Reflection – After the Call

Many Christians are familiar with the veracity of a ‘Call of God’, and although this idea may be interpreted sometimes differently by the various wings of the church, most groupings would view it as a bona-fide spiritual experience; albeit one that requires further checks by wise and mature confidantes. I myself would say that I have experienced such a phenomenon.

What’s harder to deal with is the prospect of failure when following such a call. Fear can so often remain as a continuing reality. It feels that there is still the possibility of being laid low or being set aside.

Yet we remain open to God. He is the Lord. He is committed to His call. So too must we be. We continue to be confident in God even when our path seems blocked. Sometimes we receive glimpses of the way ahead, only to be frustrated and cast down again.

The solution in such times is a resolute trust in God.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 and Psalm 43: 3-5 are key to this:

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

    whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.

Send out your light and your truth;

    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God. (ESV)

There is always the danger of looking other than to God for our solutions. It’s quite a natural reaction – and therein lies the problem and the point. It’s natural, not spiritual. True trust occurs deep within our spirit: ‘Has God said?’ We can soulfully answer, ‘emphatically yes’. Such clear and certain knowledge is crucial to our ‘resting’ in His sovereign call. If God is for me, who can be against me? (Note my emphases).

Sometimes the call of God is to oblivion in the eyes of the world. Even the Church aspires to the cult of personality and lifts its heroes high – pastors, musicians, evangelists, music leaders, organisations et al. It wrongly equates calling and vocation with worldly success and influence. These are not Kingdom values but just more of the world inside the church. Care needs to be exercised as such occurrences can be insidious and appear perfectly fine at the time. They are not – and they will be found sadly wanting in due course. Even very recent church history shows us this quite clearly.

Those of us blessed with a sense of a divine calling must show great care. Ours is a holy calling and one not to be taken lightly, even when the way ahead seems dark, confused and unclear to us. I’m reminded that Romans 11:29 says,

’For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable’

And in I Corinthians 1: 25-27,

‘For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong’.

This Scripture is quite clear – to give it Richard Rohr’s expression – ‘the upside-downness’ of the spiritual life and its values. The juxtaposition seems contrary to everything we aspire to and is very hard for us to accept, let alone practise – but live it this way we must.

Social History – Alfred Thomas King in August 1914

The BEF during August 1914: In at the start

My Grandmother, Ethel J. Kerry lost her first husband, Alfred Thomas King during the Great War. He was 32. Alfred deployed with the BEF at the outbreak of the Great War, leaving for France from Southampton on 22^nd August 1914. He was a Driver in the Royal Field Artillery, 32 Brigade RFA, 4^th Division Ammunition Column. This comprised originally numbers 27, 134 and 135 Batteries RFA.

The Divisional Ammunition Column (DAC) was responsible for transporting munitions from the divisional parks to the brigade dumps. The Brigade Ammunition Column (BAC) then moved the ammunition forward to the horse lines and gun batteries.  The DAC and the BAC were amalgamated in May 1916.

In 1914 the Regular British Army was made up of six Divisions and one Cavalry Division. Four were sent to France in early August along with the cavalry but two divisions (including the 4^th) were kept back on the southern coast of Britain for fear of an invasion.

The 4^th Division eventually sailed to France between 21 and 25 August and joined the BEF at Fontaine-au-Pire. It came under the III Corps on 31^st August. It fought at Le Cateau but without the DAC and other support units which were still en route from England.

The 4^th Division sailed from Southampton to Le Havre on the SS Rowanmore, a steam transport cargo ship built in 1900 on the Clyde.  This ship was eventually torpedoed 128 miles off the west coast of Ireland on 26^th October 1916 by the German U-boat U57.

The SS Rowanmore is also mentioned in Sydney Giffard’s, ‘Guns, Kites and Horses’, a book of three war diaries mirroring much of Alfred King’s experiences in the Royal Field Artillery, in particular the retreat from Mons in some detail (p 44-49).

 

Extracts from War Diaries 1914

4^th Divisional Ammunition Column

Source: National Archives WO 95 / 1468 – Closed until 1965

This is the official army record of these events, copied from the hand-written DAC WW1 War Diaries, now housed in the National Archive at Kew, London. I read the diary of the actual day the 4^th Division (including the Ammunition Column) left for France from their barracks in London. The numbers of involved are staggering – note how many horses they took with them to the western front.

All place names were printed in capitals. The diaries were all written in pencil by an officer.

Saturday 22 August 1914

Strength: 15 Officers, 557 other ranks, 728 horses, 110 four wheel vehicles, 8 two wheel vehicles and 6 bicycles

Between 5.45pm and 3.45am on 23^rd August

Eight trains conveyed IV Div. Am. from Park Royal Station to SOUTHAMPTON – last train arriving 0.50am

Sunday 23 August

HQ + 4^th Sect (Heavy portion) embarked on S.S. Rowanmore

9pm sailed for HAVRE – delayed by fog off ISLE OF WIGHT

Monday 24 August

5am Left ISLE OF WIGHT

12 noon Arrived HAVRE – Infantry kit unloaded all day

12 midnight Personnel and horses disembarked and remained on wharf – unloading of vehicles commenced

Tuesday 25 August

2am Vehicles unloaded on wharf

4am Entraining commenced. Very heavy work, manning vehicles up ramps from the level of the rails and then cross lifting them on the trucks. No assistance from railway staff. Took four hours to entrain HQ + 4^th Sect (heavy portion)

8.30am Train left HAVRE

12.45pm Arrived ROUEN. Watered horses. Coffee provided for men.

6.30pm Arrived AMIENS

11pm Arrived ST QUENTIN and detrained

Wednesday 26 August

4am Marched through ST QUENTIN to bivouac at the Couvent de la Croix Rouge, in a stubble field

7am Orders received to move onto the ROUTE NATIONALE 44. Moved there and formed up vehicles on both sides of the road under the trees, picketing horses between them. Here the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th (How) sections all joined up.

3.30pm Marched for HAM

9pm Arrived HAM. Bivouacked on road south of railway station. Damp night.

Thursday 27 August

6am Marched for NOYON. Heavy thunderstorms on the road. Got into communication with the 4^th Div. Am Park.

3pm Marched through NOYON to SEMPIGNY, bivouacking there in a field

8pm HQ of 3^rd Div Am Col arrived

Friday 28 August

9am Marched for COMPIEGNE, bivouacking on the road south of the town, near the new barracks on the RUE DE PARIS. A comfortable bivouac for men and horses. Water in the village

Saturday 29 August

10am Went into GHQ at COMPIEGNE and motored out to BEAURAINS getting in touch with the 4^th Division.

Major Smith posted to 14^th Brigade RFA via England, killed

Sunday 30 August

11am Received orders from the 4^th Division to move at once to EMEVILLE

12 noon Marched via ST JEAN AUX BOIS. No water on the way.

6pm When a mile short of EMEVILLE, received orders to go onto PIERREFONDS.

Marched via TAILLEFONTAINE and (10pm) bivouacked on road south of PIERREFONDS.

Horses exhausted. Heavy portion of 4^th Sect got detached and went to EMEVILLE

Monday 31 August

10.15am Marched with the 4^th Division via ST JEAN AUX BOIS and ST SAUVEUR up on the high ground south of that town and (9pm) bivouacked in the field.  Water at LAPERRINE.

 

Book Trade – Church House Bookshop, Westminster, London

An award winning Bookshop set at the heart of National and Church Government.

The recently refurbished Church House Bookshop, situated near Westminster Abbey in London is a delight to visit. It’s bright, light and airy with high ceilings and distinctive semi-circular metallic feature windows. The deep red armchairs are inviting and the book range is both wide and deep, reflecting a broad churchmanship whilst understandably and rightly centering on its historic Anglican market. I spied a signed copy promotion and a number of well stocked promotional tables.

Church House Bookshop is just off the main tourist drag, adjacent to the Church House conference centre in Great Smith Street and right opposite the Department of Education. The shop began life in 1936 as an Anglican library and resource centre, and then branched into bookselling as a Book Room in 1946. Mark Clifford, now of Sarum Books was a previous manager. Since 2006, the shop has been owned by Hymns Ancient and Modern and is part of the Norwich-based company that publishes the Church Times. In these uncertain days, it’s good to visit a shop with a secure and stable future, located in an important part of central London, particularly now that so many of the larger city centre Christian outlets have closed.

I met with Aude Pasquier who, amongst her company responsibilities, oversees the shop. Aude joined HA&M in 2011 from DLT and SPCK. Events are increasingly important and the team look after the Greenbelt shop and are involved in their own Bloxham ‘Festival of Faith and Literature’. The shop is the ‘public face of HA&M’ but is left very much to its own devices.

This is a destination shop for a market comprising clergy and church professionals, teachers visiting the DOE, civil servants from the nearby Ministry of Justice and a tiny, mainly elderly local community. Thursday and Friday are the busiest trading days, Thursday being publication day for the Church Times. Opening hours are often extended for the synods and conferences held next door at Church House (the legal link between the two ceased in 2006).

The shop statistics are impressive: a five member staff team with over 60 years of bookselling experience between them (Hatchards, SPCK, Wesley Owen and Mowbrays), a turnover in excess of £750k per annum, and the appealing summer 2013 refit at a cost of £70k. The challenges facing the shop are two-fold: remaining competitive on price and availability and keeping the ‘right’ range of titles in stock. Good links with their own Norwich warehouse ensure that customer orders can be turned around quickly.

Michael Addison, Sales & Marketing Director at HA&M says,

‘Whilst Church House Bookshop has a wonderful, loyal customer base – we are doing what we can to broaden this out … especially to a younger audience at events’. 

Church House is an outstanding bookshop with an evident and proud commitment to range bookselling.

This article was written in early June for publication in Together Magazine (July to August 2014).

Book Trade – No one has to visit your bookshop today to buy a book

The seminars at London Book Fair are often tucked away in an obscure location but are worth seeking out. Perusing this year’s programme, I noted the ‘International Retail Seminar: The Bookshop of the Future’. Sure enough, the room was tortuous to find and when I did so, it was absolutely packed with booksellers … from Sweden. Then I caught the beaming face of Dave Lock from Manna Christian Centre, Streatham across the room – and relaxed!

Ably chaired by Philip Jones, the insightful editor of The Bookseller, three retailers from Europe, Asia and the USA shared their thoughts of the physical bookshop of the future. This was a fascinating session; wide in scope and exceptionally positive in its view of the sustainability of bookselling. The session explored the current rebirth of the bookshop. It underlined clearly that physical bookshops continue to have a future. Viability remains possible. This positivity obviously comes with caveats. The ‘shopping experience’ model as advanced by these three speakers is unlike much of what we know today. Changing the way we have always operated is a given, as customers will no longer put up with either mediocre service nor second-rate shops.

Sion Hamilton, Retail Operations Manager of Foyle’s London, spoke of his work in delivering one of Europe’s largest and newest bookshops, which opened on Charing Cross Road in June 2014 (pic below). He highlighted the importance of making physical space work for your business and of the imperative to learn from the customer. Hamilton stated that providing storewide public WiFi is a growing customer requirement. Without it, they will go elsewhere.

Hiroshi Sogo is Director of Kinokuniya Bookstores Ltd, started in Japan in 1927 and with shops now across Asia and the UAE. He commenced by saying ‘real bookshops still exist‘, stressing that establishing viable bookstores remains eminently do-able. The key to Kinokuniya’s success is ‘events, events, events’. For Sogo, ‘Big Data’ alone is not enough. Human interaction remains at the heart of the business: In-store hospitality, politeness and customer care are a must.

My top ‘take-away’ of the day came from Steve Bercu, President of the American Booksellers Association and owner of the Book People in Austen, Texas. His photo-session was an eye-opener; a testimony to an amazing business full of extraordinary energy and remarkable innovation; in short, Bookshop Theatre. Events, festivals, school fairs and birthday parties all help to provide the opportunity to extend the brand and grow the business. Interestingly, he maintains that store blogs should be used to promote books, not the company.

Buried within Bercu’s presentation, given at breakneck speed, was this one telling but vital truth, ‘No one has to visit your bookshop to buy a book today’. We have to earn that custom.

Ask yourself – Why should anyone decide to visit me today?

This article was written in early June for publication in Together Magazine (July to August 2014).

Social History – Alfred Thomas King: National Roll of the Great War

Whilst engaged in further research of my Grandmother’s first husband, Alfred Thomas King’s service during World War 1 with the Royal Field Artillery, I came across this fascinating entry (below) from the National Roll of the Great War.

I didn’t realise it immediately, but I am told that we are indeed fortunate to have found such an entry as they are quite rare in the case of those who perished during the war.  The entry simply confirms many of the details already known, but one interesting fact did emerge that adds to our knowledge, that of the confirmation of his mobilisation with the army reserve in August 1914.

The entry also makes it clear that Alfred did indeed die as a result of German aerial bombing in June 1917. When he left Britain in 1914, it was still the era of the cavalry regiment, but by the time of his death only three years later, tanks and flying machines had taken over as the future instruments of death and destruction.

Alfred King witnessed first-hand that extraordinary change in modern warfare that has carried on until today, one hundred years after he left these shores for the uncertainty of life (and death) on the Western Front.

You can read more of Driver Alfred King (RFA) story here.

I’ve uploaded much of Alfred King’s story to the on-line Lives of the First World War project

The National Roll of the Great War

Section 1: London – South West and North

Top Left on page 95

King, A. T., Driver, Royal Field Artillery

What was the National Roll of the Great War?

Here is what I’ve pieced together from various sources:

‘Shortly after the cessation of hostilities in 1919, the National Publishing Company sought to publish a brief biography of as many of those participating in the Great War as was possible. The vast majority of entries refer to combatants who survived the World War 1 and the National Roll is often the only source of information available. The scale of death and destruction of World War I was terrible and unprecedented: claiming the lives of over a million British and Commonwealth servicemen.

The National Roll of the Great War was published in 14 regional volumes. The volumes themselves are very rare and now command high prices. The valuable information stored within them is not widely available. Although the publication profiled ‘only’ around 100,000 of the people who served in World War I, of these approx 16% were participants who died. This would be one of the motivating forces behind the project, to precisely record the contribution of those who survived, with many entries referring to injuries sustained and men discharged early.

This is one of the most sought-after sets of reference books of the First World War and the Naval & Military Press has reprinted the complete work of fourteen volumes. The National Roll makes no claim to being a complete book of reference – in fact such a record could not be compiled. Yet, if you are lucky enough to find that your relative is among these, you will find a fascinating snapshot of their experience of the war which might not be readily available elsewhere.

The format of an individual record is fairly constant. The header line gives the surname, the person’s initials and their rank and unit, or other qualification for being included. After the header line, there is a paragraph of on average eight or nine lines of text summarising the individual’s contribution to the war (often giving a potted service history and mentioning wounds, medals and/or demobilisation) and closing with an address. Finally, each entry has a reference number. The significance of this reference is no longer clear but presumably referred to a card-index or other filing system used by the publishers to track contributions to the book and published entries. It is thought that the information came not from official sources but from the subjects themselves or their families’.