War Cry World

Shoes are a great fit for therapy

RESIDENTS at a Salvation Army centre for people experiencing homelessness in Warrington are boosting their mental health through art therapy.

People staying at James Lee House have decorated shoes as part of sessions that develop their self-confidence. The Salvation Army plans to exhibit the shoes to the public.

Debbie Lyon, who is an assistant support worker at the centre and a freelance art teacher, said: ‘We wanted to create a positive activity that allowed residents to explore their creativity and escape their experiences while also having fun.’

Debbie with some decorated shoes

Stormzy puts faith in new album

RAPPER Stormzy has said that making his new album increased his faith in God, reports Premier Christian News.

At a launch event for his latest project This Is What I Mean, the 29-year-old said: ‘I’m feeling so grateful and I’m feeling so blessed… I’m here and I’m light and I’m joyful and I’ve made something that I’ve never been more proud of and it just gave me so much more faith in God.’

Stormzy, who has been vocal about his Christian faith in his music and when speaking publicly, said that he felt God led him through difficult times in recent years.

On one of the album’s tracks, ‘Holy Spirit’, he sings: ‘Isn’t it amazing/ That faith was all we needed/ To find the missing pieces?’

Do you have a story to share?

a

warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk @TheWarCryUK

TheWarCryUK

B

salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry

Christian roots in Disney+ series

TIM ALLEN, who stars in the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses, told an entertainment news website why it was important for the show to explore the Christian roots of Christmas.

Speaking to The Wrap, the actor explained that an early draft of the series ‘originally had a lot of otherworldly characters and ghosts and goblins in it’ and that he told the production team he wasn’t overly keen.

‘I said no, this is Christ-mas,’ he said. ‘It’s Christ-mas. It literally is a religious holiday. We don’t have to blow trumpets, but I do want you to acknowledge it. That’s what this is about. If you want to get into Santa Claus, you’re gonna have to go back to history, and it’s all about religion.’

Tim then revealed that the team behind the scenes found ‘a brilliant way’ to incorporate religion into the script, which can be seen in episodes five and six.

Carol services to kick off at new times

VICARS are being advised not to schedule carol services on the last Sunday before Christmas, because of the potential for a clash with the World Cup final, reported The Guardian.

The paper highlighted how the Church of England had issued guidance to its clergy on how to make the most of the World Cup, whose final is scheduled for 3pm GMT on 18 December. Reporter Harriet Sherwood quoted the church’s advice that carol services ‘could still be possible if you choose the time carefully … but what if there are penalties?! It may be best to avoid that day altogether and host a carol service on Saturday 17 instead.’

The guidance also suggests how churches could use the World Cup for evangelism during Advent and Christmas. It includes the idea that parishes could screen games with refreshments in churches or stage a football-themed Nativity play, using scripts that it had produced in which the three kings sing ‘Kings are coming west’ to the tune of ‘Three Lions’.

ALAMY

Subscription platforms are streaming in

Latest ITV service highlights desire for instant telly gratification

Feature by Emily Bright

AS the winter evenings draw in, staying home to binge on favourite

box sets seems more appealing than ever, and streaming platforms continue to captivate audiences.

A survey published last year by data analytics company Kantar revealed that more than 16 million British homes now pay for at least one video-ondemand subscription. ITV is looking to capitalise on the popularity of streaming with its own subscription service, ITVX, which was launched on Thursday ITVX (8 December). Viewers can watch programmes for free with ads or pay for an ad-free premium account.

To mark the launch, ITVX released new programmes such as A Spy Among Friends. The Cold War espionage drama features Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce, and focuses on the relationship between notorious double agent Kim Philby, who worked for the Soviets, and friend and fellow British intelligence agent Nicholas Elliot.

ITVX joins the multitude of other paid-for streaming platforms in the UK, which include Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Britbox. Actor John Boyega, who curated a collection of his most-loved films for the service, said: ‘It’s imperative that quality British drama and Viewers have entertainment is made readily available to all audiences at this time. All you need for a night in access to watching ITVX is a blanket, popcorn and your phone countless out of sight.’ Streaming services mean that small-screen TV shows viewers can enjoy instant gratification, with access to countless TV shows and films at the press of a button. Each show promises entertainment like no other and a few hours of escapism. But they never really satisfy the deeper longings of our own lives.

There is one thing, however, that is instantly available and that will always satisfy and never end: God’s love for us.

One Bible writer talked about the fullness of life he found in a relationship with God. Viewing his life through the eyes of faith, he prayed to God confidently saying: ‘You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you for ever’ (Psalm 16:11 New Living Translation).

The story of God’s love, told through the Bible, can dramatically change our lives for the better, if we let it. All we need to do is tune into what it has to say.

Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce star in ‘A Spy Among Friends’

Family matters

Elaine Storkey

Author ELAINE STORKEY explains how the genealogy of Jesus can give hope to people today

Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku

MOST people in the western world

are familiar with the traditional Christmas story of Nativity plays – wise men, some shepherds and a baby in a manger. But Elaine Storkey has looked into another account of Jesus’ birth that focuses on some different details.

In her book Meeting God in Matthew, which explores the whole life and ministry of Jesus through Matthew’s Gospel, the theologian writes about his story of Jesus coming into the world, which doesn’t

begin with the Nativity. Instead it begins with a look at the family tree of Jesus, the genealogy found right at the start of the Gospel.

‘For British or contemporary readers, it’s a massive turn-off,’ she tells me. ‘You can barely pronounce the names, and there are so many of them. There are 3 sets of genealogies, 14 times 3 generations, so the whole thing is complicated. But the point of it is that Matthew is speaking to a Jewish audience, and he predominantly wants to fix Jesus’ ancestry and his credentials as Jewish, in the line of David, as a son of Abraham, as the promised Messiah. There was no better way to do that than to cite a genealogy, so it has enormous purpose.’

What is striking about the genealogy of Jesus, however, is the names mentioned in it, such as Judah – a man who sold his brother into slavery – and the naming of the women in the

genealogy, which Elaine says was unique, especially given their backstories. It names Rahab, who was a prostitute, and Tamar, who tricked her father-in-law into making her pregnant.

Elaine explains: ‘There were loads of people Matthew could’ve picked, but he picks people you wouldn’t necessarily want to cite in your genealogy. One writer has said there are more sinners than saints in the list, and I think it’s because Matthew is describing the reality of life.

‘Even though Jesus was the Son of God and the Messiah, it doesn’t mean that everybody who came prior to him was the same. It’s a hopeful sign for all of us. We aren’t judged on the basis of the people who came before us and their devoutness or their sin. We ourselves are invited into relationship with God.

‘The genealogy describes the way that families are. It highlights the brokenness that is in almost every family, in one way or another, and how we can respond to that – which is by reaching out for God’s grace and love. And Matthew shows us that through Jesus, who also had a weird genealogy. He didn’t want to give a purist view of Jesus’ ancestral line, because there’s no such thing. He presents it warts and all.’

Matthew’s Jewish readers would have already had some knowledge of the ancestral line of Jesus as the Messiah. Elaine says that they had ‘longed and waited for’ such a figure,

who was expected to come from the family line of a former King of Israel, David.

‘There were prophecies about the Messiah, and a promise of redemption,’ she says. ‘They occurred over and over again throughout the Scriptures. Whenever the Israelites fell into disgrace, whenever they started worshipping something in the creation rather than God, judgement came on them. But at the end of all that judgement, there was nearly always a promise that everything would eventually be restored and a Messiah would come to show a new way of living.

‘It was prophesied particularly by Isaiah and Micah, who said the Messiah would bring a peaceful kingdom. He was to be the one anointed by God to deliver people from evil and from ways of life they were in bondage to – addiction, bad relationships, a refusal to treat their neighbours properly. The

The Messiah would bring a peaceful kingdom

Turn to page 8 f

Messiah was to be a restoring Messiah.

‘The confusion in the minds of the people of Israel was that many of them imagined a Messiah who would restore through political means, by riding on a war horse, leading them against their opponents and annihilating all those who stood in opposition to Israel.

‘The prophecies in Isaiah show the very opposite, though. They show someone who will be sacrificial, who will demonstrate a way different from war, hatred and vengeance – a way of love – and who will live it through even though it will be hugely costly to himself.’

People today are in a similar situation, in the sense that they are looking for help as they face challenging circumstances. Elaine believes the Christmas story can offer hope.

One of the prophecies about Jesus attributed to Isaiah speaks of people walking in darkness and seeing a great light. Elaine says that it was a powerful

message ‘given at a time when people were struggling, were in all kinds of bondage and had many enemies’. She explains that the Bible verses talk about light entering that situation and it being wrapped in the birth of a child.

‘It’s a beautiful prophecy for us all,’ she reflects. ‘When we read it at Christmas, it’s significant because it feels familiar, but we also see the beauty of it. Many people today are walking in darkness which is not of their own making but which they’ve been pushed into by other people, events, poverty or ill health. We all need that light to be shining and, if that light is somehow connected with the baby at Bethlehem, then we’ve got something we can focus on, we’ve got real hope.

‘The message of Christmas is that

God’s way is a way of love

God came as one of us, to live as one of us, to experience the pain, heartache, betrayal that many people on Earth feel today. But he was victorious, because he was God and because he was love. It’s that message we can still hold on to – the baby in a manger eventually dies on the cross and who is raised from the dead shows the victory of love over sin, over evil and over wickedness.

‘God’s way is a way of peace, a way of love, a way of not repaying evil by evil, but breaking the chain of evil. It’s a way of deliverance, of turning your back on addiction and habituation that holds you in bondage.’

The good news is that the hope doesn’t end at Christmas. Matthew’s Gospel goes on to describe Jesus’ preparation for ministry, his temptation, his life, death, resurrection – and ultimately the message of the Kingdom of God.

‘It shows how fundamentally different that Kingdom is from the kingdoms of our world – the kingdoms of anger and warfare, of self-aggrandisement and tax havens and people cheating. Matthew goes to great lengths to set this out, beginning with the birth of Christ and showing how it unravels in all Jesus’ teachings and healings and invitations to people.

‘It’s not a Kingdom that’s far away. It’s not in Heaven or in the afterlife. It’s here and now. People can encounter the Kingdom of God, seeing it in action as people go out of their way to love others, help them and bring goodness into their lives. Through that we get a glimpse of what the Kingdom of God is about – and it’s so refreshing and beautiful. Focusing on Jesus changes life for everyone.’

l Meeting God

in Matthew is published by SPCK

Dot, played by June Brown

Farewell to the

Square’s faithful character

As mourners gather to say goodbye to

Dot Branning next Monday (12 December),

TONY JORDAN, a former series consultant on

EastEnders, looks back on a character he loved writing. The screenwriter and producer explains why Dot’s Christian beliefs centred on forgiveness

Interview by Claire Brine

‘DOT was in the first episode of EastEnders that I ever wrote,’ says Tony Jordan, who, in nearly 20 years of working for the BBC1 soap, penned more than

250 episodes. ‘She was also one of the characters I most enjoyed writing, because she was the beating heart of the programme, the person who grounded everything. I saw her as a simple, very real woman, whose only excitement in life was other people’s business.’

Dot Branning – also known by many EastEnders fans as Dot Cotton – first arrived on Albert Square in the summer of 1985. Played by actress June Brown until her retirement from the soap in 2020, the character was known by her neighbours for her chain-smoking, Bible-quoting and gossiping. But she also proved herself to be one of the most caring residents in the fictional London Borough of Walford.

‘Dot linked so many people together,’ Tony tells me. ‘She was part of the generation that gossiped over the garden fence and left the back door open so that a neighbour could pop in for a cuppa. People on the Square saw her as the go-to person for help and sustenance.

‘As a character, she had many qualities and flaws – but I think they were often the same things. Dot was ever-forgiving. She was never stupid, because she knew when someone had done wrong, but she was a Christian woman who always chose to forgive people and give them a second chance. We explored that many times with her son, Nasty Nick. Whatever he did, she constantly forgave him, believing he was capable of better.

‘While Dot’s forgiving nature was a major strength, it could also be perceived by some as one of her flaws. She was kind, which was a good thing, but when people took advantage of her, that kindness was a problem.’

When friends in need approached Dot for help, often she would listen to their predicaments, then try to comfort them

Turn to page 10 f

Tony Jordan

From page 9

Dot had close friendships with Pauline (left, played by Wendy Richard) and Ethel (played by Gretchen Franklin)

by offering some words of wisdom from the Bible. Rarely did her neighbours share her Christian faith, but they had no doubt that she loved God and tried to follow him.

‘I think Dot saw God in the way that all of us should see him – with the eyes of a child,’ says Tony. ‘In her view, his word was verbatim and sacrosanct. Like young children don’t question their parents, so Dot didn’t question God. She may have had lapses of faith at times – which everyone does when life is awful. I remember on one occasion writing a long speech for Dot in which she argued with a priest. But, on the whole, she had this simplistic faith of: “God is the Father, I’m his child. I don’t understand everything about faith, but I know that I have to try to live by these doctrines and I’m doing my best.”’

To mark the occasion of Dot’s funeral, key characters from the show’s history will be returning to the Square to pay their last respects to their beloved friend. One of them is Mary ‘the punk’ Smith, who, in the late 1980s, relied on Dot for help when she arrived in Walford as a single mother.

‘Dot took in all the waifs and strays, whether that was Mary or dozens of others,’ says Tony. ‘People approached her, sometimes because they saw her as the most gullible and easiest to con into doing something. But they didn’t need to con her, because Dot would have helped them anyway.

‘For me, the whole point of Dot’s faith was that it wasn’t a big event. We didn’t need to show her working in the local food bank, because she practised Christianity every day. She attracted all the wrongdoers, because she never told them to “sling yer hook”. That’s why they gravitated towards her.’

I suggest to Tony that her magnetism for people in need could be seen as reflecting the real-life character of Jesus as portrayed in the Bible. He is quick to agree.

‘Every day, Dot showed love, forgiveness and trust. She put faith in people and didn’t discount them simply because they

were of a certain ilk. And that’s like Jesus. He didn’t reject anyone either. People were astounded that he tainted himself by associating with tax collectors and prostitutes. But his response was: “That’s the point of why I’m here.”’ We move on to Dot saw God discussing the testing times of Dot’s faith and with the eyes how she coped with the many transgressions of of a child her son, Nasty Nick. The relationship between the two characters resulted in some shocking storylines. ‘We made Nick a thief, a drug user and a murderer, so he was the cross that Dot had to bear,’ explains Tony. ‘He tested her faith constantly. As a story-writing team, we’d call those “’Ello, Ma” moments, which was Nick’s catchphrase. Dot would be in a good place with her faith and then Nick would come along and do something horrific, such as try to poison her. And what did Dot do? She loved him and forgave him. ‘People often talk about how Christians

should be portrayed on television, and so many writers make the mistake of depicting them as nutjobs or overly pious – but Christians aren’t really like that. Being a Christian is about not having all the answers. It’s as though you have multiple-choice options in front of you and you have to pick the one option you feel is right. Like Dot, you muddle through as best you can.’

It’s impossible to talk about Dot without mentioning June, who played the role in 2,884 episodes. June died earlier this year, aged 95. I ask Tony to tell me a little about his working relationship with her. Did the actress share any of Dot’s religious views?

‘I think she did,’ he says, ‘but June wasn’t quite the soft touch that Dot was. June spoke her mind and could be brutal at times, but both she and Dot were the kind of people to give you their last fiver. Dot would give it to you in a loving, nonjudgemental way. June would give it to you and say: “I know you think you’re conning me, but I’m giving you this fiver anyway. Just don’t come back and expect another one!”

‘June was a feisty old bird, not so meek and mild as Dot. But she certainly brought Dot’s faith from somewhere inside her.’

For 35 years faith accompanied Dot through the joys and sorrows of life. While some soap writers allow their characters to dabble in faith and then give up on it to make way for new storylines, Tony describes Dot’s love for God as ‘a constant’.

‘When you create a character for television, you need to give them something that’s permanent in their life,’ he explains. ‘Writers call it the dramatic need. Basically it’s something the character requires in order to be fulfilled. Then, once that dramatic need has been established, writers can put obstacles in the way, and that’s where the story comes from.

‘I think, as a writing team, we all saw Dot’s faith in God as her dramatic need – and that’s why it remained so constant in her life. We couldn’t jettison it, because it was deep within her. No pun intended, but faith was literally a part of Dot’s soul.’

In 2002 Dot married Jim Branning (played by John Bardon)