Daniel

Political Party Conferences and Salvation Army Officer Councils What’s the difference between political party conferences and Salvation Army officer councils? Perhaps this could be the start of a joke! We’ve arrived in the season of political party conferences in the United Kingdom. Reform UK met in Birmingham, the Liberal Democrats met in Bournemouth, Labour are currently meeting in Liverpool, with the Green and Conservative parties meeting later in the year in Bournemouth and Manchester respectively. It’s a time of year where my already keen listening to LBC and Sky News dramatically increases; I love travelling the political rollercoaster of policy decisions, complex relationships, the spin of PR and comms, and the trying to figure out which party genuinely has the best offer for our country. I enjoy the experience, it’s fascinating, and I’m always wanting to absorb the information and sense the atmosphere. Just like the main political parties gather for their annual conferences, la...

Founding Vision for a Future Army – Chapter 1: Identity Crisis Before entering William Booth College in 2014, I read Founding Vision for a Future Army by Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Burns. Over a decade later, I have decided to return to the book. This time I approached it not as a candidate preparing for officership, but as someone who has spent almost ten years serving as a Salvation Army officer across five appointments in different contexts within the United Kingdom and Ireland Territory. With the benefit of personal growth, spiritual deepening, and ministry experience, I wanted to see how Alan’s writing would now resonate with me. In the opening chapter, Alan writes: “ In my experience they are inextricably linked. Without spiritual renewal, mission will atrophy and die over time. Without mission, spiritual renewal is a self-centred indulgence that will not impact our world or society. ” This captures something that is woven into our DNA. As Salvationists, we are not called to holy hu...

Being Well When I first began my career in nursing at the age of 17, the word wellbeing wasn’t something I heard very often—if at all. What we had was Occupational Health. It was the place nurses went for vaccinations, latex allergy tests, and not much else—it was all about fixing people and keeping nurses working. Wellbeing wasn’t part of the conversation. Fast forward to today, and it seems that wellbeing is everywhere. Since the COVID-19 pandemic especially, the term is used widely across workplaces, communities, and churches. But what does it actually mean? What is wellbeing? Perhaps an even deeper question is: What does being well look like? Within The Salvation Army, many are familiar with the work of Lieutenant-Colonel (Dr) Karen Shakespeare, who speaks of a three-fold experience necessary for officer training and ministry: being, knowing, and doing . In wider Christian thought, The Rev’d Dr Samuel Wells speaks of being with as a central aspect of discipleship and mission—em...

Beauty for Ashes: Lessons from the North Yorkshire Moors and a New School Year During the summer holidays, I had opportunity to return home to Yorkshire with my three children. During our time in Yorkshire, we travelled to Whitby through the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. I took this photograph of the moors in the early days of the wild fire starting on Langdale Moor. Even in the early days of the fire and with a few miles of distance between us, the smell of the smoke stuck in the back of our throats and the fire was clearly visible. The fire is now under control thanks to an incredible army of farmers, firefighters, and other locals who have selflessly worked around the clock to fight this fire. An area of around 10 square miles has been destroyed by the fire. This will impact wildlife, farmers, local businesses, and local people for many years to come. The below photograph was taken by the Whitby Photographer and shows a rainbow over the burnt moorland after the fire had been...