We are The Salvation Army 12 and

‘They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.’ This passage speaks of personal and societal renewal.

Our primary focus is serving the community by connecting with children, young people and families from different cultures, faiths and backgrounds. We take a grassroots approach, listening to the young people and their communities about what they want the centre to be. This means we can react to needs within the community, evaluating our activities regularly and adapting as required.

We aim to build a relational, loving, safe and caring atmosphere at Aston 614 – a peaceful place where young people can come and leave their worries at the door.

Those doing the work are ones God has met with in his healing, freeing, enlivening work – and those from the broken places are then the ones bringing healing, freedom and full life to their communities.

We want to be a part of this work – we feel called to it – and we desire to bring about change and transformation in the community and the lives of individuals and families in Aston who, for whatever reason, have lost hope.

Our mission is to continue joining with others in reaching people with the message of God’s love, whether that be serving with other Christian believers in the churches of Aston, partnering community groups or working alongside nearby corps, such as Birmingham Citadel.

It is exciting to think of different expressions of The Salvation Army across the city serving the communities in which they are placed in relevant ways – supporting one another and working together in mission.

We would really appreciate prayers for volunteers and for Aston as a whole community to know and experience the love of God.

We ask for prayers for continued funding and that new initiatives – such as our community café – will be effective in generating income.

We ask for prayers for young people who are experiencing mental health difficulties, families who are facing financial struggles and young people who are drawn into gang culture, youth violence and county lines drug trafficking.

We ask for prayers for the team – that we would continue to listen to God and be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, we ask people to join in a prayer that we have used since 2019: ‘Lord, help us to love you, to love each other and to love Aston with all our hearts.’

A ministry of poetry and prayer

In tribute to Commissioner Harry Read OF, who was promoted to Glory on 14 December, Salvationist reprints his June 2019 conversation with Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts

SOON after midnight on 6 June 1944, 20-year-old wireless operator Harry Read parachuted into Normandy as part of the D-Day landings. On 5 June 2019, 95-year-old Harry Read again jumped into Normandy, this time skydiving with the Red Devils as part of the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Harry’s skydive sparked enormous media interest and he lost no opportunity to witness to his faith and highlight the work for which he was raising funds: the Army’s support for victims of human trafficking.

This commitment to others has been the hallmark of Harry’s life as a Salvation Army officer. He was commissioned in 1948 and served with his wife, Win, in corps, training, divisional and public relations appointments before becoming Chief Secretary in Canada in 1981. Leadership of the Australia Eastern Territory followed in 1984, during which time he became a candidate for General at the 1986 High Council. He became the British Commissioner (BC) in 1987.

In his first officers councils as BC, Harry made the famous statement: ‘You have permission to fail.’ He explains the background: ‘When I was a divisional commander someone came to present our officers with ideas about stewardship. They seemed reluctant, so I asked, “What is the problem with this? Are you afraid of failure?” They said, “Yes. We can’t afford to fail.” So when I became BC I said, “I am not giving you a mandate to close this, that and the other, but I am giving you the mandate to fail, having tried.” It was the message God had given me for our territory. People were enthusiastic about it.’

Harry was to be the last leader of the British Territory. He worked with General Eva Burrows to separate it from the administrative structure of International Headquarters and create the new United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland, which was inaugurated upon his retirement in 1990.

With retirement came fresh opportunities for ministry. ‘I was asked to write Words of Life,’ he recalls. ‘I did that for 10 years, 29 editions in all. I loved doing it. It still allowed us time to do a lot of specialling and lead a Bible study at Bromley. We did the same at Winton, when we moved down to live in Bournemouth, with 50 to 60 people attending.’

Harry is well known for his poetic writing, which has gained a widespread following in recent years, not least through his regular Facebook posts. His gift for poetry began to develop when, as a cadet, he was encouraged by a member of the training college staff to show his work to Colonel Catherine Baird in the IHQ Literary Department. ‘I was greeted warmly but she told me, “You’re trying to do too much. You need one thought that you develop.” She gave me one of her books on the construction of poetry, and of course I fell in love with Catherine Baird. She mentored me for years, almost to her retirement. I felt so privileged.’

Later, when Harry was on the college staff, his poetic gifts helped bring the musical talents of a young college officer, Lieutenant John Larsson, to the attention of the Army world. The training principal had asked Harry to write the 1960 commissioning pageant. Harry reluctantly agreed but decided to change the traditional format. ‘The more I thought about it the more I thought it should be a musical,’ he says. ‘John Larsson had written a very lovely tune, so I said to him, “How would you feel about doing the music?” He said, “I’d love to do it.” So John and I became partners in this thing.’

Today, most of Harry’s poems are poetic prayers, written in sonnet form – 14 lines of 10 syllables. ‘My prayer life has always been very active,’ he observes, ‘and when our son, John, said he’d started keeping a prayer journal, I said, “What a good idea. I’m going to do that.” When I had my prayers I would write, and 14 lines was just about the right amount. So that, as much as anything, is why I write in sonnet form.’

When Win was promoted to Glory in 2007, Harry expressed many of his feelings in poetry that was later published. ‘I’d become a compulsive writer of verse,’ he explains, ‘and when Win died I shared my stuff with three other men in the corps who had been bereaved. They said how helpful it was, so I wrote the book, No Heart More Tender.’

Soon after this Harry’s poems found their way on to Facebook. His daughter, Margaret, had opened a Facebook account for him but after a while he lost interest. ‘Then,’ he says, ‘it was as though the good Lord said to me, “Hang on Harry; you might find a ministry here.” So I contacted a couple of good friends and said, “If I put one of my poems up on a Sunday and something else on a