The week-long exhibition was supported by Havering Interfaith Forum and Churches Together. It was attended by more than 200 people, who were welcomed by volunteers from all faiths and none. – RG
COMMUNITY
SUNDAY 8 MAY ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last’ ( John 15:16). Today is Candidates Sunday. I ask you to spend a few moments considering God’s calling and what that means for you personally. The Salvation Army needs passionate, Spirit-filled people to become local leaders. Could God be calling you to full-time ministry as an officer or territorial envoy within The Salvation Army or to serve him locally? If you would like to speak to someone about God’s call, contact your corps officer, DHQ or the Candidates Unit.
ST PATRICK’S PRAYER by Major Jo Justice (Divisional Mission Enabler, East of England) MONDAY 9 MAY During the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic I set myself the challenge of learning St Patrick’s prayer. Repeating it as I walked helped me to be present to God in a new way. Let’s begin this week clothing ourselves with the Creator: ‘I bind unto myself today/ The strong name of the Trinity/ By invocation of the same, / The Three in One and One in Three.’ TUESDAY 10 MAY ‘Christ be with me, Christ within me.’ Could it be that God also clothes himself in us, so that we may be ‘with’ others in the same way he is ‘with’ us? Who will I be shoulder to shoulder with today? Who can I give my full attention? Pray for opportunities to be alongside in the same way that Jesus is with us. WEDNESDAY 11 MAY ‘Christ behind me, Christ before me.’ In his book Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, Pope Francis speaks of the fundamental changes we need to make to society to address poverty and the wellbeing of all. Ask what Kingdom dreams God wants us to dream. THURSDAY 12 MAY ‘Christ beside me, Christ to win me,/ Christ to comfort and restore me.’ Biblical restoration is more than a patch-up job. It’s about the wholeness of individuals, healing for relationships, even the renewal of all creation. Restoration is also about justice and inclusion for the marginalised. Pray for the Church’s work with those who don’t feel they are part of the whole.
MOLD Reminded of the Army’s motto, ‘Love God, Love Others’, corps folk split into groups and spent a day spreading spring cheer around the town, picking up litter and planting flowers in residential planters. They also visited members of the community in their houses and held a prayer walk along the high street. They then regrouped to share how God had spoken to them during the activities. – MH 8
Salvationist 7 May 2022
FRIDAY 13 MAY ‘Christ beneath me, Christ above me,/ Christ in quiet, Christ in danger.’ Psalm 139 reminds us there is no place and no situation where God is unable to show the way. Pray for those who feel afraid or in chaos today, that they will be quieted and reassured by God’s abiding presence. SATURDAY 14 MAY ‘Christ in hearts of all that love me,/ Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.’ Called to clothe ourselves in Christ, but also to see him in the face of others, especially the despised and rejected, pray that we will recognise Jesus in others; and remember we are not the answer to their prayers – they are the answer to ours. O A PDF of the Prayer Matters booklet is also available to download from salvationarmy.org.uk/resources Salvationist Salvationist Salvationist 29 26 5January March 2022
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Army s t e p p i sn
1878 1890 90
A onishing As teen Ast Thiir teen Thir Th That Shaped eaa s T Year Y Ye Yea hee Salvation h Th T A Army
g,, ing ing b nin bu g, bur in g nin Burni g,, ng ways burni lw alw y sta it, ir pir S Sp ly Hooly with me; wi l my your wil To y , is turning will is wi l I u wil hat you hat Wh . b be.. o t t nt an wa w
... from General John Larsson*
THE DAY THE MAYOR CAME IN M May 1966, when whe I was a ssingle captain, cap Iw was appointed ap to Hillingdon Corps in C the t then West W ll a of the h London pening o e th t ngdon a Division. Shortly afterwards a r of Hilli o y a m The we held the official opening of a new hall ha on Uxbridge the U b id Road R d att which hi h Councillor C ill T Cluny, Cl th mayor of the London borough of Hillingdon, was the special guest. Some weeks before the event the mayor’s secretary had phoned to say that the mayor would like me to write his speech for the occasion. When I began drafting what I thought might be suitable words, I included some modest words of appreciation for the Army’s work. When the mayor unfolded his script at the event I could see that it was the very paper I had typed. And when he reached the paragraph of appreciation for the Army’s work he read it out with all appropriate feeling. But, having read my words, he put the paper down and started ad-libbing. In words far more effusive than I had dared to give him, he thanked the Army for its magnificent work. ‘I sometimes wonder,’ his speech climaxed, ‘how we would ever cope with our work for the needy in the London borough of
Hillingdon without the help of The Salvation Army.’ He e then continued with the prepared script. Those ad-libbed words of his were to haunt me, for I knew that they were not true of our corps. Hillingdon had everything – except for any expression of community service. In those days community service by corps was far less developed than it is today, so the absence of community service at Hillingdon was not unusual. But in the light of the mayor’s comments, I saw with fresh eyes that the impact of the corps on the community around it was virtually nil. The mayor had thanked us for the Army’s well-deserved national reputation to care for the poor, feed the hungry and comfort the lonely. But we weren’t doing that on a local level. It weighed on me, so I gathered Hillingdon’s soldiers and shared my unease with them. Putting it dramatically, I reminded them of the mayor’s comments and then said: ‘The truth is that if, by some misfortune, Hillingdon Corps were to disappear off the face of the Earth overnight, only we Salvationists would notice.’ We determined together that we must become more outward looking, and I am pleased to say that it began to happen and has continued ever since. It was only later that General John Gowans gave us his famous trilogy: ‘The Army exists to save souls, grow saints and serve suffering humanity.’ Having watched him at work as a corps officer, I know he held that to be true not only for the Army as a whole but also for corps individually. He would have been the first to say: ‘Army corps exist to save souls, grow saints and serve suffering humanity.’
OFFICER RANKS GO FULL CIRCLE OFFICER ranks in the early Army began simply: lieutenant, captain, major, colonel, commissioner, General. Then over the years followed a long process of additions and deletions. A watershed year in this process was 1948. By that time a number of ranks had at some point been added, with some lasting only a few years. These were: probationarylieutenant, ensign, staff-captain, commandant, adjutant, field-major, brigadier, lieut-colonel, lieut-commissioner. Of the above additions, the only four that were still retained in 1948 were probationary-lieutenant, brigadier,
lieut-colonel and lieut-commissioner. But a number of new ranks were added: second-lieutenant, first-lieutenant, senior-captain, senior-major. These new ranks lasted only 11 years and were discontinued in 1959. Promotions to the ranks of probationary-lieutenant, brigadier and lieut-commissioner were ended in 1973. The rank of cadet-lieutenant was later introduced and discontinued in 2008. So, except for the addition of lieut-colonel in 1896, the ranks today are the same as in those earliest times. The Army has gone full circle and is back to the simplicity of where it began.
*Published with the kind permission of Commissioner Freda Larsson following the General’s promotion to Glory Salvationist Salvationist Day Month 7 May 2020 2022
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A WORD FROM WILLIAM
Buried forces
Continuing a monthly series of messages that William Booth sent to corps to be read in Sunday meetings 2
F E B R U A R Y
H
1 9 0 8
OW often we complain of the little progress salvation seems to make in the world. We see pleasure, wealth, trade and science growing and expanding at a rapid rate, while the Kingdom of our God makes such little headway. Is it any wonder? Just compare the vast energy, time, wealth and other forces that are expended upon earthly enterprises with the trifling powers that are called into play for the heavenly undertakings. I wonder what the experience is in your corps. Are all the forces possessed by officers, local officers, soldiers, juniors and the people who come and go from your hall properly used on behalf of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and the salvation of men and women? I have no doubt that you will sometimes say that if you only had more money or a different hall, or perhaps better soldiers or different officers, how much better you could do. But hold hard a moment and let me ask whether you are using the forces you have already. To begin with, is the thinking force among you as much in active service as it might be? Is there not a certain amount of brain power lying unemployed? Might there not be some new plans for attracting the people to your building or getting at them in their own homes or in the streets and marketplace or in their pleasure haunts? Might not something fresh be done to stir up your soldiers to greater activity, to draw the Holy Ghost down from 10
Salvationist 7 May 2022
Heaven and get your own hearts set on fire with divine love? Or might there not be greater contrivance for making your meetings more interesting and spiritual, so making them more effective? Let me also ask, is there not a large amount of buried talent in your corps? Supposing there are only 20 or 30 of you, I have no doubt there are some slumbering gifts that have not yet been brought to the front. I have no doubt there is some soldier with a useful gift of song, who has never sung a solo in the hall or street. There is probably someone who can pray with unction and power, who has never poured forth his soul in a regular congregation. It is not unlikely that there is someone in your ranks who could testify or talk with power and influence, whose mouth has not been opened. Find out these people with the buried gifts and let us have those gifts brought up to serve their God and save the people. Is there not a large amount of buried affection among you? You all have hearts that can love. Stir them up to the exercise of this affection. Perhaps there are graves among us, in which somebody’s first love has long been buried. Don’t you remember those days when some of you could hardly sleep at night or work by day for the burning love in your hearts for Jesus and your comrades and the dying men and women in your own neighbourhood? Oh, go in for a resurrection! Fetch out the precious
affection from its hiding place. It is just the thing the corps requires. Then, is there not a little money buried somewhere in your corps, which, if we could only dig it out and set it moving, would be very useful to Jesus in the dark places of the Earth or in your own neighbourhood or right in the corps itself? I do not know where the burial place is or the amount that lies interred there. But whatever it be, if it belongs to God and ought to be used for his glory and the salvation of the world, fetch it out. I am afraid that a good many Salvationists go about whining and begging for money for the Army which they could readily produce themselves if they had a mind to do so! If this is the case with any soldier or friend of the corps, I hope they will bring out their hidden treasures and lay them at the Master’s feet. Once more, let me ask whether there is not a large amount of energy buried in your corps. This is a valuable quality, of which I thank God The Salvation Army is not destitute, but she needs a great deal more. What is the experience of your corps in this respect? Are you all at work with all your might? Oh, what a contrast there is between the energy displayed by many Salvationists in the way they go about their own business and the way they go about the Lord’s. They slumber. They go to the meetings and sing and pray and testify, half asleep. Is your corps like that? I hope not. But if so, it is high time to awake out of sleep.
FEATURE I Candidates Sunday
Becoming… a leader of
God’s people
In the weeks before Candidates Sunday (8 May), Salvationist asks people what the theme Becoming means to them
Cadet Hannah Turnbull
I
AM a first-year cadet training to become a Salvation Army officer at William Booth College along with my husband, Stuart. I am a mother to two wonderful children, who are abundant in energy and love, and we have made WBC our home. Those who have known me since I was a child may have expected that I would become a cadet in the same way they expected I would become an adult, a wife and a mother. By this I mean officership has always been part of my life conversation along with growing older and growing a family. However, this hasn’t always been what I thought I’d become. I wanted to become the Blue Peter vet, taking care of animals on the programme – a niche career prospect, but I thought that was the best job in the world. At the age of 18 I went to the Army’s territorial congress with members of my corps. It was at this gathering that my life changed. During the response time in one of the meetings I audibly heard God tell me that one day he would enable me to become a Salvation Army officer. I was terrified! I sat in my chair and watched as other people physically responded to the call to the mercy seat – and I was adamant that I wasn’t going to be joining them. I may not have responded immediately to God’s call on my life but I remained open to listening to him and taking opportunities to explore my calling. At summer school the following year I was introduced to Essential, a gap-year programme run by Alove – an expression of The Salvation Army for young people and young adults. Wanting to follow God’s leading, I applied. For the next couple of years I lived and worked in two communities in
the north of England. I had so many opportunities to learn from beautiful Christian people what it means to be a leader in The Salvation Army and, again, God called me to officership. I wasn’t ready to become an officer then but Philippians 1:6 remained a constant comfort: ‘I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design’ (The Voice). I held on to this verse as a promise that it was OK for me to keep travelling with God because he wouldn’t give up on me. My life hasn’t always been joyful and exciting. I have faced many years with poor mental health, which challenged my relationship with God. I felt lost in who I was and who I had become as a person. I wasn’t the person I thought I would become, and this made me feel like I had failed as a child of God. After a period of thinking I wasn’t good enough, that I was a failure, I was reintroduced to that verse from Philippians. Considering the end of it helped me to rebuild my relationship with God: ‘I am confident that the Creator … will keep perfecting you until the day Jesus the Anointed, our liberating King, returns to redeem the world’ (The Voice).
That letter to the church at Philippi became a power source for my faith. Paul writes with enthusiasm, giving instruction on how the Christians there should deepen their spiritual lives. He tells them to ‘rejoice in the Lord always’ (4:4). ‘Always’ means in the good times and the bad! He reminds them not to be ‘anxious about anything’ (4:6) and testifies that he can do all things through Christ ‘who gives me strength’ (4:13). Reflecting on my life has challenged me to consider what ‘becoming’ means to me. As a child I wanted to become a TV vet. I thought it was about reaching a goal that I set myself. Now I think it goes much deeper than that. It’s not about what I want but about developing the life I’ve been given by God for him. God has carried me through trials because he wants me to become a leader of his people as a Salvation Army officer. God has enabled me to feel pain as a process to becoming who I am today as a cadet. At WBC I have time and space to develop the skills I need to become an officer that I wouldn’t have had in my previous circumstances. What is God asking you to become? He wants to talk to you about it – all you need to do is be open to listening. Salvationist 7 May 2022
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FEATURE I Pioneering ministry
By our very nature In the first of a new series, Major Andrew Vertigan unpacks what pioneering really means with Simon Hope
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HERE is no improving the future without disturbing the present.’ Statements such as this by Catherine Booth have a habit of making us uncomfortable. Of course, we want a better future, but do we really want to upset the status quo? In many ways, the idea of pioneering ministry can cause similar concerns. What if we lose our history or what it means to be The Salvation Army? When we unpack these fears, however, we may begin to see that pioneering is what it means to be The Salvation Army – or, more importantly, what it means to be agents of the Kingdom. Majors Andrea and Andrew Vertigan are well acquainted with reimagining church to meet local needs. They started their pioneering journey by planting Wetherby Corps in 1993. For the past five years they have served as the territory’s fresh expressions enablers, developing and supporting pioneers, creating helpful resources and empowering others to engage with new communities for Christ. So, what is a pioneer? The short answer: someone who breaks new ground in new places in new ways.
Faversham Fresh Expression
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Andrew expands on this: ‘Pioneers encourage people on the edge of church to explore possibilities and, in doing so, engage with an unchurched people and community. They tend to be innovative, creative thinkers who don’t really fit our stereotypical leadership models. By their very nature they are resilient, resolute and determined.’ One difficulty that sometimes comes in understanding and explaining the place of pioneer leaders is that they are often wrongly compared to corps officers. Many pioneers function fruitfully without any centralised building whatsoever and they are generally encouraged to live
PIONEERING POINTS TO PONDER O It
is the role of all believers to be totally immersed within our community contexts just where we are. What does incarnational mission look like to you? O The media suggests that people’s interest in Jesus and his Church has little or no bearing on the majority of people’s lives in the West. What has been your experience of this?
out incarnational ministry by thinking beyond the walls of ‘church’. Moreover, they will often set aside a strict programme of activities in favour of a people-centred approach, immersing themselves in their community. A pioneer’s regular ministry could evolve in a coffee shop, a pub, a sports club or even purely online. Although some people are called to become pioneers, everyone connected to The Salvation Army is arguably called to pioneering. Many corps will see similarities in the ways they engage in their communities. This is because, from its earliest days, the Army has been a pioneering movement of people seeking to win the whole world for Jesus. When tracing the history of pioneering, there are several years of note. The first is 2015, when the then territorial
Pioneering conference
Shield – A Pioneering Movement (A poem extract)
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Luke 4:18 New Revised Standard Version) commander, Commissioner Clive Adams, made a commitment to reexplore what church planting and pioneering looked like. This renewal led to Salvation Army pioneering as we see it today. But this latest reignition could only happen because of groundwork laid down in 1993. Following several decades when few new churches were planted, an ecumenical pioneering model called the Dawn Movement challenged every denomination to pioneer new expressions. This decade of evangelism saw the Army break ground in approximately 50 new areas. However, to find the root of the Army’s drive to pioneer church in the margins we have to go back to 1865 and the Army’s most well-known pioneer: William Booth. The very nature of The Salvation Army is that of a pioneering movement, which all began when Booth empowered people to start the work by breaking new ground in new places in new ways. ‘So, when did it start?’ Andrew asks. ‘In 2015, 1993 or 1865? Pioneering is not a fad, and it’s not a new idea. It’s rooted in who we are. We are a
William Booth pioneering movement in our DNA. ‘I would argue that it probably goes even further back than William Booth. Hebrews 12 says that Jesus is “the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v2). The language of pioneering is not new; it is deeply rooted in the journey of faith!’ The excellent online resource pioneerbitesize.com presents a compelling description of The Salvation Army’s relationship with pioneering ministry. While it has its roots in the origins of the Army, in many ways
FIND OUT MORE
@SAPioneering
Visit pioneerbitesize.com Listen to the podcast at sapioneering.captivate.fm
@PioneeringSa @pioneeringsa
From one dream of faith a mustard seed was placed and grew in each woman and man. And the call 150 years later still stands. A movement of passionate believers and daring dreamers. The priesthood of all believers, where all are included and called… Our history call was: ‘Whosoever will may come. And who comes to him shall never disappointed turn away.’ And this is still our call today. The pioneering movement, compelled to love, bringing to Earth, Heaven above.
pioneering looks different in the 21st century. That’s because, by its very nature, it is constantly evolving. Unfortunately, this can lead to the impression that these new expressions are undermining the history of the Army. In fact, they are building on it. Rather than being ‘anti-Salvation Army’, pioneers are better described as ‘loyal radicals’, who are passionate about the organisation and translating it in an alternative way. ‘What society and the world need today is maybe vastly different from what the Army has been in past decades,’ Andrew points out. ‘How do we communicate faith to a world that often doesn’t see a need for the Church? ‘One of the things that we are learning is that mission is more deeply relational than we have ever realised! As pioneers, we want to journey with people in our communities and see what comes out of the relational stuff.’
SIMON IS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT, SALVATIONIST Next time Ryan Wileman introduces Westfield Fresh Expression
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VIEW POINT
What is truth? The Rev Dr Gerald Paisey suggests that we challenge a world in which words are used to mislead
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HE few years of Jesus’ ministry present us with pictures of him extracting some understanding of his teaching from those with whom he met and conversed. For example, after telling the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus asked an expert in the law: ‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ (Luke 10:36). At his trial, in his discussion with Pontius Pilate over the false claims against him, Jesus explained: ‘Everyone on the side of truth listens to me’ (John 18:37). To which Pilate replied: ‘What is truth?’ Both these incidents show how Jesus appealed to what might be described as the divine spark within people – to what they instinctively knew to be right or true. In each case a choice had to be made and, as always, that choice had consequences. Human beings are egocentric, but we can choose that which benefits us as individuals or consider others who may be affected by our actions or responses. As the moral story of Adam and Eve makes clear, we all have to accept responsibility for the choices we make. This is an essential aspect of being human.
secure business or advance a career. The business sections of national newspapers over the past few years provide ample evidence of mis-selling, bogus claims, fraud and much more. The building industry has been much in the news over some firms using faulty or dangerous materials, which has led to loss of lives and homes. The key point here is that the alternative meanings given to everyday words can change the ethical character of people’s actions. ‘Mis-selling’ is not stealing or fraud, but just another acceptable way of doing business – along with misleading statements about goods on sale, as in the case of someone who bought a box of strawberries marked ‘half price’, only to find that it was also half the quantity of a normal, larger box. While some people have been less than honest in the past by misinterpreting statistics or prospering from their false promises, today we see the rapid development of some world leaders and their followers further undermining the ethical values of societies across the world by changing the meaning of valuewords. This means that the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad is merely a different way of describing personal or collective actions
When we read relevant parts of the Bible we can find parallels with many situations and problems not only in our personal lives but also within the wider community and the world at large Most parents teach their children to be honest, truthful, kind, helpful and as caring of other people as possible. But even if this is not always evident in some children when starting school, most teachers – especially of the very young – would seek to foster these values as children develop socially, morally and personally. Indeed, some schools go further by expecting pupils as they grow older to show some responsibility towards younger pupils in order to develop the school as a social community. However, on leaving school, many young people may well find themselves in a changed world. Targets set could require corners to be cut or incomplete or inaccurate information to be given to
or decisions. These have just become alternative narratives. So what now of traditional ethical values? When we read relevant parts of the Bible we can find parallels with many situations and problems, not only in our personal lives but also within the wider community and the world at large. Other writings also suggest parallels. Those familiar with George Orwell’s 1984 may recognise a society based on ‘newspeak’, a fictional language in which the meanings of words have changed so that ‘war’ is ‘peace’, ‘freedom’ is ‘slavery’ and ‘ignorance’ is ‘strength’. Along with this comes ‘doublethink’, which Orwell describes as: ‘To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while
telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it.’ Alternative truths, alternative narratives, fake news and newspeak can all be present in what we hear and see in the public domain. In the past the churches have not always had clean hands in this respect either. Some years ago Richard Hoggart, in his book The Uses of Literacy, looked at the influence of mass media in the United Kingdom. He pointed out how all news coverage through the media is edited but that uncensored news helps to ensure that truth prevails in a democracy. We live in a world of languages in which we express our thoughts, feelings and everyday experiences. Words have meanings and those that express our ethical ideas are important, as parents and teachers know. Today, however, influential people are changing the meanings of words, thereby creating confusion and uncertainty. Surely churches and schools should have something to say about the possible consequences of this linguistic confusion. The third letter of John addressed to Gaius says: ‘Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone – and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true’ (vv11 and 12). By our Christian example and influence, we need to show that there is no place for doublethink or newspeak, but that our testimony is true. This may well appeal to what people instinctively know to be right and cause them to consider what the truth really is.
THE REV PAISEY IS A RETIRED MINISTER OF THE SCOTTISH EPISCOPAL CHURCH LIVING IN UPHALL, WEST LOTHIAN Salvationist 7 May 2022
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BIBLE STUDY
Finding the angle Major Mal Davies explores what it means to fish for people
MARK 1:14–20
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O you recall those schooldays when the selection of sporting teams was – depending on your sporting prowess – either a joy or a misery? Two captains would be chosen, or just declare themselves to be captains, and everyone else would line up for the ritual selection of teams. Many of us stood there thinking ‘pick me, pick me’ as we dreaded being the last one selected. QUESTIONS O How does it feel when there is a pleasant task or a responsible job to be done and you are picked to do it? O How does it feel when you are not picked? O What do you think being regularly picked last might do to a person’s morale and sense of self-worth?
Through the week with Salvationist – a devotional thought for each day by Major Lynda Levis
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In each of the Gospels, we read of Jesus selecting his disciples, a process they would have associated more with a rabbi or teacher than a carpenter. In Mark 1, we read that Jesus was at the Sea of Galilee when he asked two fishermen, Simon (later known as Peter) and his brother Andrew, to ‘follow’ him. Which they did. A bit farther along the shoreline, Jesus made a similar request to James and John, sons of Zebedee, and they also complied. Note that between his baptism by John and his calling of the fishermen, Jesus not only did his 40 days in the wilderness (see Mark 1:12) but also moved around considerably, including: attending a wedding in Cana (see John 2), meeting Nicodemus in Jerusalem (see John 3), ministering in Judea (see John 3:22), meeting with a woman at a well in Samaria (see John 4), and healing an
official’s son in Galilee (see John 4:46). While Simon and Andrew had met Jesus just after his baptism – Andrew had been a follower of John the Baptist (see John 1:35–42) – they were not called to be Jesus’ disciples until some time later, when he came across them again on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. To leave their livelihood behind must have been challenging for the first disciples Jesus called. After all, no one really knew what Jesus could or would do. Salvationists still respond to God’s calling on their lives, some leaving their jobs and homes to become officers. QUESTIONS O Has God called you to serve him in any way – at your corps, in your community, in ministry? How did you know it was God? How did you respond?
SUNDAY
MONDAY
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Those first disciples of the Lord/ Received the promise of his word/ And in their lives such power did dwell/ To speed the message they should tell/ To all mankind, that Jesus lives,/ And grace to each believer gives;/ May that same grace inspire today/ To live for Christ, the life and way. (SASB 680)
He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’ (Mark 16:15)
There are people hurting in the world out there./ They need you, they need me, they need Christ./ There are children crying and no one to care./ They need you, they need me, they need Christ./ And they’ll go on hurting in the world out there,/ And they’ll go on dying, drowning in despair,/ And they’ll go on crying, that’s unless we care!/ They need you, they need me, they need Christ. (SASB 935)
In Mark 1:17 Jesus says just two phrases to Simon and Andrew: ‘Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.’ While ‘I will make you fishers of men’ is how many older translations have worded it, newer translations have opted for the more inclusive ‘people’. Let’s look at each phrase. What does it mean to ‘follow’ someone? Surely, Jesus didn’t mean: ‘What a lovely day for a stroll along the seashore; come and walk behind me.’ Jesus referred to following him many times: he encouraged the rich young ruler to ‘sell everything … then come, follow me’ (Luke 18:22); he challenged the crowd to ‘take up their cross and follow’ him (Mark 8:34); and he announced that ‘whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12).
QUESTIONS O How do you ‘follow’ Jesus? What does that word mean for you in this context? O If I attend church regularly, wear Salvation Army uniform and pay my tithe, am I automatically a follower of Jesus, or is there something more I need to do? How do we ‘fish’ for people? What did Jesus mean when he said this? In Matthew 28:19 he says we are to ‘make disciples of all nations’. Acts 1:8 says we are to be Jesus’ witnesses ‘to the ends of the Earth’. And Romans 10:14 says: ‘How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’ So we ‘fish’ for people and hope to ‘catch’ them for Christ. In many of Jesus’ parables, he used topical language and images – shepherds, sowers, vineyards,
banquets – to help people understand what God required of them. So when speaking to fishermen, it made sense for him to talk about fishing for people. Those fishing for fish will try different baits and lures and strategies to catch specific fish in specific fishing spots. QUESTIONS O How is your ‘fishing’ going? O What sort of plans do you have in place to catch someone for Christ? O Is your plan working or does it need changing?
MAJOR DAVIES IS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR COMMUNICATIONS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND PUBLISHING SECRETARY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the Earth. (Exodus 9:16)
Go forth and tell! God’s love embraces all;/ He will in grace respond to all who call:/ How shall they call if they have never heard/ The gracious invitation of his word? (SASB 922)
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ … Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ( John 1:43–45)
Will you come and follow me/ If I but call your name?/ Will you go where you don’t know/ And never be the same?/ Will you let my love be shown,/ Will you let my name be known,/ Will you let my life be grown/ In you and you in me? (SASB 695)
Prayer Lord, you came so that we may enjoy life in all its fullness. May we not be content to keep that joy to ourselves, but consciously desire to spread it to all whom you prepare for us to meet.
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FEATURE I My dissertation explained
Pastoring with pictures Salvationist resumes a monthly series in which SISTAD* students tell us about their degree dissertations. Captain Teresa Conway’s dissertation for her BA (Honours) Pastoral Care with Psychology was called ‘A critical examination of pictorial art as a tool in pastoral practice’
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T has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words – but can pictorial art help in a pastoral context? That was the question I wanted to explore in my dissertation. I love art. I like to look at it and I love to make it. For me it is the essence of who God is. He is the ultimate artist and we are his apprentices. One of my favourite paintings is The Kiss by Gustav Klimt. It has rich colours with gold leaf embossed into it and it speaks to me of the all-encompassing love that God has for each one of us. Most of us have some kind of art adorning our walls, with pictures of significance in prominent places around our homes. I became curious about what such pictures mean to individuals. Why do people give art places of honour and how could that help in pastoring a congregation? Art has been used for centuries to tell stories within the Christian Church. Icons have been used to depict deep spiritual truths. Andrei Rublev’s icon The Trinity, for example, is famous for its representation of the Godhead. The Salvation Army use the symbols of the cross, the sword and the flame to represent the deeper truths of the Movement. As a Salvation Army officer I am passionate about getting to know people and helping them journey with Jesus. When I’m visiting people it can take a long time to get into a conversation about spiritual things and usually it’s just as I am going to leave that a spiritual conversation starts to develop. So how could a pastorally spiritual conversation start earlier? Psychologists and psychiatrists such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung saw images as gateways that enabled a patient to explore their subconscious mind. Jung used dream analysis in order to help people unpack their deepest troubles. Hermann Rorschach used people’s perception of inkblots to help them explore their subconscious, enabling them to unpick their motivations and troubles. The Bible is full of imagery, and Jesus used imagery to paint pictures in people’s minds that would speak to deep spiritual truths. In my research I chose a few people inside and outside of our congregation to explore if pictorial art could be used as a tool in pastoral ministry. Each person was asked to choose a 18
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Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ piece of pictorial art they had in their home that they liked or cherished. A set of questions was asked of them during an interview and their answers recorded. The tradition of pastoral visiting within the Army suggests that the corps officer or leader should be prepared to pray and read verses of Scripture or a song from the Salvation Army songbook. This is good practice. However, it leaves the conversation to be guided and steered by the pastoral carer and not by the person being visited. My research discovered that people are able to lead and guide their own conversation when talking about something that is meaningful within their own environment. Every person who was interviewed related their chosen piece of art to a relative who had passed away or a person missing from their life. When talking about their picture it allowed them to have control of the conversation and to be vulnerable about sensitive topics that might not have been discussed in everyday conversations. Sometimes it is difficult to know how to care for a person who is finding it difficult to articulate their spiritual and psychological needs or hurts. The research found that art could accelerate and initiate a more in-depth conversation between the pastoral carer and the person. By using pictorial art from the person’s own home, a way was opened for deeper conversations – they used the focal point of the artwork to unpack hidden truths about themselves and their relationship with God. My conclusion was that art can be used to bring about a valuable organic conversation that otherwise may not have taken place.
CAPTAIN CONWAY IS CORPS OFFICER, STROUD *SISTAD is the territory’s School for In-Service Training and Development, which provides courses for officers and employees, plus open learning courses for everyone; visit salvationarmy.org.uk/ sistad for details
LETTERS
A CHRISTIAN ORGANISATION I WAS at a free coffee bar run by a small local church, which they do to reach out to the community and share Christ in a practical way. A fellow who is a Christian there said something that infuriated me: that The Salvation Army is no longer a Christian organisation. If other believers are saying things like that, we need to ask ourselves: are we all saved by the grace of God or not? And are we doing a great deal to share Christ with others? I share Christ in a practical way so that people can see his Holy Spirit in me. Let us go on trusting in the Lord and showing others that we are still very much a Christian organisation. Gwyn Morgan Penarth
VALUING CLARITY
MY corps officer has been with us for more than six months and her presence is much appreciated. It is a pleasure to see her smiling face and hear her cheery greeting. Nothing is too much trouble and her patience seems neverending. She turns her hand to anything that needs doing, from cooking the lunch club meals to painting the toilets. She works long hours and must get tired but never allows it to show. She is equally patient with the older people and the children and goes out of her way to provide translation for anyone whose first language is not English. We had a group of people attend who spoke Spanish and she translated the songs and prayers for them. They were invited to one of our socials and enjoyed it very much. She is an all-round asset and we are privileged to have her. Mary Wicks Reading
WITH reference to the ‘Valuing people’ framework in Salvationist (9 April), although much thought, discussion and prayer has gone into developing these recent statements, perhaps there has not been as much thought given to their presentation. I feel that phrases such as ‘integration and alignment as opposed to silo working’ and ‘moving away from instrumentalism and managerialism towards coaching, contributing to naming, analysing and challenging oppression’ might need further clarification for people unfamiliar with ‘management speak’. Thankfully, ‘Love God, Love Others’ is much easier to understand! Mary Tyler Knottingley
ARE WE INCLUDING EVERYONE?
BEING INCLUSIVE
ADRIAN Lyons’ ‘Viewpoint’ article in Salvationist (12 March) is very timely. The government is working on the basis that Covid-19 no longer poses a major risk, which is no comfort for the significant number of people who are classed as highly vulnerable. I am 79 and have pulmonary fibrosis. Treatment for this includes medication to suppress my immune system, which increases my vulnerability. My consultant recently advised me that I should continue to be extremely careful and as a consequence I am unable to attend meetings. This has also made me more aware of the many people who for other reasons are unable to attend meetings, or those who feel unaccepted, and become cut off. In this we fail to put into practice our claim to be an inclusive church. What are we doing to share worship and ministry with them? Bob George Tiverton
I HAVE been reading the Salvation Army values published in Salvationist (9 April). While I agree wholeheartedly, I was disappointed in some of the wording used. For example, under the heading of respect you state: ‘We will welcome each person with the dignity of those created in the image of God, valuing their diversity.’ Yet the values are written in a way only the educated can understand. I am a qualified nurse and registered midwife, as well as CSM running the corps at Whitehaven, where we are currently unofficered. I am myself educated to a certain level and I struggled with the language used. I would also like to say that the prices at SP&S do not promote diversity. Some items are expensive, which means people on lower incomes are excluded. I’m sorry if this all seems negative but I really feel we should be making things accessible for all, not just those who are educated and can afford it. Dawn Quirk Whitehaven
PATIENT AND WELCOMING
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CTI REFLECTION REFL RE EFL FLEC LEC TIO ON N
READ WITH US
Counting on the promises Lieut-Colonel Gilbert Ellis considers the wonder of God’s promises
Called to Be a Soldier CHAPTER 1 International Headquarters invites us to share in a worldwide reading and reflection plan, focusing on one chapter of Called to Be a Soldier each week
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EFERENCES connecting stars and sand occur three times in the Bible. The first is found in Genesis 22:17: ‘I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore’ (New English Translation). It is God’s promise to Abraham that he will be blessed and will have so many descendants that it will be impossible to count them all. When I was much younger I used to wonder why stars and sand were mentioned together. I knew from visits to the seaside that the grains of sand on just one beach, let alone the whole world, were impossible to count. But why mention stars? There are a lot of stars but, in my young mind, there were nowhere near as many. One rough calculation estimates that the Earth has 7.5 quintillion grains of sand – that’s 7,500 plus another 15 noughts after it. When it comes to the stars, however, we have a problem. There are only about 5,000 stars that can be seen by the naked eye, and each one of us can only see half of them at any one time – the other half are always hidden by the world we stand on! Stars are found in clusters called galaxies. The galaxy of which we are a part, the Milky Way, contains about 100 billion stars – and there are an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Modern science informs us that God’s promise to Abraham was far greater than Abraham could ever have imagined. He could not possibly have known how many stars there are, yet in faith he accepted the credibility of that promise. We have also received a divine promise. Jesus said: ‘My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am’ (John 14:2 and 3). Like Abraham, we cannot fully comprehend all that God has done and will do, but one thing remains certain: we can trust God for the future. That’s a promise to count on.
LIEUT-COLONEL ELLIS LIVES IN RETIREMENT IN NORWAY 20
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N his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul reminds us that anyone who lives in Christ is a new creation. As followers of Jesus, we have been given a new identity – and how we live our life matters. Every aspect of our living is rooted in what we believe to be true; the rhythms and routines that make up our daily existence, our actions and reactions, the way we organise our time. It’s unlikely we will become more like Jesus just by chance; there will be a need for intentional commitment and self-sacrifice. The sacred covenant made by Salvation Army soldiers starts right there. It begins with an affirmation of faith, a statement of beliefs and a commitment to a lifestyle that holds true to these beliefs. This is a sacred covenant made with God and it is only through the grace of God in our lives that we are able to make and keep these promises. We won’t always get it right, but God is not after perfection. He wants us to grow each day, depending on him more and more. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at the pattern for living laid out for us in Scripture, in the details of Jesus’ life, and how this is echoed in the sacred covenant made by Salvation Army soldiers. The heart of the Father for each of us is to know and believe who we are in him. With his help, we can live a life that is pure in thought, word and deed. We can live confidently that in the messiness and mundanity of our everyday lives, our God is always present and is constantly at work. We are his children and he is more deeply invested in our flourishing than we will ever understand.
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For more details find The Salvation Army International Spiritual Life Development on Instagram and Facebook @SalvArmySpiritualLife
ADVERTS LOUTH Church Street LN11 9BS Sunday 15 May 11am
CELEBRATION OF SERVICE AND RETIREMENT of Major Rudi Bruinewoud Conducted by Major Brian Slinn
LISTINGS WANTED Former Salvation Army-type folding harmonium/ pedal organ in full working order. Can collect in South East and can pay up to £100. Jane: 07764 515583. TO LET MAJORCA Palma Nova. Beautiful, well-equipped groundfloor apartment. TV, etc. Large balcony. Two double bedrooms (sleeps 2 to 6). Cot available. Modern kitchen and bathroom. Second toilet. Near seafront/amenities. Lovely view, quiet area. From £120 p/w. Tel: 01274678889.
Messages and greetings to East Midlands DHQ eastmidlands@salvationarmy.org.uk
NORTH WALSHAM Hall Lane NR28 9DT Saturday 14 May
EASTBOURNE CITADEL Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May The visit of the
INTERNATIONAL STAFF SONGSTERS Saturday festival 7pm Ticket price £12.50, available by telephone on 01323 430619 or email your request to eastbourne@salvationarmy.org.uk Sunday 10.30am meeting and 3pm festival More details to follow
Major Joy Caddy (Davie) will be celebrating 44 years of officership at her
RETIREMENT SERVICE Please send greetings, messages and memories to Katie Wigley at katiejoy2014@gmail.com or Cornerways, The Square, Freshwater, IOW, PO40 9QH
ADVERTS
RECRUITING NOW PROPERTY CO-ORDINATOR BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT PROPERTY SECTION IHQ
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by love for God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination. The Property Section team is looking for a full-time property co-ordinator to support the property manager in all aspects of the SAITCo property portfolio and provide specific property management duties. This is a varied and challenging position in which you will be responsible for the co-ordination and management of all residential property lettings on behalf of SAITCo, requiring corresponding with external letting agents, management companies, solicitors, tenants, inhouse and external maintenance professionals and surveyors, including vetting tenants’ references, preparing letting agreements and submissions for Finance Board ratification. An important part of the role is the management of rent accounts, including liaison with our inhouse Accounts Section and negotiations with tenants on rent arrears and formulating suitable rent repayment plans. Therefore, candidates will require a knowledge and understanding of property management procedures and legislation, in addition to exemplary administration skills and have the ability to multi-task, plan and prioritise their workload.
The May to August Words of Life has the theme Approaching God’s Throne. ‘Through our readings we will consider how we can enter God’s presence with confidence, humility, expectation and vulnerability. Our weekend readings will encourage us to approach the throne through prayers found in the Old and New Testaments.’ Major Liz Chape (Regent Hall)
Available from sps-shop.com priced £4.99 (plus postage and packing)
STARTING SALARY £35,016.50 per annum HOURS 35 hours per week DETAILS Contributory pension scheme; generous travel to work allowance up to £3,500; 25 days’ annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays pro rata. CLOSING DATE Monday 23 May INTERVIEW DATE To be confirmed
Business acumen, the ability to co-ordinate and maintain confidentiality while being supportive to other colleagues and stakeholders are essential. We would require you to be a team player and have good capabilities across a wide range of disciplines, including As a disability confident administration and secretarial qualifications, A-level standard English, possess good communication skills and scheme employer, we have experience of working with Microsoft Office software. guarantee to interview all Applicants must be in sympathy with the aims and objectives of The Salvation Army.
disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.
For an application pack please email jobs@salvationarmy.org Appointment subject to satisfactory references and proof of right to work in the UK. CVs will not be accepted. Promoting equality in the workplace.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
ARMY PEOPLE
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LOCAL OFFICERS APPOINTED O CS Janine Brill, Cwm WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES Blue Sapphire (65th) O Colonels Lawrie and Maureen Fisher (18 May) Emerald (55th) O Majors Howard and Myra Sercombe (18 May) Golden O Grant and Joy Collingbourne, Winton (20 May) DEDICATED TO GOD O Izella Suzi Keating, daughter of Becci and Rupert Keating, at Redruth by Major Lisa Goble O Ronon John Skinner Kelly, son of Tracey Kelly, at Wrexham by Major Sandy Davis O Joey Thomas Harper, son of Amanda Cooper and Stephen Harper, at Clowne by Major Elaine Holder O James Butcher, son of Chris Butcher and Annie Donnelly, at Penarth by Captain Mark Kent
ENGAGEMENTS GENERAL BRIAN PEDDLE AND COMMISSIONER ROSALIE PEDDLE O Congo Brazzaville Territory, Wed 4 May – Mon 9 O ICO, Thu 12 – Sun 15 THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF (COMMISSIONER LYNDON BUCKINGHAM) AND COMMISSIONER BRONWYN BUCKINGHAM O ICO (farewell meeting), Fri 20 May THE TERRITORIAL COMMANDER (COMMISSIONER ANTHONY COTTERILL) AND COMMISSIONER GILLIAN COTTERILL O Birmingham (SATCoL Conference), Mon 16 May – Tue 17 THE CHIEF SECRETARY (COLONEL PAUL MAIN) AND COLONEL JENINE MAIN O Upper Norwood (135th corps anniversary), Sat 14 May – Sun 15* O Yorkshire South with Humber (divisional officers retreat), Mon 16 – Wed 18 * Colonel Jenine only
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Salvationist 7 May 2022
Orla Maeve Bennett, daughter of Carolyn and Luke Bennett, at Winton by Major Jean McDevitte
PROMOTED TO GLORY O Peter Walters, Stapleford O Norman Ridley, Perth, on 7 April O Les Routledge, Carlisle, on 10 April O S/Reservist Mary Gladwell, Ipswich Citadel, on 12 April O David Brown, Kettering Citadel, on 22 April O Major Alan Hickman from his home in Skipton on 24 April BEREAVED Janet Routledge, Carlisle, of her husband Les Routledge, Sheila Stalker and Philip Routledge, both Carlisle, of their father O Ann Brown, Kettering Citadel, of her husband David Brown, Major Anita Purkiss, Leicester West, Suzanne Grainger and Angela Hunt, both Kettering Citadel, of their father O Major Marie Hickman of her husband Major Alan Hickman O
OFFICIAL GAZETTE LONG SERVICE 30 years O Major Ria Campbell, Chaplain, HMYOI Wetherby and Lincoln Court Lifehouse, Sheffield ANTHONY COTTERILL COMMISSIONER TERRITORIAL COMMANDER
TRIBUTES MAJOR PAUL JOHNSON ‘WILL you come?’ This simple invitation from a friend Paul sat next to in his school band changed his life for ever. Paul went to Cradley Heath to hear Bo’ness Band, who were visiting the corps. While he enjoyed the music, his heart was moved by the testimonies of two teenagers. The ministry of the band, together with the warm welcome he received, was the start of Paul’s journey of faith. From the age of 14 Paul attended Birmingham Divisional Music School. This annual event helped shape the direction of his life and faith. Alongside the
development of his musical skills and lasting friendships, it was here that Paul met Julie, and so began their lifelong relationship of love and service. They were married in 1978 and entered the International Training College in 1980 as members of the God’s Messengers session. They served together in eight corps appointments – Rhosllanerchrugog, Chester, Birkenhead, Clacton-on-Sea, Romford, Staines, Winton and Nottingham William Booth Memorial Halls. Paul loved being a corps officer. As a natural evangelist, corps ministry gave him opportunities to speak of Jesus. He was never happier than when standing on the high street selling Army papers and engaging with the general public. To many, Paul was ‘the face of The Salvation Army’. He was passionate about people, investing time in their lives and encouraging them in their faith. Paul’s officer service included two headquarters appointments: at DHQ in Cardiff and in the Prison Ministries Unit at THQ, from which he was promoted to Glory. Described by many as a ‘big man with a big heart’, Paul lived for others and allowed God to use his love and laughter in a powerful way. He was devoted to his family and will be for ever loved by his wife, children and grandchildren. He leaves an eternal legacy. – JJ STAN SUTTON, ESTON BORN in Whittlesey in 1924, Stan was proud to be a third-generation Salvationist. A keen brass musician, he played cornet and trombone from a young age. He trained at Catterick during the war, where he met Lita, a young songster from Eston Corps. This was the beginning of a love story that lasted a lifetime. Stan and Lita settled in Eston and over time he served faithfully and responsibly as deputy bandmaster, bandmaster and songster leader. Stan was a quiet man but was immensely proud of his family’s achievements in both the military and The Salvation Army. In later years his health failed and he was largely housebound, but technology allowed him to enjoy Salvation Army worship from home. Stan was called Home on his 76th wedding anniversary, with his beloved Lita at his side. He leaves behind a legacy of quiet, humble devotion and love. – KS
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1. William Booth 2. ‘Under Two Flags’ 3. John Philip Sousa 4. Ray Steadman-Allen 5. ‘On Parade’ 6. ‘Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam’ 7. Martin Cordner 8. Blackpool 9. Bognor Regis 10. Torquay PART 1
QUIZ ANSWERS (SEE PAGE 24)
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Salvationist 7 May 2022
23
Quiz…
MARCHING ONWARDS by Garry Reed (North Devon)
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Picture: Rodney Kingston/Janine Bovey, from Blood on the Flag by Nigel Bovey
PART 1 Who encouraged the Army to march through the streets with the words ‘the first necessity of our Movement is to attract attention’? Following his First World War service in the Royal Medical Corps, Bramwell Coles wrote an emblematic march as a salute to Salvationists serving in the armed forces, which includes ‘Rule Britannia’, ‘Men of Harlech’, ‘Bluebells of Scotland’, ‘The Minstrel Boy’ and ‘God Save the King’. What is it called? Which American composed the Salvation Army march containing the tune for ‘O Boundless Salvation’? ‘Hadleigh Camp’, ‘Southdown’, ‘Hollinwood’ and ‘Youth’s Adventure’ are marches by which prolific Army composer? ‘I Want to Sing It’ and ‘Follow’ by
5 the Joystrings found their way
into which processional march by Norway’s Eiliv Herikstad? Published in 1971, Kenneth
PART 2
Joy-Bringer’ is based on which children’s song?
Identify the following Army marches, named after specific corps, districts or countries
6 Downie’s march fantasy ‘The
Finding different routes to God is
7 the theme of ‘New Commission’
written for a school of music in 1996. Who composed it? (Clue: He is the corps officer at Cambridge Citadel and his name is an anagram of ‘Mr Acrid Tonner’.)
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There is something nearly 520-feet tall in this place of dark water. Three Army marches carry this town’s name. A royal southern coast town. Leslie Condon wrote a march for the corps. Which Devon seaside town once attempted to ban ‘marching with music on a Sunday’ on the grounds that it attracted troublemakers?
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A fenland corps situated on the River Nene. ‘_____ Citadel’ A native of the capital city of New Zealand. Composed by Harold Scotney. ‘The _____’ Formerly known as Rhodesia. ‘_____ Centenary’ A county in western Scotland and a pattern of diamonds. ‘_____ Citadel’ Largest city in the Netherlands. ‘_____ Congress’
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A US city march composed by Stephen Bulla. ‘_____ Salute 125’ Arthur W Gullidge’s 1939 march
8 portraying this large southern hemisphere country. ‘Southern _____’
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Bramwell Coles’s celebration of a corps in eastern Toronto, Canada. ‘_____ Citadel’ An English city that is famed for cutlery with a march by Herbert A Mountain. ‘_____ Citadel’
Essex corps and farm.
6 ‘_____ Camp’
O Answers on page 23