Sal-2012-12

Kettle Volunteers Bring Good Cheer

Do the Bible and Science Mix?

Christmas Without The Salvation Army?

Salvationist The Voice of the Army

December 2012

A Christmas Embrace Jesus came to seek and save the lost

Joy to the World

How international personnel celebrate the holiday Salvationist I April 2012 I 1

With Special Guests Barbara & Steve Allen, Los Angeles, California Colin Fox, Dramatist The Peterborough Singers, Syd Birrell, Director Ian Sadler, Organist and featuring The Festival Chorus with Canadian Staff Band, John Lam, Bandmaster

Saturday, December 8, 2012 - 7:30 p.m.

Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe Street, Toronto Tickets from $15 to $25 available through RTH Box Office 416-872-4255

Presented by Ontario Central East Division

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December 2012 No. 80 www.salvationist.ca E-mail: salvationist@can.salvationarmy.org

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Features 8 A Christmas Embrace Cert no. XXX-XXX-XXXX

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Our Saviour came into a dark world to seek and save the lost

by General Linda Bond Cert no. XXX-XXX-XXXX

11 Bringing Good Cheer

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Thanks to the efforts of kettle volunteers, The Salvation Army can assist thousands at Christmastime by Kristin Fryer PRODUCT LABELING GUIDE

14 It’s a Musical Life

FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

Making music encourages the Venables family in their faith

by Kristin Fryer

16 Picturing Christmas Departments 4 Editorial

29 Faith Works

Get Out of the Way

by Major Kathie Chiu

Cold Feet but Warm Hearts

by Major Jim Champ

5 Around the Territory 10 Mission Matters

Christmas Without The Salvation Army?

by Commissioner Brian Peddle

30 Talking Points A Reasoned Faith

by Major Juan Burry

A snapshot into what Christmas ministry throughout the territory is all about

19 Joy to the World

International personnel reflect on celebrating the birth of Jesus in a different culture

22 God With Us

Through his birth, Jesus invites us to participate in the ongoing story of creation by Eugene Peterson

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24 Cross Culture 26 Celebrate Community

Enrolments and recognition, tributes, gazette, calendar

Inside Faith & Friends Something to Give

Diane Stark was distraught and alone on Christmas Eve, but a caring Salvation Army kettle worker brought her hope

League of Incredible Vegetables is here to save the day

Share Your Faith

When you finish reading Faith & Friends in the centre of this issue, pull FAITH & it out and give it to someone who needs to hear about Miracle Christ’s lifeOn Ice + changing ON  ROMANCE A SKI LIFT power

Finding skates for two girls at Christmas is just part of the job for the staff at Charlottetown Community Church, P.E.I.

There’s No Need to Fear …

Forget the Avengers. The

General Linda Bond’s letters to Salvationists around the world can be read at salvationist.ca/ tag/sharing-the-vision

faithandfriends.ca

Inspiration for Living

How The Salvation Army Helps Families in Need

HERE COMES THE LEAGUE OF INCREDIBLE VEGETABLES! We All Have “Something to Give” This Christmas

Twitter. Just click one of the appropriate icons found at the bottom of every article posted on salvationist.ca

Sharing the Vision

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Christmas 2012

Making Christmas Happen

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Pass It On

Share your faith electronically by forwarding articles from Salvationist and Faith & Friends by e-mail, Facebook or

World Watch

Keep up to date on what the Army is doing internationally.

Visit salvationist.ca/ worldwatch Salvationist I December 2012 I 3

EDITORIAL

I

Cold Feet but Warm Hearts

can’t remember my feet feeling so cold … before or after. It was December 1975 and I was standing by the Christmas kettle outside of the Steadman’s store in Melfort, Sask. It was so far into the minus figures that it didn’t matter whether you measured the temperature in centigrade or fahrenheit. The divisional commander joked that it was so cold that the province’s university professors were losing their degrees. On this particular Saturday, the handful of shoppers who braved the frigid weather would duck into the store and emerge with a donation. It was definitely too cold to fiddle with purses and gloves in order to find spare change for the Sally Ann. I was never sure if the donation was a sign of support for our work or a measure of sympathy for the half-frozen lieutenant. However, I was to find out the following year.

Early in the fall, I received an invitation to meet with the editors of the local weekly newspaper. It was a family business passed on from the father to his offspring. I attended Rotary luncheon meetings with Wes and played recreational softball during the summer with his sons. They offered to donate a page

Salvationist

of the newspaper throughout the month of December inviting their readers to make a donation to the Salvation Army Christmas effort. Donors would have their names placed on the image of a Christmas tree that filled the paper’s centre section. The response from the public turned out to be overwhelming.

The spirit of Christmas was alive and well in this prairie town as the donations surpassed the seasonal demand and provided much needed funds for year-round support of the Army’s ministry to the needy.

Few things are more synonymous with Christmas and The Salvation Army than the bell ringers standing by the red kettle. Kristin Fryer, staff writer, takes us on a journey this month from coast to coast with stops at kettle stands in Maple Ridge, B.C., Wetaskawin, Alta., Kingston, Ont., and Glace Bay, N.S. The stories are heartwarming. Not only do we get a glimpse into the lives of those who benefit from the generous contributions, but we also can’t help but notice the impact on the lives of the volunteers who give so freely of their time. At 101 years of age, Daniel Finkel states, “I try to do things that will benefit others more than myself.” So will he volunteer to be a bell ringer this year? “Absolutely,” says Daniel, “as long as I can breathe and live.”

The Army’s kettle campaign is about providing practical support to those in need. But it’s more than that. It is about people coming together in an act of community and lending a hand to help others. And this is happening across the Canada and Bermuda Territory.

As we celebrate again the birth of the Saviour, I will give the final word to Sean O’Connor, a kettle worker who says volunteering has given him a whole new way of thinking. “It’s made me a more positive, caring person and it’s helped me see the glory of God at work.”

MAJOR JIM CHAMP Editor-in-Chief

4 I December 2012 I Salvationist

is a monthly publication of The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory Linda Bond General Commissioner Brian Peddle Territorial Commander Major Jim Champ Editor-in-Chief Geoff Moulton Assistant Editor-in-Chief John McAlister Features Editor (416-467-3185) Pamela Richardson News Editor, Production Co-ordinator, Copy Editor (416-422-6112) Timothy Cheng Art Director Ada Leung Circulation Co-ordinator Kristin Fryer, Ken Ramstead Contributors Agreement No. 40064794, ISSN 1718-5769.

Member, The Canadian Church Press. All Scripture references from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version (TNIV) © 2001, 2005 International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

All rights reserved worldwide. All articles are copyright The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory and can be reprinted only with written permission.

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Mission

The Salvation Army exists to share the love of Jesus Christ, meet human needs and be a transforming influence in the communities of our world. Salvationist informs readers about the mission and ministry of The Salvation Army in Canada and Bermuda. salvationist.ca salvationist@can.salvationarmy.org facebook.com/salvationistmagazine twitter.com/salvationist

AROUND THE TERRITORY

Bermuda Puppeteers Build Skills at Ohio Conference THE ARMY’S WEST End Community Church in Bermuda has been developing a puppet ministry over the past five years. Under the direction of Tamiko Ramabuke, the team has performed four full-length Christmas musicals, ministered throughout the year on youth Sundays with skits and songs, and participated in corps open-air meetings and in youth services at other ministry units on the island. “Our mission is to share the good news of Jesus Christ in a memorable way and develop a youth

outreach ministry that is life-changing for our puppeteers,” explains Ramabuke.

During this past summer, representative group members attended the Ministry Arts Xtra (MAX) four-day conference offered by Creative Ministry Solutions in Columbus, Ohio. Through hands-on workshops, private coaching, panel discussions, labs and demo workshops, members developed skills in puppetry, costuming, gospel illusions, hand mime and balloonology. Each evening, instructors brought workshop ideas to life by performing puppet and other creative ministries. During a cultural night, the Bermudian puppeteers lip-synced to the song, Proud To Be Bermudian, the team’s first presentation on a big stage

Kaisha Simons created a duck in one of the creative ministry courses she attended called balloonology

with professional puppeteers watching.

The Salvation Army West Mound Worship and Service Center hosted the Bermudian delegates, who ministered during Sunday school with puppetry skits and songs and provided a cultural exchange about Bermuda that included video clips of the island and sampling of the island’s favourite foods.

Rambuke has subsequently introduced an accreditation program to encourage participants’ continued growth in the skills of puppetry.

Participants can progress through four levels to master puppeteer. “This trip broadened our mind to the vast possibilities of creative ministry that we can share in Bermuda,” says Ramabuke.

Delegates from West End CC in Bermuda attend a creative ministry conference in Columbus, Ohio: Sekai Wainwright-Basden, Tamiko Ramabuke, Nathan Simons, Craig Browne, Kaisha Simons, YPSM Joanne Fubler, Colin Browne, YPT Coral-Lee Browne

Mural Shares General’s Vision in New Brunswick AT THE CENTRE of Hope in Saint John, N.B., under the leadership of Captains Rodney and Paulette Bungay, executive directors, every visitor knows why The Salvation Army does what it does thanks to a new mural at the entrance to the centre.

The mural, which shows two hands holding sunlight, declares General Linda Bond’s vision for The Salvation Army— One Army, One Mission, One Message—with the words, “Because the love of Jesus Christ compels us.”

“It’s the first thing you see when you come to the centre,” says Captain Rodney Bungay. “The minute people walk through the door, there is no question what we’re about—the mural clearly articulates the message that we’re offering hope in the name of Christ Jesus.”

The idea for the mural came to Captains Bungay shortly after they read the General’s vision statement last December.

“Up until recently, a lot of people in this area didn’t really know what we are as The Salvation Army,” he says. “Some think of the Army as a social organization, or a church, or emergency disaster services. But the General’s statement captures it in one sentence.”

The mural also makes the centre, which includes a shelter, a special care program and community housing, feel warmer

and more welcoming.

“We wanted to convey, through an image, that the centre is a place that provides hope and safety,” Captain Rodney Bungay says. “The two hands together show protection and comfort.” He notes that the hands are also a reference to the Army’s message—Heart to God, Hand to Man.

From left, Gerard Cavan, caregiver; Jennifer Beckett, support services co-ordinator; Malcolm Ramsay; Ken O’Dell; Greg Crawford; Cpt Rodney Bungay Salvationist I December 2012 I 5

AROUND THE TERRITORY

Ministry Expands in Kindersley, Sask.

THE SALVATION ARMY has officially opened a family services unit in Kindersley, Sask., that will offer emergency assistance, food, furniture, counselling, hampers, toy distribution and more. Majors Len and Ros Millar, community ministries director and community ministries officer, are working to consolidate the Army’s ministry in the area, expand its presence and explore partnerships.

“The Salvation Army is commited to growing and supporting the citizens in the Kindersley region,” says Major Len Millar. “The family services unit will provide hope and dignity, and help marginalized and vulnerable citizens.”

Located inside the Army’s thrift store, the new offices will allow for effective and efficient delivery of services. “Under one roof we can respond quickly,” says Major Millar. “If individuals need emergency services, such as clothing, furniture or food, we can do it all out of this office.”

One of the initiatives the Army will undertake in Kindersley is a school feeding program called Sally Snacks, which will provide children in need with items such as cheese, crackers, juice and fruit cups.

Eastwood Family Fun Day ON A BEAUTIFUL fall Saturday in Windsor, Ont., hundreds attended the Eastwood Citadel Family Fun Day Extravaganza.

Those in attendance included corps members, families from the Learning Corner Daycare and members of the community.

The free event featured games, bouncy castles, face painting, food and fun for the whole family. As music filled the parking lot, participants went from station to station enjoying the activities. One of the highlights of the day was a visit from Jangles the Clown who entertained with his humour, a magic show and a balloon sculpture for each child.

A fishing pond was one of many activities available at the free event

For more Army news, visit us online at

salvationist.ca

6 I December 2012 I Salvationist

Mjrs Ros and Len Millar give leadership to the Army’s ministries in Kindersley, Sask.

Hungry Families Turning to the Army A RECENT REPORT on Salvation Army food services, entitled Feeding Canada’s Families, revealed that more families are turning to Army food programs and centres for assistance.

Since 2009, The Salvation Army in Canada has conducted a survey during the Thanksgiving holiday to evaluate its fo o d prog r a m s, which include food banks, soup kitchens and meal programs.

In this year’s report: • Nearly 70 percent of Army food banks reported an increase in families served this past year.

• Almost a third of Army food banks saw a decrease in donations at centres within the last 12 months.

• Soup kitchens and food banks saw an increase in families requiring their services, with 60 and 70 percent reporting an increase respectively.

• Only 70 percent of food banks and soup kitchens were “certain” or “very certain” that they would be able to meet demand for food services in the upcoming year.

To read the entire report, visit www.SalvationArmy.ca/ foodreport2012.

AROUND THE TERRITORY

Gospel Concert in Miramichi Ontario Great Lakes Hosts Dignity Conference

THE GUITARS WERE out in support of The Salvation Army in Miramichi, N.B., as the group Second Chance hosted a gospel concert in the mill town.

Earlier this summer, Second Chance produced a gospel CD and gave it to a number of area churches to use as a fundraiser.

At that time, the three members of the band—Bill Hachey, Ross Wilson and George Allain—expressed an interest in holding a fundraising concert for The Salvation Army.

In September, Second Chance, with some help from other performers including Susan Butler, Mary Butler, Dave Young, Clair Young, Dave Gopee and the Tabusintac Group, put on a show for a crowd of approximately 150. Captains Wilson and Darlene Sutton, corps officers in Miramichi, also took part in the event which raised nearly $1,400. The money will be used to help those in need in Northeastern New Brunswick.

Delegates gather at Guelph Citadel for community and family services/ thrift store conference

From left, George Allain, Bill Hachey, Susan Butler, Cpts Wilson and Darlene Sutton, and Ross Wilson performed at the gospel concert

WORDS OF LIFE

JANUARY-APRIL ISSUE NOW AVAILABLE! Take time with the Father daily as you meditate upon his Word.

Ask Jesus to interpret his Word and speak to your heart.

Open yourself to the Spirit as he brings inspiration.

“Hope” is the overarching theme in Words of Life this year, with this edition looking at “Ambassadors of Hope.” We see hope for God’s world in creation, Old Testament leaders giving hope for the Israelite nation and beyond, and how hope relates to holiness.

In the New Testament, leaders of the young church are ambassadors of hope as they encourage others to spread the gospel. A series by guest writer Major Stephen Poxon addresses the subject of grace.

May we be ambassadors of hope who daily share God’s love and grace with a world in desperate need of Christ. $6.99 plus shipping and handling The Salvation Army Supplies and Purchasing • 416-422-6100 orderdesk@can.salvationarmy.org • SalvationArmy.ca/Store

IN SEPTEMBER, ARMY employees and officers from the Ontario Great Lakes Division gathered at Guelph Citadel for the first community and family ser v ices/thrift store conference.

Restoring Dignity was the theme used for the two days of learning, networking and fellowship. Gail Barker, founder of Stellar Coaching and The conference was Consulting in Strathroy, Ont., leads a workshop organized by the on customer service essentials divisional business administration department with committee members from ministry units from across the division.

Lt-Colonel Lee Graves, divisional commander, Ontario Great Lakes Division, welcomed the delegates and delivered a keynote session based on Jesus’ command to love our neighbours as ourselves (see Matthew 22:39). He talked about the many opportunities that arise in both community and family services and thrift store ministries to practise this commandment and share God’s love. On the second morning, Lt-Colonel Alf Richardson, area commander, Ontario Great Lakes Division, shared from John 6 on the miracle of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000.

Experts from different fields provided an array of resources on health and safety, customer service essentials and thriftstore best practices. Delegates had the opportunity to share successes from their own situations through display boards, laptop presentations and networking. Two lunch-and-learn sessions were included, featuring Joanne Tilley, social services consultant, THQ, and Mike Couture, divisional volunteer co-ordinator, Ontario Great Lakes Division.

Salvationist I December 2012 I 7

8 I December 2012 I Salvationist

A CHRISTMAS EMBRACE Our Saviour came into a dark world to seek and save the lost

broken lives or heal the deep wounds of the heart. Sometimes we are surprised to discover that the people who feel most lost in this Christmas maze are not the economically strapped. Sometimes the hurting, broken, lonely and lost are actually the ones who appear to have it all together.

God took on human flesh, moved into our neighbourhood and spent his life in search of those who needed to reconnect with their Maker The Bible tells a story of such a man—Zacchaeus. He was actually very prosperous. However, his profession as a tax collector ostracised him. But Jesus, like the doting grandfather, saw where he was all the time and connected with him in a life-changing way. When criticised by the people because he was having a bite to eat with a “sinner” like Zacchaeus, Jesus declared emphatically that he had come into the world to seek and to save the lost (see Luke 19:10).

Zacchaeus changed from the schem-

ing deceiver that he was to a generous, responsible citizen. Why? Not because he was publicly shamed, reprimanded or made to feel like an outsider, but because Jesus was on the lookout for him. He gave him a sense of dignity. He knew he could be different.

It is so important that we don’t get carried away with nostalgia when it comes to the Christmas story. We can romanticise the scene of Jesus’ birth and miss the power of its message. God took on human flesh, moved into our neighbourhood and spent his life in search of those who needed to reconnect with their Maker.

Maybe some of us would never admit to being a lost soul, but we would admit to a loss of our idealism, values, faith or hope. Maybe we would even venture to admit that we have lost much of our love for ourselves or others. It’s not something we declare to everyone. We may feel like the young boy, unnoticed by the crowd but frantically needing to be found. Well, friends, Christmas is about the coming of the Saviour of the world—the loving Saviour—the one who searches out lost people, embraces them and gives them the best sense of belonging they could ever imagine.

General Linda Bond is the international leader of The Salvation Army.

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/DaydreamsGirl

T

he small boy was obviously lost. Standing in the shopping mall with crowds of people rushing by, he looked terribly anxious, glancing all around for a familiar face. It was Christmastime and the worst time of year to be in the midst of a rushing crowd, disconnected from a family member. Yet, standing beside The Salvation Army’s Christmas kettle, I could see what he could not—an elderly man standing not far away with eyes fixed on the boy. I thought to myself that this was his grandfather. Sure enough, their eyes met and the older man ran to embrace the boy. “You thought you were lost, didn’t you? Well, I knew where you were all the time.” No scolding of the boy for wandering off. No embarrassing lecture in front of strangers. No reprimand of any sort.

For so many people, Christmastime only accentuates their sense of lostness—of being alone in the crowd. The emphasis on family, happy memories, celebration and giving just reminds them of their isolation and that life has not been like that for them. Perhaps that is why The Salvation Army has made Christmas a major focus of its year.

Perhaps that is why we arrange special meals in the community, Christmas assistance and the giving of toys. We want to replace the sense of loss or meet the urgent need and display the spirit of Christmas in the most practical ways.

Yet in spite of all we do, we cannot fix

BY GENERAL LINDA BOND

Salvationist I December 2012 I 9

MISSION MATTERS

Christmas Without The Salvation Army?

It’s hard to imagine a world where the Army didn’t bring cheer and comfort during the holiday season

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/PaulGregg

BY COMMISSIONER BRIAN PEDDLE

I

n a few days, I will attend the Christmas With The Salvation Army event at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall.

This will be an evening of glitz and glamour Army style with incredible music, drama and atmosphere. The intent is to create a setting in which we celebrate and pay tribute to our donors and volunteers who help make Christmas possible for individuals and families in more than 400 communities across the territory. As the territorial commander, I will revel in every moment. This will be time well spent.

However, I find myself caught between two realities that challenge my heart. First are the words “Christmas with The Salvation Army” and how they contrast with the beautiful setting of Roy Thomson Hall. The second are the front-line initiatives through which The Salvation Army will provide countless Christmas dinners, food baskets and toys for every age.

10 I December 2012 I Salvationist

I have been ref lecting on what Christmas with “us” really looks like.

Take Mike, for example. He is estranged from his wife, mostly due to mental health issues, and does not see his two boys very often. This year there will be a sleepover at his small apartment on Boxing Day. With few resources, little food and no gifts or tree, Mike is blown away by the challenge. Fortunately Mike knows the Salvation Army community and family services worker and a miracle takes place when he receives the materials needed to host his children. “Can you imagine my Christmas without The Salvation Army?” asks Mike.

Sarah lives alone and her small circle of friends disappears to spend the holiday with their families. Although this could be the loneliest time of the year for her, Sarah is only worried about the bus being available on Christmas Day. But one way or another, she will be at the Booth Centre by 7 a.m. That’s when they start peeling the vegetables. Later in the day, after hours of preparation, serving and cleaning up, Sarah will sit at a table with others and enjoy a turkey dinner, conversation with new friends and the opportunity to add one more mug filled with candy to her collection.

The mug is a thank-you gift from the officer; she now has five on her shelf at home. What could have been a long day of loneliness is eclipsed by a full heart.

Can you imagine Sarah’s Christmas without the Army?

John and Shelly and their three kids represent thousands of families who are turning to the Army today for support more than at any other time in our history. Whether facing economic hardship or the challenges that come with being new to Canada, many families struggle to access the resources they desperately need. Although John and Shelly love their kids and are doing their best to

provide for them, decorations, toys and feasting aren’t within their grasp.

Thank the Lord that this is where the Army kicks into high gear and helps turn parents into heroes so that their children have bright eyes, smiles, hugs and laughter.

Maybe a reporter will ask me what difference it would make if The Salvation Army was not around. I would love to give the answer. I would use the word “miracle” as often as possible.

In elaborate pageants and school plays, there will be noble attempts to capture the miracle of Christmas during this holy season. The manger will be pulled out, costumes dusted off and lines memorized so that a host of characters can dramatize the reason for Christmas.

While I don’t mind that we glamorize the story, in reality the birth of the Christ Child to a young teenager, relegated to a cattle shed and then exiled to a country not her own, is the real Christmas story.

But the theme of all these versions of the story remains true: Jesus came to the world. His gift to the world was salvation as he offered himself as the Saviour for all. Scripture proclaims in Luke 19:10 that the “Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

My heart skips a beat when I think of all that will be accomplished during Christmas. At the very centre of my prayer is a plea that people will see beyond our compassion and good works and catch a glimpse of the one who calls, motivates and requires us to serve in his name.

Commissioner Brian Peddle is the territorial commander of the Canada and Bermuda Territory. His favourite Christmas carol is Joy to the World.

Bringing Good

Cheer

Photo: Margaret Chegwin, The Pipestone Flyer

Thanks to the efforts of kettle volunteers, The Salvation Army can assist thousands at Christmastime

BY KRISTIN FRYER, STAFF WRITER

T

he Salvation Army kettle is a symbol of Christmas.

This year, thousands of people from across the Canada and Bermuda Territory will be blessed thanks to generous donors and bell ringers such as Daniel Finkel, Darlene Doherty, Sean O’Connor and Fred Courtney.

Kettle volunteer Daniel Finkel celebrates his 101st Christmas this year

101 Christmases

DANIEL FINKEL IS celebrating his 101st Christmas, and with more than 100 years of life to look back on, he says he is thankful for every day.

An active member of the Wetaskiwin Corps, Alta., Finkel is also marking his 23rd year as a Salvation Army kettle volunteer.

“I started volunteering the first Christmas after I came to the Salvation Army church,” he says. “I looked for any and every type of job that I could do.”

Born in Austria on June 23, 1912, Finkel moved to Winnipeg in 1920 and to Wetaskiwin in 1990. That year, he went to the Wetaskiwin Corps with his son, Bruce.

“Normally, parents get their children to follow their faith, but in my case, it was the other way around,” Finkel says.

While living in Winnipeg, he went to the Army occasionally when his son invited him to go. Now, Finkel never misses a service.

Last year was his busiest year as a kettle worker so far.

“I volunteered whenever and wherever because we were short on people—the need was there,” he says. “I like standing on the kettles because it helps somebody.”

When people ask him about the kettles, he is sure to explain that it’s for a good cause, but often he finds that he does not need to.

“I’d ask people, ‘Do you know why this is being done?’ and most people would say, ‘Oh, yes, we know the Sally Ann,’ ” he says. “They’ve read about The Salvation Army or they’ve had a personal experience with the Army.”

When people place a donation in the kettle, Finkel may offer them a copy of Faith & Friends, but he says he takes a gentle approach to evangelism.

“If they’re not Christians I don’t overdo it,” he explains.

“All I can tell them is what I’ve experienced or what I’m doing for and with The Salvation Army.”

Finkel also participates in various community ministries, such as visits to seniors’ homes. “People often ask me, ‘What’s your secret to longevity?’ and I say, ‘I keep busy—that’s number 1—and I try to do things that will benefit others more than myself,’ ” Finkel says.

So will he volunteer for the kettles again next year?

Absolutely, Finkel says. “As long as I can breathe and live.”

A Fresh Perspective

LAST FALL, DARLENE Doherty found herself in a difficult place after she lost her job through downsizing.

“I’m a single parent and I was left without an income, with very little notice,” she says.

Becoming the kettle co-ordinator at Kingston Citadel, Ont., was a blessing in more ways than one.

“After I took the position, I was asked to come to a church service one Sunday so that I could be introduced to the congregation,” Doherty says. “That day, I felt an overwhelming feeling of contentment, and I knew that this was where I belonged. I haven’t missed a Sunday since.”

Doherty was not entirely new to The Salvation Army. As a teenager, she was involved with a Salvation Army church in Montreal, and she volunteered as a bell ringer with her mother and sister every Christmas. But becoming a kettle co-ordinator gave Doherty a new perspective on the work of The Salvation Army.

“It was amazing to see how many people are helped by the money raised through the kettles,” she says. “I always knew Salvationist I December 2012 I 11

Becoming the kettle co-ordinator at Kingston Citadel, Ont., helped Darlene Doherty see the Army in a new light

had difficulty getting by and he turned to The Salvation Army for help.

Soon after he started coming to the Caring Place’s soup kitchen, he became a kettle volunteer.

“I felt that if I was there using their services and eating their food, the least I could do was to go out and shake a bell,” he says.

O’Connor had passed by the kettles many times over the years and put change in, but he says volunteering has given him a whole new way of thinking. “It’s made me a more positive, caring person, and it’s helped me see the glory of God at work.”

Now a volunteer with the soup kitchen, as well as the kettles, O’Connor wants donors to know that their contributions are making a real impact.

“One time, a woman came up to my kettle with her little boy. She put a dollar in and her son said to her, ‘Mommy, can I put some in, too?’ And so she dug around in her purse and gave him a coin, and after he put it in, I said, ‘Do you know what you just did?’ He looked at me and said, ‘What?’

Carol of the Bells

IN 1989, SEAN O’Connor was at work when a blood vessel burst in his brain, immediately putting him into a coma. The recovery process was long, but O’Connor, a former addict, believes that this crisis was a necessary turning point for him.

“If it didn’t happen to me, I’d be dead,” he says. “I know God had a plan for me. He didn’t want me to kill myself with drugs and alcohol, and this was how he started me on a new path.”

Today, O’Connor is clean and sober, and he’s a regular volunteer at the Army’s Caring Place in Maple Ridge, B.C. He moved to Maple Ridge four years ago to take a job at a dry cleaners. But when the job was not as promised, O’Connor 12 I December 2012 I Salvationist

Photo: The Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Times

The Salvation Army was involved in the community, but I didn’t realize just how much they are involved. The rent relief program, community food hamper ministry, after-school programs, prison ministry—there are so many things going on.”

The kettle campaign has also given Doherty opportunities to offer direct assistance to people in need.

“Last year, one gentleman came to the kettles in rough shape,” she recalls. “He said that he was extremely cold but couldn’t get a coat, so we connected him with our community services office and he was given a voucher to come to the family thrift store and pick out some warmer clothing.

“In return for that, he volunteered to work the kettles for us,” Doherty continues. “He said, ‘I could never afford to pay you back for the clothing you gave me, but I can give you my time.’ ” The positive effects of the kettles have also been felt in her own family.

“My dad had a stroke last summer and, afterward, his behaviour changed: he was sticking around home and not socializing very much,” she says. “When I became the kettle co-ordinator, I would call him occasionally and ask for his help if I needed volunteers. Soon, he started phoning me every morning and asking, ‘Where do you need me to go?’

“You could see that he was enjoying it—going out and meeting people. He was coming out of his shell.”

Having witnessed first-hand the impact of the kettles, Doherty is happy to be involved with the campaign again this year. “It touches a lot of people in so many different ways.”

Sean O’Connor became a kettle volunteer after connecting with The Care Place in Maple Ridge, B.C.

“I said, ‘You just helped change a life.’ “ ‘Really?’ he said. And I said, ‘Yes, you did, and thank you very much. Have a great Christmas.’ ” When O’Connor volunteers on the kettle, he usually sings Christmas carols, though he admits he occasionally gets the words mixed up.

“Many people come up to me and say, ‘I’m glad to hear someone singing at Christmastime,’ or, ‘Keep up the good work.’ And that just fills my heart, knowing that, for a brief time, they got a little glimpse of the care and the compassion that The Salvation Army has for people.”

Kettle Community

IN GLACE BAY, N.S., filling the kettle is a community effort, in both donations and volunteering.

Last year, the local campaign surpassed its $40,000 goal, thanks to many donors and the efforts of more than 150 people who signed up to assist on the town’s six kettles.

And the volunteer list grows every year.

“I have so many volunteers, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of them all,” says Fred Courtney, kettle co-ordinator and corps sergeant-major at Glace Bay Corps. He notes that about 80 percent of the volunteers come from outside the corps.

Various groups and sports teams have signed up to help, as have local politicians, including town councillors, members of the legislative assembly of Nova Scotia and a member of Parliament.

Some groups have even extended their support beyond the Christmas campaign.

“The Huff n’ Puff hockey team has 35 members and they all volunteer to work the kettles,” Courtney says. “For the last four years, they have also collected money for us during their season, and since then, they’ve given us from $800 to $1,500 per year.”

Seeing the people of Glace Bay rally around the kettle campaign has been very encouraging for Courtney, who has been co-ordinating the campaign since 1995.

“Through the kettles, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for the people of our community and their willingness to support those with less,” he says. “We’re only a small community and we’re not in the most prosperous area, but if there is a need, they respond.

“Here, The Salvation Army is well respected,” he continues.

“The people have confidence that the money we collect will help those in need.”

For Courtney, building relationships with people in the community—especially volunteers—is key to the kettle cam-

Corps Sergeant-Major Fred Courtney, Glace Bay, N.S., receives a cheque from Cecil Macqueen, president of the Huff n’ Puff hockey team

paign’s success.

“We want everybody to know that we’re thankful,” he says, “and we want the volunteers to feel that the job they’re doing is worth doing.

“With the volunteers, it’s not just having somebody come and do a job,” he adds. “For me, it’s a family.”

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It’s a Musical Life Making music encourages the Venables family in their faith and helps them grow together as a family

BY KRISTIN FRYER, STAFF WRITER

W

hen I arrive at Toronto’s North York Temple at 5 p.m. on a windy October day, Marcus Venables is there to meet me.

“I just heard from my dad—they’re running about 15 minutes late. We’re always running late,” he informs me with a smile.

The “we” is the Venables family—Marcus, his five siblings and two parents.

Marcus excuses himself and heads into the sanctuary where I see him arranging chairs and putting music on stands. When the family arrives a few minutes later, we all take a seat around the conference table in the corps library.

With me now are Marcus, 21, Keziah, 19, Harrison, 18, 14 I December 2012 I Salvationist

The Venables family

and Rachelyn, 16, as well as parents Bob and Rhonda.

Missing are Brindley, 23, who has class and will be coming late, and Barrington, 26, who has a prior commitment.

Getting them all together in one place at the same time is difficult, given how busy everyone is, but Tuesdays are usually good since everyone has band or songster practice at the corps.

The Venables are a family of musicians, from a long line of musicians.

“It is a tradition,” Bob st ate s emphat ically, a s Rhonda lists off family members—uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents—who have served The Salvation Army through music.

Bob is a professional freelance trumpeter and has performed with the Hamilton

Philharmonic Orchestra, Toronto Ph i l h a r mon i a Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company, as well as the The Salvation Army’s International Staff Band and Canadian Staff Band.

But his passion is at the corps, where he has served as bandmaster of the North York Temple Band (NYTB) and leader of the young people’s (YP) band. Currently, he is principal cornet with the NYTB, leader of the songsters and he teaches beginner brass.

In the Same Tune Following in their father’s footsteps, all of the children can play cornet and, like Bob, they got their start at music camp. But they received most of their teaching directly from their father.

As they home-schooled their children, Bob says he and Rhonda considered music and performing to be an important part of their education.

“We did little events at seniors’ homes, ladies’ coffee hour clubs, hospitals and afternoon events at the corps,” says Bob. Not that the kids were always eager to perform.

“I r e m e m b e r b e i n g gr umpy about it sometimes—actually, most of the time, growing up,” admits Harrison. The others laugh knowingly.

“When you guys were grumpy, I would say, ‘It’s always for the Lord, everything,’ ” Rhonda jumps in.

“There was no reason for doing it otherwise.”

She turns to me. “I always wanted them to know that even though we weren’t handing out a cup of soup, we were supporting the corps through music and song. Every time we performed, we were an example and a witness.”

Each of the children remembers this becoming a reality for them around the time they became teenagers.

For Rachelyn, the change coincided with her putting on the Salvation Army uniform at 14.

“Getting into uniform really helped me,” she says.

“Before that, I went through the motions with everybody else, but after, I felt that I coundn’t just goof around anymore; I had to actually be with it. I started paying attention to the words of the songs and a lot of things

clicked with me.”

After putting on the uniform, joining the NYTB was another rite of passage for the Venables children. Since Rachelyn joined at 15, all six of them have been members.

Everyone plays cornet except Barrington, who switched to trombone several years ago.

When I ask them which project h a s been t heir favourite, the answer is almost unanimous: the NYTB’s Eternal Life CD. (For Harrison, it’s a close call between Eternal Life and recording theme songs for “Ready to Serve,” a Salvation Army Bible-teaching program for children.)

Released this past Easter, Eternal Life was spearheaded

by Marcus and Bandmaster Glenn Barlow. The CD features new compositions by w r iters from across the Canada and Bermuda Territory and the United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland.

“I n t he br a s s b a nd world, the music that is usually recorded has been done a lot before,” Marcus explains. “Glenn and I felt that we needed to do music that hadn’t been recorded.”

“It’s really the first time that a CD of this kind has been produced,” Bob adds.

“And it was one of the more fun CD recording sessions that we’ve done because the pieces were so interesting and exciting,” says Keziah.

Three of the CD’s 12 songs, including the title t rack, were penned by Marcus. He wrote Eternal Life, a 10-minute tour de force cornet solo, for his father.

“Playing that solo was particularly rewarding for me,” says Bob. “When I was writing it, I was imagining him playing it,” says Marcus. “Very few people could do it—it’s very taxing. But when he stood up and played it, it was exactly how I imagined. It was

probably equally rewarding for me.”

Introducing Venabrass Though Eternal Life is a special recording for the Venables, it’s certainly not their first. Most recently, they have done CD projects with the YP band and songsters, and their own family band, Venabrass.

For the Venables, playing at Christmastime is a unique opportunity for ministry “We didn’t pick that name—Venabrass,” Bob notes, “but somebody coined it and it’s stuck with us.”

Ve n a b r a s s i n i t i a l l y involved Bob, Barrington, Brindley and Marcus, but now family members participate on an ad hoc basis.

I n 2 010, Ve n abr a s s recorded Yuletide Carols with Bramwell Tovey, conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the band plays concerts throughout the year, including an annual Christmas concert with the Peterborough Singers.

“Making music together at Christmastime has always been very important for us,” says Bob. Bob and Rhonda’s first performance together happened at Christmastime when they were teenagers.

“Bob was going to play O Holy Night on TV and he asked me to accompany him,” remembers Rhonda, who plays piano and horn.

Heading into Christmas this year, the family has several concerts with the NYTB, as well as their concert with

the Peterborough Singers, and they expect the number of events to increase.

“As the time gets closer to Christmas, we always get calls,” says Rhonda. “But we try to fit everybody in, to make sure that everybody has Christmas music.”

For the Venables, playing at Christmastime is a unique opportunity for ministry.

“The message of Christ is so prominent in the Christmas music,” says Keziah, “so when you’re performing, you can sing from your heart and put your faith on display.”

“Lots of times, while playing at the Christmas kettles, I’ve had people come up and say, ‘I was having a really bad week, and hearing you play was exactly what I needed,’ ” says Harrison.

“Some people we know have come to the Lord as a result of hearing the band,” Bob adds. “That always stays with you.”

Between all the concerts, practices, projects and more, the Venables spend a lot of time playing music together.

I ask them how this has affected them as a family.

“It has always made us a tighter-knit family—no question about that,” says Bob. “Learning new music can sometimes cause strain or a disagreement. ‘No, I don’t want to do it that way. I want to do it this way.’ But, eventually, we agree on how to do something and that makes us stronger.”

“You end up relying on each other a lot because, if they don’t come through for you, then you’re going to be left out to dry,” adds Keziah.

“We support each other. If a family member needs someone to come and play at an engagement somewhere, then we come and help them.”

“And at the end of the day, it all comes together and we get the job done,” Brindley concludes.

Salvationist I December 2012 I 15

Picturing Christmas

The Salvation Army distributes thousands of toys and food items to families in need during the Christmas season. And it’s the dedication and tireless work of officers, soldiers, volunteers and friends of the Army that make it happen. Salvationist has gathered pictures from across the Canada and Bermuda Territory that provide a snapshot of what Christmas ministry is all about. For more pictures, visit salvationist.ca/photos.

CALGARY—Sally Ann with one of Santa’s reindeer at the Encana Family Skate for Toy Mountain event, the city’s largest toy drive in support of the Army’s Christmas assistance program

HALIFAX—From left, Brodie Saunders and John Brown drop off toys from the Canadian Forces Joint Signals Regiment at Empire Bayers Lake Theatre in support of the Army’s ministry

THUNDER BAY, ONT.—Participants cheer each other on during the Elf Walk, held in communities across the territory in conjunction with the Santa Shuffle to raise money for Army ministries

SARNIA, ONT.—Even children can do their part to support the Army’s Christmas mission as shown by these young timbrelists

HAMILTON, BERMUDA—Salvationists offer seasonal music to the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel on Christmas Eve

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C.—Toys collected during the Motorcycle Toy Run are sorted by age category

LONDON, ONT.—Children share a moment with the guest of honour at London Village’s Breakfast With Santa event

ESSEX, ONT.—Volunteers Doug and Teresa Benson bring smiles as they stand by the kettle

TORONTO—Salvationists Ivy and Charles Munday have stood faithfully by the kettle at Eglinton Square Mall for many years

KINGSTON, ONT.—The launch of the Christmas kettle campaign was held at the Kingston Cataraqui Centre

WINDSOR, ONT.—The Army in Windsor is grateful for the food and monetary donations from their local Cubs at Christmastime

TORONTO—The annual Carols and Candles event at North Toronto CC features various groups and musical sections from the corps, including children who attend Sunday school

OTTAWA—Michael Maidment, area director for public relations and development for the national capital region and federal government relations liaison officer, greets representatives of Ottawa Fire Services as they deliver toys collected during Ottawa’s Santa Claus parade for the Army’s toy drive

SUMMERFORD, N.L.—Cpts Brandi and Dwayne LeDrew, COs, New World Island West, accept pyjamas for the Army’s Christmas effort from members of the parent-teacher association at New World Island Academy

DEER LAKE, N.L.—Participants in the corps’ Christmas drama

GUELPH, ONT.—Mjr Wilbert Abbott, CO, Guelph Citadel, lends a helping hand during the Christmas food drive

OTTAWA—From left, Ryan Van Stralen and Daniel Walsh of the Ottawa 67’s hockey team volunteer at the Army’s toy warehouse

LONDON, ONT.—Elvis Presley (Matt Martin) stops by to entertain kettle donors

Joy to the World

For Canadian officers and soldiers serving in international appointments, Christmas is a time to experience new traditions. It’s also when they feel farthest from their family and friends at home. Here are four reflections on celebrating the birth of Jesus in a different culture

Cols Robert and Marguerite Ward with daughter, grandchildren and Pakistani Salvationists prepare for Christmas celebrations

Carolling in Islamabad

BY COLONELS ROBERT AND MARGUERITE WARD CHRISTMAS TAKES ON a very different look in Pakistan as it’s a country where less than two percent of the population is Christian. There is little evidence of Christmas in the bazaars, but since they are already very busy, colourful and noisy, it seems like Christmas most of the time.

Intentionally celebrating Christmas becomes even more important in this setting. It is done with lots of tinsel chains and lights, sometimes covering the whole of the churches. The pageants are extraordinary because of the unusual variety of costuming. Perhaps our most memorable pageant was when the police arrived to say we had 10 minutes to leave the area.

The entire party was packed up and moved to the divisional commander’s home where we finished our happy day with the officers and their children.

After our arrival in Pakistan, we resurrected the territorial Christmas sale. Working together toward the sale gives a sense of family and team in the territory as well as providing a rare opportunity to raise funds locally.

We are invited to participate in Christmas programs at all our social institutions and a few divisional Christmas functions. Every December, we hold one of our territorial executive councils. In addition to giving the divisional leaders the opportunity to participate in the sale, we host them for an annual Christmas evening in our home. We manage to decor-

ate early for the event and enjoy a dessert and coffee. There is a territorial headquarters (THQ) event as well. We meet in a large tent (shamiana) and enjoy a typical Pakistani meal.

Gifts for all of these occasions are made possible from our Territorial Missionary Fund Christmas gift sent from Canada.

Carolling is also part of Christmas. Last year, we went carolling in Islamabad. Our daughter and family were visiting from South Africa, so our grandson, Jeremy, carolled with the group in the neighbourhood. It made for good party conversation since the carolling was in close proximity to where Osama bin Laden had been hiding out for the past five years.

We enjoy a large roof garden and look forward to the annual youth celebration. It is more than magical with all the twinkly lights, the gorgeous attire of the youth and most especially the joyful evening they also plan.

Our huge open concept apartment accommodates many guests for Christmas dinner. While turkeys are available in the supermarket, you would have to mortgage THQ to purchase one. Instead we enjoy a wonderful meal of curries, biryani and many more wonderful Pakistani dishes.

If you could visit THQ this year you would find all the corridor doors beautifully decorated as each department works together to “win” the Christmas decorating contest.

Bara din mubarak! Merry Christmas to all of you.

Colonels Robert and Marguerite Ward are the territorial leaders of the Pakistan Territory.

A White Christmas

BY CAPTAINS HANNU AND GERRY LINDHOLM HYVÄÄ JOULUA! THE Finnish greeting of Merry Christmas is frequently heard after the Finnish Independence Day on December 6. The streets and stores are filled with Christmas sights and sounds, both traditionally Nordic and those with recognizable roots to other cultures. And for those who feel Christmas is just not Christmas without snow, there is no likelihood of a “green” Christmas here.

The northern city of Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, is busy at this time of year as this is the home of Joulu Pukki— the “real” Santa Claus. His village is active with visitors from all over the world and there is an impressive mail centre that showcases the millions of letters that come every year. Visitors to the city also like to take a ride in a sleigh pulled by real reindeer and spend time in the ice house where even the hot chocolate is served in glasses made of ice.

Salvationist I December 2012 I 19

family and friends. This year, thanks to our current position and our caring leaders, we will spend Christmas with family in Canada. May the knowledge of the greatest gift of Jesus the Christ fill you with the wonder of this season.

Captains Gerry and Hannu Lindholm are the corps officers of Helsinki Corps, Finland.

Christmas Down Under

BY COLONEL SUSAN McMILLAN

Cpt Hannu Lindholm stands at an outdoor kettle in Finland

For the Pelastusarmeija (Salvation Army), it is also a busy time as we live out our mission of Sydän Jumalalle, käsi ihmiselle (Heart to God, Hand to Man). In Finland, as in most parts of the world, Christmas is a time of great need for many. Our biggest fundraising effort is our Christmas kettle campaign.

The kettles look a little different from those in Canada and most are outside, despite the fact that we are so far north.

Our collection time is shorter here; we only actively collect for six to eight days, finishing on December 23. It is customary for people to bring parcels to the kettle locations filled with bright coloured woolen socks (worn by all through the winter), packages of coffee (a Finnish staple) and second-hand items for our thrift stores.

For the month of December we are busy with Christmas celebrations for those who are served year-round in our social department—immigrants, children who have attended our summer camps, the lonely—and, of course, for our corps members. These times are interspersed with Christmas bazaars, carol sings, concerts and visits to seniors’ homes.

Christmas is celebrated in Finland on Jouluaattona (Christmas Eve). It is a private family time and includes a visit to the family plot at the cemetery, an afternoon service at the Pääkirkko (the main Lutheran Church in the community), a special dinner, sauna and gift sharing. Any visitors to a city in Finland on December 24 would find it deserted, the stores closed up tight and the public transportation service shut down. This makes it unrealistic for any kind of corps event like a Christmas Eve service or a dinner for those less fortunate. For those who are without family, as we are, it can be a lonely, isolating time. A particularly memorable moment occurred on our second Christmas Eve when the doorbell of our apartment rang unexpectedly. When we answered the door there were two women holding a lantern and singing a special Christmas prayer. It was so touching.

The Pelastusarmeija follows the Christmas celebration with a week of prayer the first week of January, known as Tule Herran Läsnäloon (Come into the presence of the Lord).

Salvationists from all over the country sign up for prayer times that cover this full period. Last year, in the Helsinki Corps, we opened our sanctuary to the public to join us in this prayer time, journeying through a series of prayer centres.

In our four years here we have learned much and shared much. God’s faithfulness remains an abiding realization as we continue to fulfil his will for our lives at a distance so far from 20 I December 2012 I Salvationist

NO, I’M NOT in Australia, I’m actually farther down and under in latitudinal terms. That means Christmas in Argentina is celebrated with outdoor barbecues, ice cream and all the treats suitable for a hot summer evening.

I say evening because the main family celebration is the evening of December 24. Families get together around 9:30 p.m., have some conversation and maybe some games, and at 11:00 p.m., Christmas dinner is served. There is no traditional menu, but it is always something special, and finishes up with sweetbread made with candied fruit and nuts while the family opens presents and sips mate, which is a traditional Argentine drink similar to tea. In Christian homes it is common to have a family devotional as well.

On the morning of December 25, in The Salvation Army we have a Christmas service. In Buenos Aires, and in other centres where there is more than one corps, it will be a united meeting.

Col Susan McMillan visits a community in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Because it’s summertime, we don’t have special programs to help people through the cold winter weather during the holidays. Instead, our Christmas fundraising is designated to the summer camp program for underprivileged children.

These camps will typically be held in January or February, which is vacation season here.

Over the years I have spent many Christmases abroad, away from family and friends but always surrounded by God’s people.

Here, as well as at home, “loners” like me always seem to find a place at somebody’s table. It has been my great privilege to share Christmases and New Year’s celebrations with officers and their families every year. God has been very good to me, and though I miss a traditional Canadian Christmas at home

with all that entails (yes, I even miss serenading and kettles in the snow), I still experience the wonder of this special time of year when we realize what God did for us in sending his Son as a baby, completely vulnerable and dependent, to live among us and teach us how to be holy.

I trust wherever you are this Christmas season, you will be filled with the same awe and wonder that the shepherds felt when they experienced the most amazing night of all times.

Christ, the Saviour of the world, was born!

Colonel Susan McMillan is the territorial commander of the South America East Territory.

Celebrating the Birth of Jézuska

Mjrs Andrew and Darlene Morgan prepare for their 12th Christmas in Hungary

BY MAJORS ANDREW AND DARLENE MORGAN THIS WILL BE the 12th Christmas that we spend in Hungary.

During our first term of service we found some of the customs and traditions quite different from our upbringing in Canada but now we look forward to experiences that make up a Hungarian Christmas.

We were caught off guard during our first Christmas in 1992 when we discovered that Mikulás (St. Nicholas) came to visit all the good boys and girls on December 6 and not the 24. In preparation for his coming, children clean their boots

and put them on the window sill overnight. Mikulás would then come during the night and fill the boots with candies and small toys. Another surprise was finding a live carp in a basin of water in the janitor’s room—Christmas dinner being kept fresh!

Advent wreaths and calendars are some of the tangible ways that Hungarians observe the weeks leading up to Christmas.

As Christmas approaches, people prepare by baking a traditional Christmas pastry called Beigli, filled with walnuts or poppy seeds. Fish, usually carp, is bought for the Christmas dinner. A Christmas tree is also purchased but kept fresh and cool outside until Christmas Eve. On December 24, most businesses close at noon and people go home to make ready their Christmas celebrations. Children are usually banished for several hours from the room in which the tree is put up and gifts put under it. If children try to peek, they are warned that they will frighten away Baby Jesus and the angels, who will then fly off quickly and take all the intended gifts away with them. You see, the children are taught to believe that it is Baby Jesus—Jézuska—and the angels who bring the tree and gifts for good boys and girls. The tree is traditionally decorated with candies wrapped in shiny paper called szaloncukor. An adult will ring a bell announcing the departure of Jézuska (a window is left open to show that he has left) and the children then rush in with great excitement to find the decorated tree and the gifts.

As in Canada, The Salvation Army (Üdvhadsereg) in Hungary augments its regular ministries at Christmastime to help bring meaning and joy to the holiday for those who would have difficulty doing so on their own. Some of these ministries include: hamper distribution for large, needy families; evangelistic puppet ministry in schools and institutions; Christmas meals, gifts and programs for residents of our homes and institutions; Christmas services in nursing homes and prisons; music ministry at local Christmas markets; and of course, fundraising through kettles, with one-on-one sharing of the true message of Christmas, accompanied by brass or vocal ensembles.

We are so privileged at Christmastime and throughout the year to tell others that the greatest gift Jesus has ever given is the gift of himself, coming to earth to be our Saviour. Our part is to receive him and the gift of eternal life that he offers us.

We are thankful for so many within the Canada and Bermuda Territory who support the global ministry of The Salvation Army through the power of prayer, giving of resources and caring for personnel on international service with special greetings, especially at this time of year. God bless you.

Majors Andrew and Darlene Morgan are the regional officers in Hungary.

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Salvationist I December 2012 I 21

God With Us

Through his birth, Jesus invites us to participate in the ongoing story of creation

22 I December 2012 I Salvationist

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/DaydreamsGirl

B

irth: wonder ... astonishment ... adoration. There can’t be very many of us for whom the sheer fact of existence hasn’t rocked us back on our heels. We take off our sandals before the burning bush. We catch our breath at the sight of a plummeting hawk. “Thank you, God.” We find ourselves in a lavish existence in which we feel a deep sense of kinship— we belong here; we say thanks with our lives to Life. And not just “thanks” or “thank it” but “thank you.”

Wonder is the only adequate launching pad for exploring this fullness, this wholeness, of human life. Once a year, each Christmas, for a few days at least, we and millions of our neighbours turn aside from our preoccupations with life and join together in a community of wonder. The wonder keeps us open-eyed, expectant, alive to life that is always more than we can account for, that always exceeds our calculations, that is always beyond anything we can make.

If in the general festive round of singing and decorating, giving and receiving, cooking meals and family gatherings, we ask what is behind all this and what keeps it going all over the world, among all classes of people quite regardless of whether they believe or not, the answer is simply “a birth.” Not just “birth” in general, but a particular birth in a small Middle Eastern village in datable time— a named baby, Jesus—a birth that soon had people talking and singing about God, indeed, worshipping God. Birth in itself does not seem to compel belief in God. There are plenty of people who take each new life on its own terms and deal with the person just as he or she comes to us, no questions asked.

There is something very attractive about this: it is so clean and uncomplicated and noncontroversial. And obvious. They get a satisfying sense of the inherently divine in life itself without all the complications of church: the theology, the mess of church history, the hypocrisies of church-goers, the incompetence of pastors, the appeals for money. Life, as

BY EUGENE PETERSON

Birth, every human birth, is an occasion for local wonder. In Jesus’ birth the wonder is extrapolated across the screen of all creation and all history as a God-birth life, seems perfectly capable of furnishing them with a spirituality that exults in beautiful beaches and fine sunsets, surfing and skiing and body massage, emotional states and aesthetic titillation without investing too much Godattentiveness in a baby.

But for all its considerable attractions, this shift of attention from birth to aspects of the world that please us on our terms is considerably deficient in person.

Birth means that a person is alive in the

world. A miracle of sorts, to be sure, but a miracle that very soon gets obscured by late-night feedings, diapers, fevers, and inconvenient irruptions of fussiness and squalling. Soon the realization sets in that we are in for years and years of the child’s growing-up time that will stretch our stamina and patience, sometimes to the breaking point.

So how did it happen that this birth, this Jesus-birth, managed to set so many of us back on our heels in astonishment and gratitude and wonder? And continues to do so century after century, at least at this time of year?

The brief answer is that this wasn’t just any birth. The baby’s parents and first witnesses were convinced that God was entering human history in human form. Their conviction was confirmed in angel and Magi and shepherds visitations; eventually an extraordinary life came into being before their eyes, right in their neighbourhood. More and more people became convinced. Men, women and children from all over the world continue to be convinced right up to the present moment.

Birth, every human birth, is an occasion for local wonder. In Jesus’ birth the wonder is extrapolated across the

screen of all creation and all history as a God-birth. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us”—moved into the neighbourhood, so to speak. That God was made incarnate as a human baby is still not easy to believe, but people continue to do so. Many, even those who don’t “believe,” find themselves happy to participate in the giving and receiving, singing and celebrating of those who do.

Incarnation, in-flesh-ment, God in human form in Jesus entering our history: this is what started Christmas. This is what keeps Christmas going.

Christmas, and the Incarnation that it celebrates, has its foundation in creation. The Genesis stories of creation begin with “heaven and earth,” but that turns out to be merely a warm-up exercise for the main event, the creation of human life, man and woman designated as the “image of God.” Man and woman are alive with the very breath (“spirit”) of God. If we want to look at creation full, creation at its highest, we look at a person—a man, a woman, a child.

There are those who prefer to gaze on the beauty of a bouquet of flowers rather than care for a squabbling baby, or to spend a day on the beach rather than rub shoulders with uncongenial neighbours in a cold church—creation without the inconvenience of persons. This may be understandable, but it is also decidedly not creation in the terms that have been revealed to us in Genesis and in the person of Jesus.

All this arrives as most-welcome good news in the birth of Jesus: here we have

creation as God’s gift of life, creation furnishing all the conditions necessary for life—our lives. Good news, truly, what the Greeks named a kerygma, a public proclamation that becomes a historical event. The birth of Jesus is the kerygmatic focus for receiving, entering into and participating in creation, for living the creation and not just using it or taking it for granted.

Incarnation, in-fleshment, God in human form in Jesus entering our history: this is what started Christmas.

This is what keeps Christmas going In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, his rewriting of Genesis, we read, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Matthew and Luke begin their Gospel stories with detailed accounts of Jesus’ birth. Paul in his letter to the Colossians, the first written reference to Jesus’ birth, calls Jesus the “first-born of all creation.”

Creation is God’s work, not ours. We accept and enter into and submit to what God does—what God made and makes.

We are not spectators of creation but

participants in it. We are participants first of all by simply being born, but then we realize that our births all take place in the defining context of Jesus’ birth. The Christian life is the practice of living in what God has done and is doing. We want to know the origins of things so that we can live out of our origins. We don’t want our lives to be tacked on to something peripheral. We want to live origin-ally, not derivatively.

So we begin with Jesus. Jesus is the revelation of the God who created heaven and earth; he is also the revelation of the God who is with us, Immanuel. The original Genesis creation, the stories of Israel, the lamentations of the prophets, the singing of the psalms—all of these make sense in light of that one birth that we celebrate at Christmas.

The theologian Karl Barth goes into immense detail (he wrote four fat volumes on it) to make this single point: “We have established that from every angle Jesus Christ is the key to the secret of creation.”

The conception and birth of Jesus is the surprise of creation. This is God’s initiative going beyond anything man or woman has dreamed of. This is the birth that will now set all births under the conditions of God’s creative initiative.

“Introduction” by Eugene Peterson. God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas. Edited by Greg Pennoyer and Gregory Wolfe. Copyright © by Greg Pennoyer. Used by permission of Paraclete Press, www.paracletepress.com.

✃ Christmas is coming! Send a gift that will last all year.

Yes! Send a gift subscription of: ❏ Salvationist (includes Faith & Friends) (Canada $30; US $36; other countries $41) ❏ Faith & Friends (Canada $17; US $22; other countries $24) ❏ Foi & Vie [French version of Faith & Friends] (Canada $25; US $30; other countries $32) ❏ Edge for Kids (Canada $12; US $15; other countries $17) To: Name: ������������������������������������������������� Address: __________________ Town/city: �������������������� Province/state: ____________ Postal/zip code: ��������������� Phone: ____________________ E-mail: �����������������������

From: Your name: ��������������������������������������������� Address: __________________ Town/city: �������������������� Province/state: ____________ Postal/zip code: ��������������� Phone: ____________________ E-mail: ����������������������� (Attach a separate sheet for additional subscriptions) Send a gift card ❏ Yes ❏ No Payment: ❏ Cheque (Payable to The Salvation Army) ❏ Visa ❏ Mastercard Name on card: ������������������������������������������ Card #: ___________________ Expiry date: ������������������ Return to: T he Salvation Army, 2 Overlea Blvd, Toronto ON M4H 1P4 or contact 416-422-6112; circulation@ can.salvationarmy.org; Salvationist.ca/subscribe Salvationist I December 2012 I 23

CROSS CULTURE

IN THE NEWS

Bride of Christ?

Toronto churches no longer qualify for reduced rental rates at schools

Photo: Harvard University

Ancient papyrus fragment sparks controversy

Fees for Faith

DID JESUS HAVE a wife? An ancient papyrus fragment suggests that he did.

The existence of the fourth-century fragment, which has been dubbed the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife,” was announced by Harvard Divinity School professor Karen King at the 10th International Congress of Coptic Studies.

The text of the fragment is written in Coptic, the language of ancient Egyptian Christians. The fragment includes four words that translate to, “Jesus said to them [his disciples], ‘My wife.’ ” The fragment also appears to suggest that Jesus’ wife was named Mary.

King admits that this fragment doesn’t prove that Jesus was married, but she says it “provide[s] the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married.”

Though some experts believe the fragment to be genuine, King’s announcement has been met with skepticism among various scholars. One papyrologist, Alin Suciu from the University of Hamburg, has unequivocally deemed it a forgery.

The authenticity of the fragment has yet to be verified by scientific dating and further study by ancient language experts.

TobyMac Tops Billboard Chart Eye On It is the third Christian album ever to reach number 1 WITH HIS NEW album, Eye On It, hip-hop artist TobyMac has made history. Selling

24 I December 2012 I Salvationist

69,000 copies in its first week of release, including 35,000 digital downloads, Eye On It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, a ranking of the 200 highest-selling albums in the United States.

Eye On It is the third Christian album ever to reach number 1, the last being LeAnn Rimes’ You Light Up My Life—Inspirational Songs in 1997.

CHURCHES THAT HOLD services and events in public schools are no longer considered “charitable groups” by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB).

As of September, all “faith-based organizations,” including churches, will not qualify for the subsidized rental rates that exist for non-profits, meaning that

churches now pay the same rates as for-profit businesses.

The fee hike does not affect non-profit groups such as the YMCA and Girl Guides.

With this fee increase, many churches will no longer be able to afford to rent space in schools and, as a result, their congregations are scrambling to find new places to meet.

A f te r t he h i ke w a s announced, stunned church leaders gathered outside the TDSB headquarters to protest the decision.

The TDSB says that the changes are not an attack on faith-based groups, but an attempt to reduce the board’s significant budget shortfall.

The board also said it was open to working with groups that have been affected by the changes to see if the rates may be reduced in some way.

Government Cuts Funding for Part-Time Chaplains Religious leaders, opposition MPs denounce decision

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT has decided that it will no longer fund part-time chaplains in the federal prison system.

This decision, which will take effect by the end of March 2013, impacts 49 contracts, including 31 Christian chaplains and 18 non-Christian chaplains. Following this change, there will be 80 full-time chaplains remaining, 79 of whom are Christian.

This decision sparked outcry from non-Christian religious leaders and opposition MPs, who see it as an attack on religious freedom. “The offenders who are trying to redeem themselves through their religion are being told, ‘Sorry, we only accept Christians,’ ” said Raymond Côté, MP for BeauportLimollou, Que. Defending the decision, Candice Bergen, parliamentary secretary to the minister of public safety, stated that “in addition to serving members of their own faith, these chaplains [would] also make themselves available on a by–request basis to provide spiritual advice to the general population.”

Minister for Public Safety Vic Toews noted that the cuts would not affect Canada’s 2,500 volunteer chaplains, who “will continue to have the same access they have always had.”

CROSS CULTURE

IN REVIEW

Revolution and Redemption

Sinner’s Creed

New film adaptation of Les Misérables comes to theatres this Christmas

Rock star Scott Stapp shares his faith in a new memoir

HAVING SPENT 19 years in prison after stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family, Jean Valjean is finally free. But as a convict, Valjean cannot escape his past—nor can he escape Javert, a policeman who relentlessly pursues him after Valjean breaks his parole.

This chase forms the basis of Les Misérables, a 19th-century novel by Victor Hugo and now a film adaptation of the hit musical based on the novel (in theatres December 25).

Set in pre-revolution France, Les Misérables is an exploration of the nature of grace and the law, forgiveness and justice. In addition to Valjean (Hugh Jackman) and Javert (Russell Crowe), it follows Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a factory worker who loses her job and turns to prostitution to support her daughter; Fantine’s daughter, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), who is taken in by Valjean; and Marius (Eddie Redmayne), a revolutionary who falls in love with Cosette.

Staying true to its stage roots, all of the singing in Les Misérables is “live”—the actors are actually singing, rather than lip-syncing to a recorded track—giving it a raw, emotional feel. It’s a good choice—it makes Les Misérables unique among musical films and it strengthens an already powerful story.

IN THE EARLY 2000s, Scott Stapp was at the height of his career. As the lead singer of the rock band Creed, Stapp had sold millions of albums worldwide and won a Grammy. But despite his success, Stapp was falling apart.

Addicted to drugs and alcohol, he was also experiencing severe depression, and in 2003, he nearly ended his own life.

In Sinner’s Creed, Stapp recounts these experiences, but his story has more depth than your run-of-the-mill rock star memoir.

Stapp became a Christian at a young age and he never completely lost his faith—though he did lose his way. In Sinner’s Creed, Stapp shares his life story, from his troubled upbringing, to his rise to fame and eventual crash, and his return to Christ.

Today, after years of battling his demons, Stapp has a new lease on life. He’s been sober for more than a year and his band, which broke up in 2004, is working on a new album.

His book is a testimony to that transformation—one he hopes will encourage all sinners.

A Disturbing Gospel an ear for compelling and artful preaching ... a heart for a gospel that

can often be disturbing ... and offers a a very practical set of methods for preachers today.

—Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching, Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, GA

...a must read for anyone who desires to preach with intensity and

fire ... [A] fascinating, comprehensive, thought-provoking, inspirational how-to manual on the art and power of preaching.

—Commissioner William W. Francis, Chairman, International Doctrine Council

and round … till Doomsday, and [Satan] will never concern himself about us if we don’t wake anybody up.… That is your responsibility, you Christians.…

Wake him! WAKE HIM! Remember, sinners are indifferent.”

In the first part of her book, Major Slous documents the disturbing gospel preached by William and Catherine Booth and calls upon preachers to share that gospel today. It also gives a penetrating analysis of the context in which the Booths lived and preached, and a careful study of today’s postmodernists, who are generJulie Slous is a splendid preacher and teacher who is concerned

about listeners' needs in the postmodern world ... Preachers from any background could benefit from her guidance.

—Paul Scott Wilson, Professor of Homiletics, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto

Julie Slous' objective is to teach preachers to disturb their hearers

—this is the intention of the Bible. The theory of this book has been honed by real preaching to real people ... I am better for it.

—James E. Read, Ph.D. Executive Director, The Salvation Army Ethics Centre, Corps Sergeant Major, Heritage Park Temple

ISBN: 978-0-88857-500-5

Major Julie Slous holds a Doctorate of Ministry in Biblical Preaching (Luther Seminary MN), and has served The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory as an instructor of homiletics for fifteen years. Combining both the theory and practice of preaching, she has also served in numerous congregational appointments, and has become distinguished as both an articulate and gifted expositor of the Word. She is also a well known speaker at Salvation Army conferences and retreats.

Canada and Bermuda Territory

RELIGION / Church & Preaching / Homiletics / Sermon Preparation

cover_CS6_newedit2.indd 1

JULIE A. SLOUS

I N PR E AC H I NG A Disturbing Gospel, Major Julie Slous gives an impassioned call for preachers to recover the Spirit-anointed art of consistently, courageously and compassionately “preaching a disturbing gospel.” The phrase “disturbing gospel” is inspired

by Catherine Booth, who wrote: “There’s no improving the future, without disturbing the present and the difficulty is to get people to be willing to be disturbed.”

She also wrote: “Satan has got men fast asleep.… We may sing songs about the sweet by-and-by, say prayers and go the jog-trot round

PREACHING A DISTURBING GOSPEL

Don’t be afraid to upset the status quo, challenges Major Julie Slous ... a remarkable book. Julie Slous combines a careful historian's eye,

PREACHING A

DISTURBING

GOSPEL

JULIE A. SLOUS

FOREWORD ROGER J. GREEN

2012-09-14 2:41 PM

ally “cool” to the gospel.

Major Slous concludes: “We need not be held hostage to the trends of the day. Rather, the vision and the hope is that preachers would rise up with strong and vibrant voices that are not afraid to upset the status quo of society—for

post-Booth preachers to see new possibilities for a struggling world; to see how society can be changed by both experience and firsthand knowledge of God’s eternal truth and promises contained within a disturbing gospel.”

The second part of Major Slous’ book provides a number of resources for preachers: how to preach a disturbing gospel, sample sermons, questions for discussion, a sermon checklist and recommended reading. But this book is not for preachers alone; it’s a worthy read for any Salvationist.

—Lt-Colonel Wayne Pritchett, divisional commander, Newfoundland and Labrador Division Salvationist I December 2012 I 25

CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

ENROLMENTS AND RECOGNITION OSHAWA, ONT.—Four televisions and two cameras, including installation, were donated by the Elliott family to Oshawa Temple in memory of Judy Elliott, previously pastoral care director on the corps’ ministry board. The televisions are mounted throughout the facility allowing services and announcements to be broadcast to areas such as the nursery, classroom, fellowship room and foyer. From left, Brock Elliott, Judy’s son; Peter Elliott, Judy’s husband; Mjr Robert Reid, CO. OSHAWA, ONT.—Following more than 60 years as a senior bandsman, Murray Whitehead has retired from Oshawa Temple Band. He grew up at the Fenelon Falls Corps, Ont., but the majority of his career as a bandsman was spent in Oshawa. During this time, he served as the leader of the beginners’, young people’s and senior bands. “His efforts were not exclusive to Oshawa Temple,” says Mjr Robert Reid, CO, “as he was also one of the founding members of the Canadian Staff Band in 1969, under the leadership of Norman Bearcroft.” From left, Mjr Reid; Murray Whitehead; Andrew Burditt, bandmaster.

NANAIMO, B.C.—In 1999, now-retired investment advisor David Strang founded the Nanaimo Gyro Georgia Strait Charity Challenge, which requires participants to windsurf a distance of 40 kilometres from Nanaimo to Sechelt, B.C., to raise money for local charities. In August, Strang completed his sixth challenge, and with the support of Saul Hilchey, an investment advisor with RBC Dominion Securities, raised $11,700 for Army ministry in Nanaimo. Since 1999, the pair has donated approximately $75,000 to The Salvation Army. The money from this year’s challenge was presented to Army representative Dawne Anderson and will be used to fund Nanaimo’s Hope Centre, which provides meals, emergency shelter and family services to the community. From left, David Strang; Dawne Anderson; Saul Hilchey; Tony Harris, Harris Auto Group.

ORILLIA, ONT.—Following more than 43 years of service, Alan Flannigan has retired as the leader of the young people’s band in Orillia and passed the baton to Laura Pitcher, the newly commissioned young people’s bandmaster. Joining in the celebration are, from left, Cpt Jim Mercer, CO; Marcus Emberley, youth pastor; Cpt Michelle Mercer, CO; Laura Pitcher; Ron Van Ness, colour sergeant; Alan Flannigan; Mjr Kevin Metcalf, territorial secretary for music and gospel arts; Col Gwen Redhead, worship committee chair.

JACKSON’S POINT, ONT.—Georgina CC welcomes five new junior soldiers.

From left, Madison Reid-Welford; Rebecca Reid, youth co-ordinator; Sam Jenkins; Grace Hynds; Zoe Bentley; Marjorie Bentley; Mjr Barbara Pearce, CO.

DRUMHELLER, ALTA.—Drumheller CC acknowledges new adherents including Kathryn Chambers, Tara Hodge, Bernice Robottom, Cathy Phillips, June LaSalle, Loretta Simmonds, Francine (Nikki) Chan and Jessica Holstien. Supporting them are Lts Matt and Rachel Sheils, COs, and Mjr Dave Graham, holding the flag.

26 I December 2012 I Salvationist

PENTICTON, B.C.—This past October, Penticton CC invited everyone to attend the Sunday morning worship service attired in western gear for a special “Round-Up Time.” Approximately 120 cowpokes accepted the invitation to worship and share together in a barbecue lunch. The service featured guitars, a violin and an accordion to accompany the westernstyle songs and hymns.

CELEBRATE COMMUNITY E D M O N TO N — C SM Bruce Davison, one of the founders of Edmonton Crossroads CC, has been awarded the Cer tif icate for Recognition of Exceptional Service from Commissioner Brian Peddle, territorial commander. In partnership with his wife, Louise Topham, prayer sergeant at Crossroads, and Mjrs Murray and Annetta Jaster, then corps officers, Davison pioneered the Army’s work at Crossroads, reaching out to the community to bring people into the kingdom of God. “We give glory to God for blessing Bruce, and through Bruce, so many on the Crossroads front,” says Mjr Stephen Court, CO. From left, Mjr Annetta Jaster, Bruce Davison, Mjr Murray Jaster, Louise Topham.

Salvation Army Employee Receives Jubilee Medal RICHMOND HILL, ONT.— Colin Gillis, long-time employee of the supplies and purchasing department at territorial headquarters, has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The medal commemorates the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth From left, RCMP Constable Terry Russel; Colin II’s accession to the Gillis; Costas Menegakis, MP for Richmond Hill, throne and recognizes Ont., who presented the award Canadians whose services and achievements have improved Canadian society. Gillis received the medal in recognition of his work with the Richmond Hill Centennial Pipe Band, participation in various community groups and organization of the annual Memories of Scotland fundraising concert in support of free music lessons for young people who want to play the bagpipes and drums. “I believe we need to make positive contributions to our community and try to make a difference,” says Gillis.

Anniversary Celebrations in Bay Roberts, N.L.

LABRADOR CITY/WABUSH, N.L.—Fifteen people attended the first CCM basic and advanced training day to be held at the Labrador City/ Wabush Corps. Workshop leaders included Kim Blake of Mental Health and Addictions Services, who presented on the topic of depression, and Karla Richards of Labrador-Grenfell Health, who presented on violence against older adults. On the Sunday following the training, Allen Thompson, Joyce Wall, Linda Keats, Norman Keats, Micheline and Kim Steinke were commissioned as CCM members. Pictured with a number of the new CCM members are Cpts Tim and Laura Jenkins, COs, and Mjr Lorraine Davis, divisional adult ministries secretary, N.L. Div.

In June, Salvationists and friends gathered under the theme Rooted in Faith, Redeemed by Love and Renewed to Grow to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Army opening fire in Bay Roberts, N.L. Giving leadership to the weekend events were Colonels Floyd and Tracey Tidd, chief secretary and territorial secretary for women’s ministries. The youth band and worship team from St. John’s Temple, N.L., were on hand to provide musical support. The weekend included an anniversary banquet with dinner theatre entertainment that reflected on the rich history of the Bay Roberts Corps. Guests were treated to a flash mob, traditional brass music and moments of laughter and joy as memories of the past came to life. Also included were a special youth event with a birthday party, a celebration of music and praise featuring the many musical sections of the corps and a day of worship and praise on Sunday during which Debbie Yetman and Laura Saunders were enrolled as senior soldiers. Five junior soldiers were also enrolled (see below).

LINDSAY, ONT.—Mark and Beckki Padgett dedicate their son, Thomas, to the Lord, supported

by Julie Hurlburt and Ryan Jones, godparents.

Officiating for this special service is Mjr Miriam Stevens, CO.

New junior soldiers welcomed during anniversary celebrations. Front, from left, Aaron Saunders, Nathan Piercey, Abigayle Hillier, Sam Tobin, Cody Drover. Back, from left, Colonels Floyd and Tracey Tidd; Cpts Lisa and Morgan Hillier, COs; Harvey Piercey, holding the flag

Be involved in the Army’s present Be part of the Army’s future For the latest news online, visit us at ORILLIA, ONT.—Darlene Pajari, Simone Smith, Bonnie Bonnetta and Fran Welch are enrolled as senior soldiers. Sharing in the moment are Cpts Jim and Michelle Mercer, COs; Mjr Brenda Holnbeck, pastoral care committee chair; Mjr Grace Hustler, membership class leader.

salvationist.ca

Salvationist I December 2012 I 27

CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

TRIBUTES TORONTO—Mrs. General Jean Catherine Brown, beloved wife of the late General Arnold Brown and former World President of Women’s Services of The Salvation Army, was promoted to glory in her 97th year. Born in Amherst, N.S., to officer parents, Jean gained her education throughout Ontario and Quebec as various appointments took their family to Niagara Falls, Guelph, Brantford, Windsor, Kingston, Toronto and Montreal. She entered the Toronto College for Officer Training in 1937 and following commissioning, held appointments in Hanover and Dundas, Ont., prior to her marriage in 1939. Jean is remembered as an inspiring and concerned leader who remained a role model of sacrificial dedication throughout her 42 years of active officership. Gracious in manner, she maintained a spiritual sensitivity and consistently demonstrated the high principles she enunciated.

Jean accompanied her husband on most of his administrative travels, which included visits to remote centres of work in the Army world. Jean is missed by daughters Heather (Harold) Hetherington and Beverley (Philip) Davies; grandsons Christopher (Andrea), Neil (Laura) and Andrew; great-grandchildren Jack, Riley and Liam; brother-in-law, Mick Thornton; sisters-in-law Mrs. Lt-Colonel Dorothy Brown and Phyllis Brown; many nieces and nephews.

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L.—Byron Bramwell Dawe was born in 1924 to Salvationist parents, who were among the early pioneer families of Long Pond Corps, N.L. His father served as corps sergeant-major for many years and, as a young man, Byron attended Sunday services.

In 1954, he became a senior soldier and subsequently he and his wife, Alice, became vibrant Christians. An avid student of the Bible whose passion was studying and teaching the Book of Revelation, he was often invited to make presentations in local churches.

Byron served as corps treasurer and penitent form sergeant, and used his carpentry skills in the construction of the second corps building. He regularly shared his testimony at church and in his daily encounters with people. Byron is missed, but his legacy lives on in the lives of his four daughters, two sons, 14 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, extended family members and friends.

CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L.—Born in 1938, Olivia (Olive) Mercer grew up in Grand Bank, N.L., where she attended The Salvation Army. Following her marriage to Cecil, they eventually committed their lives to Jesus Christ. Olive was enrolled as a senior soldier in 1984 at Conception Bay South. She was a faithful Christian and loving mother who found great joy in caring for her large family and always had a warm smile for everyone. Despite many years of ill health, she never complained and considered her family’s needs her first priority. She supported her children in every way, especially with encouraging words and her faithful prayers. Olivia is lovingly remembered by husband, Cecil; 15 children; 16 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; three sisters; extended family members; many friends and her corps family.

BOTWOOD, N.L.—Doris Jerrett was born in Botwood, N.L. She became a Christian at an early age, but drifted away from the Lord. She lived in the United States with her family during the Second World War and met her future husband, eventually returning to Newfoundland where they married and lived for 65 years. The death of their 18-year-old son, Delano, led to her recommitment to the Lord, whom she faithfully served for 42 years. Believing in the power of prayer, Doris was thrilled to see her husband, three sons and two daughters-in-law commit to serving Christ. She ministered as War Cry sergeant for 25 years, Sunday school teacher for 20 years and community care ministries member for 28 years. Doris is greatly missed by sons Durwood (Judy), Chris (Judy), Ilyea; daughter, Avis (Alex); brother, William (Sylvia); sister, Gladys (Max); many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; church families and friends.

28 I December 2012 I Salvationist

LONDON, ONT.—Arthur (Art) Thomas Cranford was born into an Army family in New Harbour, Trinity Bay, N.L., connecting him to the Army from cradle to grave. Art passed away peacefully and with dignity in his 88th year.

Married to Eliza for 69 years, he was father to eight children, grandfather to 21 grandchildren and great-grandfather to 22 great-grandchildren. Art lived in London, Ont., for approximately 40 years but will be remembered as a Newfoundlander at heart. He was a faithful member of Hillcrest Community Church, and even made the “old rugged cross” that hangs above the platform there.

Art will be missed by his family, church family and wide circle of friends.

WHITBY, ONT.—Howard James (Jim) Reid, a fourthgeneration Salvationist, was born in 1939 in Corner Brook, N.L., to Jacob and Sophie Reid. Jim was a dedicated lifelong member of The Salvation Army in Whitby where he served as the young people’s sergeant-major for 16 years and the corps sergeant-major for 30 years. Jim loved music and played his cornet faithfully each Sunday in the band. He influenced and taught many young people to play. Those who knew Jim will remember him for his deep love for God, his caring and nurturing nature, and the love he had for his family, gardening and horses. Jim will be remembered and is greatly missed by his loving wife, Dianna; children Jim Jr. (Judi), Rodney (Karen), Melanie (Shawn); eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; four brothers; three sisters; extended family members and many friends.

SWIFT CURRENT, SASK.—Promoted to glory at age 93, Madeline Peters was a faithful soldier at Swift Current for more than 40 years. “Even when confined to a nursing home, she requested to have her own kettle and bells at Christmas, such was her love for the Lord and the Army,” says Captain Michael Ramsay, corps officer.

Salvationist will print brief tributes, at no cost, as space permits. They should be received within two months of the promotion to glory and include: community where the individual resided; conversion to Christ; corps involvement; Christian ministry and survivors. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Digital photos in TIFF or high resolution JPEG format are acceptable. Clear, original photos may be submitted and will be returned. Send to Salvationist, 2 Overlea Blvd., Toronto ON M4H 1P4 or e-mail salvationist@can.salvationarmy.org.

GAZETTE

TERRITORIAL Promoted to glory Mjr Maxwell Young, from Ottawa, Oct 12; Mrs Brg Winifred Lewis, from Oakville, Ont., Oct 14; Mrs Mjr Harriet Campbell, from Parksville, B.C., Oct 15

CALENDAR

Commissioners Brian and Rosalie Peddle Dec 1 Santa Shuffle, Toronto*; Dec 1 Toronto Star Christmas carol concerts, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Toronto; Dec 3 Salvation Army Historical Society meeting, Toronto; Dec 4 retired officers’ Christmas luncheon, Toronto, Ont. CE Div; Dec 5 Parliamentary reception, Ottawa; Dec 8 Christmas With The Salvation Army, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto; Dec 12 Christmas service, Maxwell Meighen Centre, Toronto, Ont. CE Div; Dec 15 Hamilton Laotian Corps, Ont. *Commissioner Brian Peddle only Colonels Floyd and Tracey Tidd Dec 1 Santa Shuffle, Whitby, Ont.; Dec 4 retired officers’ Christmas luncheon, Toronto, Ont. CE Div; Dec 8 Christmas With The Salvation Army, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Canadian Staff Band Dec 1 Toronto Star Christmas carol concerts, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Toronto; Dec 8 Christmas With The Salvation Army, Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto; Dec 16 Carols of Celebration, Newmarket Theatre, Ont.

FAITH WORKS

Get Out of the Way

Effective leaders know how to support their employees without doing their jobs for them

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/RienkPost

BY MAJOR KATHIE CHIU

O

ne-by-one I took my knickknacks and pictures and put them in a box. “Is the other office empty now?” I asked. Time to start moving the furniture. I was moving to a smaller office without a window, down the hall and around the corner and away from the busy traffic. I’m sure everyone wondered what the executive director was doing moving away from the other managers.

I told the management team they were capable of handling things. I needed time to study, write and meet with people—getting back to the role of pastor again. That was true, but there was another reason. Every day I found myself in the middle of issues that had to do with the day-to-day running of the social ministry. Without realizing it was happening, I was micromanaging my team. Had I trained them well to do their job? Yes. Had they demonstrated their knowledge and skills to do their job? Yes. Did I trust them? Yes. Well,

then I needed to get out of their way and let them get on with it.

It’s a leader’s job to equip people and give them the resources and support they need to do a job well. It’s not their job to do other people’s work for them.

When leaders micromanage, there are consequences: • Employees don’t fully engage in their work, resenting their leaders and never reaching their full potential.

• People feel disrespected so volunteers drop off and staff turnover is high.

• L eaders become workaholics who eventually burn out.

Why do leaders fall into this trap? It’s usually because they’re either insecure about their own leadership or they are perfectionists. As for me, I’m a recovering perfectionist. I have trouble finding the perfect balance between doing too much and backing off too much.

Do you find yourself falling into the same trap? I find it helpful to refer back to the first “leadership consultant,”

Jethro. Here is some practical advice he gave to Moses that is applicable to us today.

Select competent people to work with you. In Exodus 18:21, Jethro told Moses to “select capable men.” When you know the people working for you can do the job well, it’s easier to let go.

Be clear about your expectations.

Jethro also told Moses to teach God’s decrees and instructions (see Exodus 18:20). When you ask someone to do a task, specify the outcomes you want to achieve.

Share your power. Moses gave the day-to-day judging over to his assistants (see Exodus 18:22). Give people permission to make decisions appropriate to their level of responsibility. Then support those decisions.

It’s not easy to lead this way, especially in the business world when a bad decision or a project that doesn’t turn out well can cost money and lose business for a company. So, how do leaders find that perfect balance? When is it time to step in and risk being perceived as a meddlesome boss?

According to Jethro, leaders should step in when people are facing a difficult task. He also told Moses to have the helpers bring the difficult cases to Moses (see Exodus 18:22).

Here are other times when leaders should step in and offer support.

•W hen restructuring or changing directions it’s appropriate to be more directive until everyone has a handle on the changes.

•W hen someone is new, staff and volunteers need a little more direction and support than usual.

• When someone fails to follow through or they need help, leaders must build them up and let them know they’re there to help them be successful.

• When there is an investigation, leaders need to follow up on details, especially in the area of human resources.

When leaders step in a bit more often to offer help or check how things are going, it gives people a sense that they are supported and part of the team. By resisting micromanaging, leaders can avoid burn out, get a better handle on workload and build morale. Know when to get involved and when to stay out of the way.

Major Kathie Chiu is the corps officer of Victoria’s High Point Community Church.

Salvationist I December 2012 I 29

TALKING POINTS

A Reasoned Faith

Why are many Christians so suspicious of scientific advances?

Photo: © iStockphoto.com/DigitalOtter

BY MAJOR JUAN BURRY

I

t’s been nearly 20 years since I entered The Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training and received my first rank of cadet. I can safely say that my decision to become an officer was a shock to most of my family and friends.

Throughout high school, my plan was to pursue a career in mathematics or one of the sciences. I wanted a job where I could work in a lab or an office on my own and solve problems. At the very least, if my intelligence and funds could not take me that far, I wanted to be an accountant. Exciting, eh?

As I recounted this story to someone recently, the response was, “For someone who wanted to work alone, you must find it difficult to be in a role where you interact with people as much as you do.”

As I thought about his remark, I realized that the most significant thing I’ve surrendered has not been my desire for isolation or solitude. Rather, it has been my love for science and the discovery of new truths.

I didn’t grow up in the church. I was a teenager when my parents became Christians and started taking me. By then, I already owned a telescope and microscope. I was reading Isaac Asimov and Charles Darwin. Theories about the big bang and natural selection were 30 I December 2012 I Salvationist

already foundational to my understanding of the world and how it came to be.

So, I found it jarring when I became immersed in the evangelical Christianity sub-culture where so many people were suspicious of scientific conversation. I felt out of place. In most group settings, after an intense discussion, I usually walked away shaking my head in disbelief and confusion. I’m sure they did the same.

This summer, 20 years later, I had the same feelings of confusion and incredulity. For the scientific world, this was an important summer. On July 4, 2012, it was announced that a team of scientists from around the world had likely discovered the elusive “God particle.”

The Higgs Boson particle, named after theorist Peter Higgs, was postulated by the Standard Model of physics for nearly a half century. Using the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, scientists produced data that confirmed the existence of a Higgs-like subatomic particle. This elementary particle is fundamental to understanding why there is diversity and life on this planet.

While most of the world could hardly contain its excitement over the discovery (even if they couldn’t quite understand it), the reaction of Christendom was

guarded. In pulpits and in social media, Christians greeted the news with skepticism. Some lampooned the scientific community for even suggesting that God could be reduced to a particle (a clear misunderstanding of the name and nature of the particle), while others derided the news because apparently we already know everything that we need to know about this world.

A month later, the Mars rover Curiosity landed successfully on the “red planet.” As I watched the touchdown on television, I shared the excitement of the NASA team as they hugged and high-fived one another. But my exuberance was quickly extinguished in the following days when all I heard was criticizing and questioning from those around me. Although 20 years removed from my introduction to Christianity, I was whisked back to the same feelings of confusion and disbelief.

Why do some Christians have antipathy toward science? I understand that many in the scientific community can be just as hostile toward faith as we can be toward science. But must we always hunker down in our trenches and prepare for a battle? Just because an evolutionary biologist attempts to undermine our faith, must we retaliate by eradicating science from our homes and churches?

Like any war, when we engage in battle there are casualties. One of the things we lose in this war with science is our ability to reason with one another. A second thing that we lose is the excitement of discovering new things about this universe that God has created.

Obviously Christians are not opposed to the advantages of scientific research.

We benefit daily from medicine and health care. But what if science could not only improve our physical health, but also our spirituality? What if we could take this knowledge and, instead of running from it, use it to draw closer to God and understand more about what he is accomplishing in this world? Carl Sagan once wrote, “A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.” When we learn to embrace scientific discovery, we may open the door for others to come to faith as well.

Major Juan Burry is the executive director of Victoria’s Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre.

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