Let's get Mary Portas in to church!

Last night watched Mary Queen of Shops on BBC2. Mary Portas went to work on HT Burt, a gentleman's outfitter that was stuck in a 1970's time warp. The owner, grandson of the original proprietor, seemed afraid to deviate to far from his father's style, and the business was losing money. Everyone was discouraged.

Mary had to show them that young men would never buy their clothes. They were shown a range of high quality, fashionable essentials and given some shop floor experience. The owner's wife and the oldest salesman both thrived, but the owner and the buyer were lost. After staging a catwalk show and making them sell tea-shirts at a rock concerr, Mary got them to understand the clothes and character of the 40+ sophisticated man they were targetting.

A daytime publicity drive saw crowds of men (and a few women) attend the launch party, and they took £2000 in a few hours. Five weeks later, the shop was profitable and the staff happy. The owner's father was delighted with the success.

The starting point reminded me of so many corps - wanting people to come in, but afraid of changing what their parents did for fear of being disloyal. As a result, they are tired, weary and discouraged. I know we are not a shop as such, but we are seeking to draw people in. If we can't summon up the energy and drive, how can we attract others.

The message doesn't change, but our presentation is like window dressing and can surely be adjusted to suit our setting and the people we are seeking to attract.

It's raining in Edinburgh!

We've friends staying with us this week and they wanted to see Edinburgh. We planned to set off at 10am, but didn't get away until 10:40. The rain had settled in, so our wipers worked hard as we drove up the A7. I expected the 10 minute delay at Sheriffhall Roundabout due to roadworks. But the road was also closed just past the Royal Infirmary.

We detoured by Craigmillar Castle and sat in another queue. Duddingston was closed, and our detour via the A1 led us to a flooded Queens Drive. After 2 1/2 hours travel we had to abandon plans to picnic in Holyrood park and ate our sandwiches in NCP St John's Hill.

Fringe crowds blocked our way to the Castle with menacing umbrellas. There were hundreds of Scotland rain ponchos and almost as many wellies as CLAN Gathering! We did manage to do a bit of shopping before heading back for tea.

As we drove home, we reflected on the equally damp day in Edinburgh when family stayed with us in February. Next time we have folk visit us, we'll avoid the rainy city!

Don't look down!

It's not that I don't like heights, they just scare me. I love the mountains and as a child I used to scramble the cliffs at Clevedon. But I don't enjoy getting up there.

So when friends who are staying with us suggested climbing the Grey Mare's Tail, I was rather apprehensive. "This spectacular 200 ft. waterfall sits in a dramatic moorland setting below White Coomb", not far from Moffat. A path ascends the adjacent hill, zig-zagging the shoulder, then climbing steadily along the side of the hill. It crosses several open gullies, some running with water and others full of loose rock. In several places the hillside bulges slightly and the path becomes very narrow. At all times there is a steep drop on the left to the river below.

Having failed in the past to climb similar paths, and in view of the families with young children on the hill yesterday, I was determined to make this climb. Setting off up the lower slopes, paved and stepped with local rocks, I sang to myself "Jesus is the rock, He's the rock of my salvation, and he rolled my troubles away." I discovered that if I kept my eyes on the path, and didn't look down at the drop or up at the heights I was fine.

This is the same lesson Peter learned in a different context. Jesus called him out of the safety of the boat on a stormy sea. Peter was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus, focused on where he was going. But as soon as he looked around at the waves and felt the wind he began to sink (Matt 14:28-30).

Above the main waterfall is a narrow valley with rapids and two smaller waterfalls. Further upstream the river winds between gentle hills. At each crest or turn you think you've reached your destination only to see another hill! But eventually you find a small fall between two rocky outcrops, and you discover a beautifully still loch. That too is a picture of life with it's unexpected twists and turns. Only by carefully following the path set by Jesus do we arrive safely at the destination God has planned.

After swigging a quick drink and nibbling a chocolate biscuit, we beat a hasty retreat from the midges. About an hour later we stood safely on firm ground of the car park, knees wobbly from the exertion, but delighted to have passed the test and witnessed another aspect of the beauty of God's creation.

[Edited 17-Aug-2008 for grammatical errors and to add links]

SA music is safe with youth

Saturday we travelled to Grangemouth for the final festival of the East & West Scotland summer school. The programme varied programme was of a very high standard

Major Graham Mizon (Divisional Director for Evangelism) told the assembled throng that this school had the youngest age profile for some years. The A chorus (top students) sang a complex arrangement of Gaudeamus Hodie with perfect timing and harmony and the A band followed that with a sparkling rendition of Shine Down.

We were treated to a drama set to the song Easy like Sunday Morning - snapshots of various families preparing to go to the morning meeting. The otherwise excellent sound system didn't reach far enough to catch all the dialogue, but Elizabeth spotted the woman frantically cutting out for Sunday school. There was a lively dance to a contemporary song - very well performed considering it was an optional activity with only a few hours rehearsal.

The 'C' (for Contemporary) band sang two songs with excellent control and harmony. Shame no one was on hand to reduce the volume leve, which was overpowering.

But the highlight was 'A' band's performance of Dean Goffin's prelude & fugue Arise my Soul Arise. It was difficult to pick everything out from the muddy acoustic of the town hall. But as far as I could tell, it was a faultless performance

Many people seem to think that Salvation Army music is dying, but our young people in Scotland are as keen as ever, and with great variety and skill.

Steven Turner