War Cry 15 October

soap hits

Tom Lister talks about playing Carl King and moving on to

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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

No 7598

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

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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.

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From the editor’s desk

FOR 50 years it has been telling stories about a rural community. Tomorrow (Sunday 16 October) ITV’s Emmerdale is being celebrated with an hourlong episode.

Week by week, the soap has followed the joys and struggles of a variety of characters – successfully, if the evidence of Tom Lister is anything to go by.

In an interview in this issue of the War Cry, Tom, who played ‘loveable rogue’ Carl King in the soap, remembers: ‘People would come up to me in shops to tell me things that were going on with my character. I’d smile back and reply: “Yes, I do know what my on-screen brother Jimmy is up to. Let’s all take a breath for a minute and remember that it’s not real!” But they were only doing that because they loved the characters so much.’

After he left Emmerdale, though, Tom experienced some real-life worries. When Covid-19 restrictions led to the drying up of work for actors, he ‘really struggled’ and had ‘a crisis of confidence’. He was unhappy that he could not provide for his family.

But he found reassurance in his Christian faith. ‘My relationship with God brings me peace in life’s chaos,’ he tells us.

This week’s War Cry highlights other ways in which faith helps people in their struggles – whether or not they have a faith themselves.

Photographer Holly-Marie Cato is staging an exhibition that portrays the life of Pentecostal City Mission Church in London. She talks of how such Caribbean churches ‘have been pillars of their communities’ and ‘have done so much outreach work – for example, for people in need’.

And a news report in this issue reveals that The Salvation Army is among the organisations to have signed up to a church-based initiative to open warm spaces for people who are struggling to heat their homes as energy costs rise.

Such stories highlight how week after week, year after year, people who have put their faith in God’s love for the world are making a very real difference to their communities.

National Album Day celebrates a music format

Feature by Emily Bright

LET’S make some noise for National Album Day! Taking place today (Saturday 15 October), the annual event aims to ‘celebrate the art of the album’.

Each year the day tunes into a different theme, and this year the organisers are highlighting debut albums.

As part of the celebrations on BBC Sounds, Radio 2’s Steve Wright is revealing the 40 biggest debut albums released in the UK – in terms of sales and streams – since records (of the data variety) began in 1956.

Memorable debuts from the past are also being re-released in limited edition vinyl and CD formats, including those of indie band alt-J, alright Britpop band Supergrass and global pop superstar Mariah Carey.

More than 100 HMV stores will host live shows by unsigned talent, and Tim Burgess – lead singer of the Charlatans and a record label owner – will host a Twitter listening party with Jake Bugg, 10 years on from the singer-songwriter’s self-titled debut.

Geoff Taylor and Kim Bayley of the BPI and ERA, the industry bodies that organise the day, talk about how ‘artists love telling their stories through the art form of the album and fans love to

Still striking a chord

listen, but in a world where there is more streaming of individual songs, we take the appeal of the album format for granted’.

They hope that National Album Day will highlight ‘the continuing vitality and cultural relevance of the long player’.

Whether it’s their first, fourth or fortieth album, artists delight fans with their evocative sounds and storytelling. Albums have shaped our culture and can express how we feel. Each one has a unique concept to convey, played out across multiple tracks. Listening to albums, fans can get through A Hard Day’s Night, understand more about What’s Going On, find a reason to Smile or go on a Voyage of discovery.

With universal themes such as love, loss and joy, musical storytelling has echoed through culture down the generations. One form is found in the

Memorable debut albums from the past are being re-released to mark the day

Bible’s Book of Psalms, which contains powerful words that were originally – and often still are – sung.

The Psalms express every conceivable emotion, and many people have turned to them for solace and inspiration. The poetic passages often talk about God, whose love, faithfulness, power and wisdom can see us through whatever we face.

In one psalm, the writer celebrates the goodness and love of God, encouraging people to ‘make a joyful noise to the Lord… For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures for ever’ (Psalm 100:1 and 5 English Standard Version).

Those words are as true today as they were when they were written. If we accept God’s offer of his love for us, we can know that he will be with us however we feel. He will guide us in which direction to head in life. He will comfort us when the days ahead sound difficult. And when we go wrong, he will help us get back on track.

Albums can express how we feel

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Ten Hag and Butcher support on match day

MANCHESTER United manager Erik ten Hag and former England international Terry Butcher (centre) attended The Salvation Army’s annual five-a-side football tournament for people receiving support from its homelessness services.

More than 20 teams from around the UK took part in the Partnership Trophy competition in Manchester. One team was made up of modern slavery survivors from Salvation Army safe houses. Another was composed of refugees supported by the church and charity.

During the day Butcher, who captained the England team in the 1990 World Cup, talked with the players about how he had experienced depression after he lost his son to suicide. He also led a passing skills workshop and presented the trophy to the winning team, Blue Nile, from The Salvation Army’s refugee resettlement service in northwest England.

Reflecting on the event, which aims to boost the physical and mental health of participants, he said: ‘I know from experience that having people you can turn to is a huge help, and The Salvation Army is a perfect example of how getting the right support can go a long way towards rebuilding lives. Fighting power was evident at the tournament from all teams, and you need that in life, never mind on the football pitch. Everyone should be proud of themselves and what they are overcoming every day.’

The tournament was supported by the Guardiola Sala Foundation, a sports charity set up by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and his family.

Churches offer warmth as energy bills rise

CHURCHES, including The Salvation Army, have signed up to an initiative that will make warm community spaces available to people who are struggling to heat their homes because of rising costs.

Despite the price cap announced by the government, an estimated one in four people will not be able to afford their new energy bills this month. Community organisations and churches across the UK have already seen increased demand for their services and expect this number to rise further over the winter months.

The Warm Welcome campaign was launched by the ChurchWorks Commission and is backed by former prime minister Gordon Brown, who said: ‘This crisis goes far beyond politics; this is a moral issue – our responsibilities to our neighbours and in particular to those who have the least and whose needs are the greatest.’

nLEYTON Orient footballer George Moncur has told the Evening Standard that God is ‘working wonders in the team’.

The midfielder, who describes himself as a ‘massive, massive Christian’, explained to the London paper that seven players take part in a Friday prayer group and team-mates join him in prayer on the pitch before matches.

‘They are not necessarily Christians – and it’s very hard to explain – but I think they see the Spirit of God that’s working within the place,’ he said. ‘They must believe to some extent because they like me to pray for them before a game.

‘I’ve never had that ever in my career. It’s the best club I’ve been at in terms of where I feel settled, that God’s put me in the right place and he’s working wonders in the team.’

Exhibition lens weight to church’s history

This Black History Month, photographer HOLLY-MARIE CATO is holding her debut solo exhibition, Heavy is the Mantle. It documents the days before her uncle stepped down as presiding bishop of Pentecostal City Mission Church in London. She explains why she decided to capture such a time and why she chose to exhibit the results this month

Interview by Sarah Olowofoyeku

IN a moment, she changed her mind – and her life changed too. Eleven years ago, architecture student Holly-Marie Cato was having a lie-in during a visit home from university in Leicester when her mum burst into her room and suggested she take backstage photographs of a play being put on at a former theatre used by a church in north London. Holly-Marie didn’t want to. She put her head on her pillow to go back to sleep.

‘But then,’ she remembers, ‘I felt God told me to get up and go – and that prompted me to do it.’

Armed with just a point-and-shoot camera and little knowledge of how to take professional images, Holly-Marie made her way to the building. As she was taking pictures of actors getting ready and rehearsing their lines, there was a commotion outside.

‘People were protesting at the police station,’ she says, ‘because this man had been killed by police. His name was Mark Duggan. It started with 30 people, then grew to 100 and then to a crowd blocking the high road. Eventually, after six hours of them protesting and wanting to see the head of the police, who didn’t come out, they went home. Then 500 people filed into this theatre to watch a dramatic play about the end of the world, rioting on the streets and chaos. And outside was the Tottenham riot.

‘The press came. Buildings were burning down and Molotov cocktails were being thrown, but I was one of the few people that had documented the build-up to the story. My photography ended up being used by the BBC on Panorama and by news groups across Europe. From then on I didn’t want to be an architect; I wanted to be a photographer.’

It is what Holly has become – and she has not forgotten how it started.

‘Everything in my career up until this point has been a lesson of faith,’ she says. ‘My friends always ask me how I do it and how I

have so much confidence. I say that it’s all God. He has brought me this far, and he is not going to leave me.’

Since documenting that day in Tottenham, Holly-Marie’s work has taken her all over the world. She has photographed elephants in Zambia, inhabitants of slums in Mumbai and, earlier this year, Liverpool women’s football team at Anfield. But last year, she

Everyone holds their roles with such reverence

embarked on a project which was closer to home and which is the subject of her first solo exhibition.

Heavy is the Mantle, at the Leica Gallery in London, centres on Pentecostal City Mission Church, and its presiding bishop, Herbert Cato, her uncle, in the days before he stepped down.

‘I’d travelled to all these amazing places, but suddenly I realised the most important story was at home,’ she says. ‘My mum knows I’ve been wanting to do a project around my faith for a long time, so she told me that my uncle – who has been bishop longer than I’ve been alive – was stepping down and that I should photograph him. So I did.

‘In his office, I saw all these beautiful portraits of previous bishops, and I asked him where he was. He said he’d never got one done. I thought, “Why don’t I take one?” So I returned to the church and set up a studio in one of their old storage rooms and took some formal photos. I also documented images of the church members in worship, of people in spectacular choir robes.’

The name of the exhibition describes the responsibility – the mantle – that she sees leaders and people in the church as having.

‘Everyone holds their roles with such reverence and pride, knowing that they are part of something bigger than themselves, and they really honour that responsibility.’

She tells me that Pentecostal City Mission Church was founded by a white British missionary who went to the Caribbean to preach the gospel. Years later, when Caribbean people arrived in England, they felt that they needed to preach the gospel to English people.

Holly-Marie says: ‘During the Windrush era, a lot of Caribbean people got the message from the Queen to rebuild England, thinking that they themselves were British subjects. They didn’t realise the hostility that they would experience in the UK. The Church is meant to be for everyone, but they soon realised they often weren’t welcome in church spaces,

Holly-Marie captured her uncle Herbert Cato in the days before he stepped down as presiding bishop of Pentecostal City Mission Church

and that was the birth of what we now know as the Caribbean Church in the UK, which has its own expression of culture and worship.

‘The Caribbean Church is a space that you can enter, experience the joy of worship and leave with a stomach full of food, as there will be dutchie pots, fried chicken, dumpling, pepper pot soup. You’ll be spiritually fed and physically fed. These churches have been pillars of their communities. They have done so much outreach work – for example, for people in need or single mothers.

‘Caribbean people have a level of faith and resilience. I think of when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, people gathered and wanted Jesus to tell them how to overthrow the Romans to end oppression. But Jesus didn’t give them that. He gave them a new understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven. He taught them about how to change their

perspective even if they couldn’t change their reality.

‘That’s what the Caribbean Church does so well. Its people are able to deal with so much hardship and inequality and cling to their faith, which is not based on sight. They’re creating Black history every day, so I wanted to champion them.’

Although this is a solo exhibition, Holly-Marie wanted the project to go beyond her. Inspired by the values of her Christian faith, which underpin all her actions, she is creating opportunities for others.

‘I could’ve had this project at any time of the year, but I wanted it in Black History Month,’ she says. ‘I said to Leica that I wanted to bring in other amazing black photographers to give talks during the exhibition. There are well-known artists, such as Simon Frederick, who has had documentaries on the BBC and Netflix,

Congregants in worship at the church

and others such as Jay Kammy, who has done beautiful projects in Sierra Leone.

‘We also have a portfolio review so that 15 photographers can have the opportunity to receive feedback about their work. We are awarding three of them with grants totalling £10,000, Leica equipment and free mentorship.

‘I always say that the glass ceiling is not broken if I’m the only one that’s through it.’

While the whole project is future-facing, the photographs in the exhibition capture a moment in time that was significant for Holly-Marie.

‘As much as what I photographed is visually beautiful,’ she says, ‘I was documenting a part of culture. It was a capsule of a time that might not exist in the future. People are worshipping in younger, more diverse and mixed places, so it was important to me to document Pentecostal City Mission Church as it is now.’

l Heavy is the Mantle runs until 1 November

Caribbean people have a level of faith and resilience

Change of scene for Emmerdale star

Interview by Claire Brine

ATHUNDERSTORM with devastating consequences.

A wedding in which the groom is torn between his bride and his ex.

A pregnant woman having contractions in the countryside, with only a dead mobile phone for company. One thing’s for sure – Emmerdale fans are in for some nail-biting drama when the ITV soap celebrates its 50th anniversary tomorrow (Sunday 16 October).

Since the show’s first episode in 1972 Emmerdale has been gripping viewers with its stories of love and loss, families and feuds. The fictional Yorkshire village has played host to 74 weddings, 43 births and 105 deaths. Viewers have witnessed

a plane crash and barn explosion, murders and kidnappings. It seems that life is never dull in this tight-knit farming community – and millions of viewers can’t get enough of it.

‘I think Emmerdale has become so woven into the fabric of people’s lives that the characters begin to feel like part of the family,’ says Tom Lister, who played Carl King in the soap from 2004 to 2012.

‘Because the show is on five nights a week, people end up investing a lot of time in it. Even people who don’t watch it will sometimes recognise the characters, simply because they are on the telly or in

the TV mags all the time.

‘I can remember that, back when I was part of the cast, people would come up to me in shops to tell me things that were going on with my character. I’d smile back and reply: “Yes, I do know what my on-screen brother Jimmy is up to. Let’s all take a breath for a minute and remember that it’s not real!” But they were only doing that because they loved the characters so much. The show has that family feel to it.’

As well as creating memorable characters, such as the members of the Sugden and Dingle families, Emmerdale strives to tell powerful stories. In recent years the show has won multiple soap awards for its hardhitting storylines, including Ashley’s dementia and the Hotton Bypass crash.

‘Over the years, the dramas have become more sensational,’ says Tom. ‘When the show started off as Emmerdale Farm it was often about people sitting in their kitchens and chatting over cups of tea. But it has gone on to tackle some really tough subjects, such as schizophrenia and child abuse. And, because the characters facing these issues are loved so much, fans are paying attention, watching stories about subjects that they might not otherwise seek out. In

As Emmerdale approaches its 50th anniversary, actor TOM LISTER reflects on why he loved playing Carl King in the soap and how his faith in God helped him after he left the Dales

Tom as Carl with his on-screen brother Jimmy, played by Nick Miles

The show has that family feel to it

that sense, Emmerdale can be a safe space for people.’

It was also a place where Tom enjoyed working. He landed the role of Carl in 2004 while he was working as a labourer on his dad’s building site. Though the contract with Emmerdale was set up for six months, Tom starred in the soap for ‘the best part of a decade’.

‘I look back on it with so much fondness,’ he says. ‘And I learnt a lot. Emmerdale was where I cut my teeth on what it means to be an actor working in television. It was a place where I was able to make mistakes and learn on the job, because the episodes came thick and fast.

‘It was also a show with a strong family network, which I loved. When I joined we weren’t in the limelight quite as much as the cast of EastEnders and Coronation Street, and so no one was on set trying to be the big “I am”. Everyone was pulling in the same direction.’

During his time in the soap, Tom enjoyed his fair share of dramatic storylines, thanks to Carl’s impeccable ability to land himself in trouble.

‘Carl was a ruthless businessman and a loveable rogue who always got himself into the most horrendous scrapes,’ says Tom. ‘I loved playing him. He was terrible with women. He was forever fighting. And people kept dying, accidentally, in his presence! The first person he killed was the postman, and his brothers helped him to cover it up. Then he killed his own dad. But no one used to call him a villain. Viewers would forget that he’d done all these things.

‘Although Carl was a bit of an idiot at

Tom Lister

times, I saw him as a massively flawed individual. He was like a little boy in that he kept on making stupid mistakes, but he was always devastated by them. I think he was completely misunderstood.’

Though Tom was grateful for the opportunity to appear in some of Emmerdale’s biggest storylines – such as the love triangle between Carl, Chas and Lexi – he felt a responsibility in entertaining the show’s viewers.

‘Sometimes we would all feel the pressure,’ he says. ‘In the weeks when I was being Carl King more than I was being me, it was easy to feel a bit bamboozled by it all. But being on Emmerdale was also just a job. And during the time I was working there, I was able to get married, have children and set up a home, so the show gave me a level of security, which I’ll forever be thankful for.’

Tom is also proud to have staged one of the most memorable deaths in the soap’s history. In 2012, during a special live episode to mark Emmerdale’s 40th anniversary, viewers watched in horror as Carl was battered to death by the man he was blackmailing.

‘That episode was the biggest challenge of all because it was such a huge feat,’ remembers Tom. ‘It was the first time we’d done a live episode and it

involved pretty much all the cast. There were two weddings, two births, and I had to do three stunts which ended up in Carl being murdered. The pressure on us all was massive, because we knew that on the other side of the camera there were 10 million people waiting for us to mess up. But it went brilliantly and felt great.’

After Carl finally met his Maker, Tom decided to take his career in a slightly different direction, setting his sights on London’s West End.

‘I’d always had this dream to see my name up in lights,’ he says.

‘So when I left Emmerdale I did a UK tour of Calamity Jane and then Legally Blonde, which we took to South Korea. Then my agent told me to go to London to audition for 42nd Street. I didn’t know the show at all, but she explained that it was going to be massive and I needed to get myself there. So I did as I was told and was pretty much offered the part in the audition room. I almost fell off my chair with shock.’

From 2017 to 2019, Tom played the role of Broadway director Julian Marsh in the West End revival of the 1980s musical. Performing night after

Carl got into a few fights

night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane was, he says, an amazing experience.

‘I was so glad to be in it. Especially because the next year, Covid hit. All of a sudden, actors were put in a position where they couldn’t work, because there was no work. I really struggled with that. I had a crisis of confidence and a crisis of faith, asking God why I was having to go through this period of not being able to provide for my family. I felt redundant and that life wasn’t fair. I know that a lot of people were having the same feelings.’

With no acting work in the pipeline, Tom and a couple of friends set up their own production company with an aim of providing an online pantomime for schools. During the bleakest months of national lockdowns, it kept him going. So did his Christian faith.

‘When the panic was setting in and my wife was asking what was going to happen, I just knew that everything was going to be OK somehow. Whatever the next 18 months would bring, I knew we’d be fine because God was there – and in his still small voice, he was whispering: “Don’t worry. It’s OK. I’ve got you in my hands.”

‘I can pinpoint so many times in my life

when God has proved his faithfulness.’

Ever since Tom was taken to church as a child, faith has played a significant role in his life. He remembers with fondness the times he spent at his church’s youth club.

‘We used to do Nativities and write our own sketches,’ he says. ‘We even formed a band and took our youth services all over Lancaster. It was crazy but amazing, because we had one another to rely on. At Christian youth camps, we explored what it meant to be in a relationship with God and how important it was to make him the foundation of our lives. Doing stuff like that together made us a really close group of friends, and I still see those lads regularly now.’

Through life’s ups and downs, Tom has found that having a steady faith has helped him to stay positive. But he admits that it hasn’t always been easy to be a Christian.

‘I’ve made mistakes in the past and done things which I wish I could undo,’ he says. ‘But what’s constant is my belief that God is for me. And if God is for me, then who can be against me? My relationship with God brings me peace in life’s chaos. It’s the anchor that tethers me. And when I find myself thinking that I

haven’t spent as much time with God as I should have, that relationship is still there. The hard times, such as Covid, have probably made my faith stronger.’

Struggles during the pandemic also prompted him to find work in areas other than acting. Last month Tom made newspaper headlines after he revealed in a radio interview that he had set up his own business as a window cleaner.

‘During lockdown, I started working with a mate of mine from church, who had a window cleaning business,’ he tells me. ‘I’ve now franchised his business, so that I can still have an income when I’m not acting. Being recognised for being off the telly when you’re cleaning someone’s windows is a humbling experience, but it helps me bring stability to the family. I think the last few years have been a big time of self-discovery for me.’

In terms of acting, Tom is waiting patiently for the right job to come along. Earlier this year he turned down a role because he didn’t want to be away from home during his son’s GCSE year.

‘It didn’t feel like the right time to be away,’ he says. ‘So I’m just waiting to see what happens next. I don’t always find it easy when things are out of my control, but I have to trust God – and when I hand my worries over to him, the peace that comes is amazing.’

Carl and Chas (Lucy Pargeter) had a stormy relationship

God brings me peace in life’s chaos

THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

jBecoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ,

I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen

‘

talkTeam talk ’

SOCIAL media feeds are likely to be filled with images of candles tonight (Saturday 15 October), as parents remember their babies who died. As Baby Loss Awareness Week comes to a close, organisers have been inviting people to share photos of their flickering candles online, using the hashtag #WaveofLight. The idea is to create a supportive space for parents to grieve together and, if they wish, share a little of their experience.

Every year, I find Baby Loss Awareness Week moving. Many of my friends take to social media to talk about the children they have lost –and still love. Some of them reflect on losses that happened recently. Others light a candle to remember a baby who died many years ago.

However much (or little) bereaved parents want to talk about their experiences of child loss, allowing them the opportunity to do so is important. But equally as crucial is how attentively the rest of the world listens.

This week, if a friend wants to talk to us about how much they miss their son or daughter, I hope we allow them to finish their sentence before we rush in with our sincere words of comfort. I hope we don’t diminish their sense of loss in any way by trying to point out to them all the other good things in their life. If their story is painful and sad, I hope we help them to feel supported and understood as they share it with us.

Listening isn’t always easy, but the comfort it can bring to the person talking cannot be overestimated. Recently I read a book called Standing in the Storm, in which a preacher, Matt McChlery, reflected on his experience of baby loss. He wrote that, when he and his wife spoke openly about the sadness they felt, their church congregation supported them practically, emotionally and prayerfully. People listened, and it helped.

A parent’s grief is likely to last a lifetime. That’s why we need to be willing to listen not just this week, but all year round.

Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

TEA M TALK Listening to loss

In this occasional series, Nigel Bovey unlocks the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jesus speaks to his disciples about in Matthew’s Gospel

Beyond the letter of the Law

B

EFORE Jesus began his ministry, his cousin, known today as John the Baptist, had been calling his fellow Jews to turn back to God’s way of living. Later, when Jesus teaches his own followers, he explains that they’re living through a time of change in God’s relationship with humankind. As he asserts in a saying not recorded in Matthew’s Gospel: ‘The Law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the Kingdom of God is being preached’ (Luke 16:16 New International Version).

Jesus warns that ‘anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven’ (Matthew 5:19). He also says that he has come ‘to fulfil’ the Jewish Law and the prophets, not to abolish them (5:17).

However, when he quotes from the Law, Jesus broadens its application beyond the letter to its spirit. For instance, he cites the commandment ‘Do not murder’, but then warns that anger itself can make someone ‘subject to judgement’ (5:22). Jesus’ emphasis is not on keeping the individual laws but on obeying the spirit of the Law – a spirit governed by love.

He tells a rich young man: ‘If you want to enter life, keep the commandments’ (19:17). When asked which is the greatest commandment, he points to a wholehearted love of God and loving one’s neighbour as oneself. He concludes: ‘All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments’ (Matthew 22:40).

The Law includes punishments, but contains no mechanisms of prevention. The Law lists deterrents to constrain actions, but has no power to change attitudes. The Law points out a person’s wrongs, but cannot put a person right.

The Law does not provide the means of salvation. For that, something greater than the Law is required. That is why Jesus came into the world. He could make atonement for humankind’s sinfulness by making himself the sacrifice required by the Law.

Followers of Jesus are not required to keep the dietary, dress or hygiene regulations of the Law. Committing the likes of murder, adultery or theft, though, is difficult to reconcile with a Christian lifestyle, because the Kingdom that Jesus builds is based on the law of love.

Potato, leek and cheese soup

Ingredients

1 large potato, chopped

1 large leek, sliced, plus extra to garnish 600ml low-salt vegetable stock 50g half-fat

Method

Place the potato, leek and stock in a pan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.

Add the cream cheese and season to taste with the pepper. Whizz until smooth in a blender. Pour into

Corn chowder with sweet potato croutons

Ingredients

1 sweet potato, diced into 1cm cubes

2tsp olive oil

1tsp smoked paprika

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 stick celery, thinly sliced

180g frozen sweetcorn

White pepper

1tbsp plain flour

250ml reduced-salt vegetable stock

300ml skimmed milk

1tbsp fresh chives, chopped

Fresh black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/ Gas Mark 4.

To make the croutons, place the sweet potato in a large bowl and drizzle 1tsp oil on top. Toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle over the smoked paprika and toss again. Spread out the cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 25-35 minutes, turning regularly.

Meanwhile, to make the chowder, heat 1tsp oil in a large pan and fry the onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, sweetcorn and a pinch of white pepper. Stir for another 3 minutes and sprinkle with the flour.

Gradually stir in the vegetable stock until the chowder thickens.

Cover, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Slowly stir in the milk for a couple of minutes.

Pour the chowder into bowls.

Garnish with the sweet potato croutons, chives and a grind of black pepper, to serve.

SERVES

SERVES

COMPELS ME TO BE A BETTER PERSON

Tom Ebbens

Joyce Meyer