She shared some of her feelings about Christmas and the celebration of Christ's birth with Christian Today.
CT: The Salvation Army is renowned the world over for 'just being there' and many people associate Christmas with The Salvation Army singing or playing carols in the street. What mark do you want Salvationists to leave on people this Christmas?
BM: That's quite true! It's a reputation honed from hard work and unstinting commitment from an army of unnamed people in 113 countries. I have been privileged to have worked in a number of those countries in disaster times and heard words that said, 'you are among the first to arrive and the last to leave'.
The music-making you highlight is like the shop window of The Salvation Army. It is a vocal, focal and local presence. For some people it is their only contact with the Christmas story. It is a wonderful opportunity to share the message and to bring cheer, encouragement and a strengthening of faith. It is through musical presentation that we reach many people with a message of hope.
The behind-the-scenes, sleeves rolled up picture is a tangible expression of hope and help. The work and witness of Salvationists is about reaching out to broken and hurting people with practical love in God's name. Need knows no season and at all times human beings have a need to connect with one another and with God.
CT: Research from a Christian think tank (Theos) this month has found that only one in eight people in the UK knows the story of the birth of Jesus really well. Are you surprised or alarmed by that finding? How do you think Christians should respond?
BM: I read the results of the Theos research. I thought 'how can they know unless they are taught'. It is not knowing about Jesus or recalling data that is the issue. It is knowing and experiencing the life of Jesus and the reality of God - when the story of Jesus, however it is told, goes beyond memory or sentiment and becomes a vital experience, affecting the whole of our lives.
Christians are most effective when they live out the message of God's love and they can be the message in their neighbourhood. When positive relationships are made then Christians earn the right to share the faith and truth that is theirs. Christians need to be informed and able to explain and respond to those who ask.
I would also add that we should do so with openness and confidence. The faith we hold is not a private or personal hobby. It is Good News for all people.
CT: Some Christians are concerned that Christmas' Christian identity is being downplayed or driven out completely to appease people of different or no faith. Are we overreacting or do you share those concerns?
BM: Our identity, who we are, is fixed in what we believe and affects how we behave. Before we look at how others of different or no faith might dictate the terms, I would say Christians must be secure and confident in their faith and doctrine.
Central to it all is the place and person of Jesus. For the Christian, Jesus is the Son of God. Others may accept Jesus as a prophet, teacher and moral example and all of that is true, but the substance is Jesus as Son of God. Compromise is not the terms.
