What is The Salvation Army?

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 7618

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

Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk

The Salvation Army

United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 101 Newington Causeway

London SE1 6BN

Tel: 0845 634 0101

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 Julian Watchorn

AS a comedy fan, Alex Frost watched The Vicar of Dibley. But, not having a faith, he probably little imagined that he would one day be a vicar.

Despite being surrounded by countryside, Burnley, where Father Alex ministers, may seem a world away from the fictional village of Dibley –though the Rev Joy Carroll, who served as an unofficial adviser for the sitcom, had worked in urban settings and once told the War Cry that she was glad ‘a thread of social concern’ had run through the show.

When The Vicar of Dibley returned for some lockdown specials two years ago, it was at a time when TV news reports were showing Alex caring for vulnerable people in his community.

In an interview in this week’s War Cry, Alex speaks about how his church provides food, moral support and comfort to people who are experiencing poverty, not just of money but ‘poverty of aspiration, of mental health, of self-care’ and whose voices ‘just aren’t being listened to’.

Elsewhere in this week’s issue, Bekah Legg describes how churches are helping to tackle a specific social problem. The organisation that she heads, Restored, is assisting congregations to support survivors of domestic abuse. Bekah says that churches, through their running of food banks, debt centres and toddler groups, ‘are already hubs in the community, and they can also be a safe space for survivors’.

Even though domestic abuse is a problem that ‘requires massive social change’ to be made, she says, ‘we can start doing it, bit by bit’.

When citing what is broken in society, Alex Frost does not focus on a process or a strategy. He says: ‘What I do believe is broken is a lack of the gospel – a lack of love and care and empathy.’

The work being carried out by Alex, Bekah and the churches they work with is an invitation to consider the potential of the gospel and of the words that grabbed Alex’s attention when he first began to think about faith: ‘Love thy neighbour.’