The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.
What is the War Cry? The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.
WAR CRY Issue No 7545
WHAT does it take to be a superhero? Is it having an alter ego, special powers or the ability to wear your pants over your tights? According to Sophia Thakur, author of the book Superheroes, to reach those dizzy heights you need to have made an impact in your specialist field and be someone others can look up to. In an interview in this week’s War Cry, Sophia tells us how she has written about people of colour who children can relate to and aspire to be like. She describes them as ‘someone that can cook, can run fast, that’s intelligent or that loves photography’, adding that she wants to present them as ‘superheroes’ to open ‘the door for children to be inspired’. It is not only children who are inspired by the actions of others. To mark the 60th anniversary of Songs of Praise, we speak to the programme’s longest-serving presenter, Pam Rhodes. In her interview, Pam describes the impact some of the people she has met on the programme have made on her – such as Vincent Uzomah, a supply teacher who forgave the student who almost killed him in a racially motivated attack. Vincent told Pam that he was led to forgive by his Christian faith. ‘Faith and what it can mean in ordinary people’s lives is compelling and important to hear,’ Pam tells us as she reflects on the hundreds of people she has interviewed. Many of us like to see people who inspire us. Perhaps that is why Songs of Praise still attracts more than a million viewers every week. But many of the people on that programme, and those who appear in this magazine, receive their inspiration from God. They know that he is the greatest hero of all. ad the War C e re ry v ’ u
Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN Tel: 0845 634 0101 Helpline: 020 7367 4888 Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Editor-in-Chief: Major Mal Davies Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399. Printed by CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper
INFO Your local Salvation Army centre
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Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight
From the editor’s desk
When yo
What is The Salvation Army?
CONTENTS 5
FEATURES
3
Castaway returns on sacred quest
Ben Fogle explores faith on Scotland’s
islands 5
All together now
Songs of Praise celebrates 60 years of
hymn-singing 8
Heroes welcome
Book identifies people to look up to
10 Antisocial media?
8
Assessing the impact of Scroll Free
September
REGULARS
4
War Cry World
12 Team Talk 13 Past Times
15
14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page picture: TERN TV/BBC SCOTLAND