What is The Salvation Army? The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.
What is the War Cry? The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.
WAR CRY Issue No 7634
Editor: Andrew Stone, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Ivan Radford Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk Graphic Designer: Rodney Kingston Graphic Designer: Mark Knight
From the editor’s desk FOR people whose background does not include any experience of churches, the Christian faith is not always easy to understand. Anyone trying to discover more about it may sometimes encounter phrases and terms that don’t crop up in conversational English. This is nothing new. Throughout the centuries, effective ways have had to be found to tell people about the good news of God’s love. In the 14th century, when church services were conducted in Latin, monks staged what were known as mystery plays, which acted out stories from the Bible. These plays were performed for some 200 years before coming to an end. However, in Chester, the tradition was re-established 72 years ago, and in this week’s War Cry we speak with the director of this year’s production and one of its cast members. Also in this issue, we take a look at an exhibition at the National Gallery in London which, almost 800 years after his death, displays artistic images of the prominent Christian Francis of Assisi. The exhibition includes art about Francis that was produced in the same century in which he died. Explaining that many of the depictions of Francis were produced to show the type of person that Francis was, co-curator Joost Joustra tells us: ‘I think that what attracted people to him was that he was relatable. He looked after the poor, he was kind to animals and he cared a lot about the natural world.’ Use of the arts to help people better understand Christians and their faith has proved effective through the years. Another way for people to discover more is by seeing the positive difference Christians make in the societies they live in. This week we carry a feature on the employment services that The Salvation Army runs to help people find paid work. The church and charity’s motivation to do this is its belief that all people are of value and worth to God. And that’s true whatever a person’s background may be.
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Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory 101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN
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CONTENTS
Tel: 0845 634 0101
Subscriptions: 01933 445445 (option 1, option 1) or email: subscriptions@satcol.org Founder: William Booth General: Brian Peddle Territorial Commander: Commissioner Anthony Cotterill Editor-in-Chief: Major Julian Watchorn
Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226 The Salvation Army Trust is a registered charity. The charity number in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 214779, in Scotland SC009359 and in the Republic of Ireland CHY6399. Printed by CKN Print, Northampton, on sustainably sourced paper
FEATURES
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Tennis fans gather in SW19 for the start of Wimbledon 5
Artists turn to Francis, naturally An exhibition of the prominent Christian who cared for creation
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Dramatic actions Community get together to present Bible stories
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Your local Salvation Army centre
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First service
How The Salvation Army is helping people find employment REGULARS
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War Cry World
14 Puzzles 15 War Cry Kitchen Front-page pictures: ALAMY