This is the cutting from Monday’s Metro newspaper featuring the Oxford Street Christmas Lights campaign of a few weeks back. Many thanks to Jack the Lass for scanning and sending it. I do have a scan of the entire page (of which this is just a small corner) but haven’t posted it as I am trying to save my bandwidth. If anyone really wants to read the whole thing send me an e-mail.

Posted by Dave at 8:42 am on December 6, 2006 and filed under Environment, One-man campaigns.

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All being well our Oxford Street Christmas Lights campaign along with this cartoon will shortly feature in the ‘Metro‘ newspaper, available in London and (I think) other urban areas of the UK.

I don’t know whether it will be today or some other day - all I have had is an e-mail (last night) asking for permission to use the image and saying they will mention the campaign. If anyone can look in a copy of Metro today or in the next few days then I would be very appreciative.

I did not ever get a response from the Oxford Street Authorities.

Posted by Dave at 11:06 am on November 30, 2006 and filed under Cartoons, Environment, One-man campaigns.

3 Comments

This campaign was inspired by the fact that the Oxford Street Christmas lights will be going on a week earlier in 2006 than they did in 2005, this in a time when the world is ever more aware of the need to cut down on unnecessary energy usage.

Here are the Oxford Street switch-on dates for the last five years:
• Friday 15th November 2002
• Wednesday 12th November 2003
• Monday 15th November 2004
• Tuesday 15th November 2005
• Thursday 9th November 2006
(Thanks to Diamond Geezer)

My aim is to make the public aware of this so that Oxford Street are forced to change their ways. Some might choose to do so by writing to the Oxford Street organisers (my letter), others by boycotting Oxford Street (not practical for everyone I know) and others by displaying a cartoon.

You are welcome to add this cartoon to your blog if you’d like to register your support. You can either save the cartoon and upload it to your own webspace, or simply copy and paste the code below:

<img src="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cb/christmas-lights-2.gif" alt="cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com" />
<p>Cartoon by <a href="http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/">Dave Walker</a>. Join the <a href="http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/2006/11/06/oxford-street-christmas-lights/">Oxford Street Christmas Lights</a> Campaign at the Cartoon Blog.</p>


Other bloggers who have said that they support this campaign:
maggi dawn: Bah Humbug
42: Campaign against London lights waste
Generous Town - Home
John Davies
Rosamundi’s ramblings
the maturest student in the world
Freedom Bound!: Illuminating
The Shiny Headed Prophet: a mad waste that harms the world!
think bubbles
What’s For Afters?
notinventedhere: Join the campaign….
Thoughts from the Bus Stop: Oxford Street Christmas Lights: A Turn-Off
Deep Thought: It’s just not right…
Mike Peatman
Opinionated Old Fart: Election Is Over, Christmas Is Here.
Mustard Seed Shavings: Energy Saving
roundacow: Oxford Street Christmas Lights Campaign

Posted by Dave at 3:07 pm on November 6, 2006 and filed under Cartoons, One-man campaigns.

10 Comments

I have been indoors for a bit too long trying to make a church website. I am going to stop that now as I have got all tangled up in Wordpress themes and if I do any more I will have a funny turn.

I was pleased to see that Maggi Dawn has joined me in my ‘Boycott the West End’ campaign. I should now remove this action from my ‘One Man Campaigns‘ list as it now involves more than just me, although having said that the ‘Save the SPCK’ campaign involved other people too. It is difficult to have a One Man Campaign these days as other people keep joining in, a fact about which I am pleased.

I suspect some people might say that Christians should not write grumpy letters as it makes them look negative and against everything. I suppose it is deciding which battles to fight. I suppose I for one care more about the planet and Christian bookshops than some other things. I find I am getting more grumpy about the world as I get older. I do not know if this is normal.

Those who are wanting to create a good Christian impression could do worse than to spend some time doing Evangelistic walking. This is a procedure I learned about fom the Diocese of Chichester Mission Department. The idea is that you walk around your area in groups of up to twelve being evangelistic. You can start in the church building if you like for an easy introduction, although one person with the gift of evangelism should be present at all times otherwise it could go horribly wrong.

I have to say that I think I might be a bit scared if 12 people approached me in an evangelistic manner. If you have been converted by such methods please write in.

Also listed is what appears to me like a form of evangelistic speed dating involving forming two circles. I don’t quite understand it but perhaps you will.

Posted by Dave at 6:17 pm on November 5, 2006 and filed under Church, One-man campaigns.

9 Comments

I am boycotting the West End of London until I forget to do so or have particular reason to go there.

This is why. Diamond Geezer informs me that the lights are going on even earlier in Oxford Street than normal - a whole week in fact. This is despite the fact that we are more aware now than ever of our need to cut down on energy usage for the future of the planet. (By the way, if you were hoping to go on the Climate Change March it was today - sorry.) The Oxford Street lights organisers quite clearly do not care about the planet, so I will be spending my money elsewhere and urging you to do the same. If you like you can tell them why as I just did:

Dear Oxford Street,

I am appalled at your decision to put the Christmas lights on a week earlier than in 2005. I will be avoiding Oxford Street and urging the readers of my weblog to do the same.

http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/2006/11/04/boycott-the-west-end/

Sincerely,

Dave Walker

As an aside, I am reminded of this cartoon from my last year’s advent calendar blog.

Posted by Dave at 3:51 pm on November 4, 2006 and filed under Current events, One-man campaigns.

10 Comments

Orthodox charity St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust are to take over the SPCK bookshop chain, which you might remember from my campaign earlier in the year.

This is splendid news as it means the future of the shops has been safeguarded.

Thanks to Neil for passing on the news.

Posted by Dave at 12:21 pm on October 21, 2006 and filed under Current events, Ecumenical matters, Save the SPCK, One-man campaigns.

5 Comments

From: dave at cartoonchurch dot com
To: contactus at scottishpower dot com

Dear Scottish Power,

Today I had a call from one of your Scottish Power salesmen asking whether I would be interested in switching over to Scottish electricity from the English variety I am currently using.

I was not too pleased about this, mainly because unannounced electricity salesmen are on my ‘10 most loathed’ list. The fact that he asked whether my parents were in (I am of middle age, though I maintain a youthful demeanour) did not help.

To tell you the truth I am very happy using the English electricity that I get through my wires at the moment. Unless you can explain to me why your electricity is better I can see no reason to change, particularly as it will mean the power has to be piped over a long distance (I assue you transport it that way rather than via fleet of lorries). Please do not say that your electricity is cheaper, as I am interested in quality not price. I am on the brink of making a fortune by being an internet cartoonist and so price is not an issue.

Perhaps you can send a free sample and we can take things from there.

There is one thing I need to say though. You really need to stop making these unannounced telephone calls as everyone that I know intensely dislikes companies who do that and will not buy from them on principle. Please reassure me that you intend to stop making the calls so that I can assure the readers of my daily internet column (who are being informed about this letter) that that is the case. If you do not stop making the calls I will have to inform my readers and I cannot see that it will do the reputation of Scottish electricity any good. I can see that my Scottish readers in particular will be ashamed that their electricity is sold in this way. Please spare them this embarrassment and change your ways for the good of us all.

Yours faithfully,

Dave Walker

Posted by Dave at 7:09 pm on June 24, 2006 and filed under One-man campaigns, Letters.

11 Comments

Father Richard, an SPCK employee has commented on my original post about the SPCK bookshops. I thought the comment well worth drawing to your attention:

Perhaps it is time for an SPCK employee to add a few comments. Firstly, thank you for this initiative, and for the chance to hear what people think of us. Yes, the SPCK Bookshops are an imperfect bunch, with their own idiosyncracies. We don’t see ourselves as a chain because each branch is so different - it exists to respond to the needs of the local community. We all buy our own stock based on how we perceive that need. So it is hard to generalise about what SPCK keeps on its shelves.
One of the reasons that WO eventually realised that a merger was not going to work was probably because we were all so determined to keep both our breadth of stock and our ability to control our own buying. We exist to promote Christian knowledge in its rich diversity.

Yes, Amazon is hurting our business (although we also sell some of the more unusual secondhand stock on Amazon as well), but the time has passed to moan about that. The biggest problem SPCK has had has been that it simply doesn’t have the money necessary to invest in developing the shops.

Yes, too many mediocre books are published - as shops we have to do some of the work editing out the dross without restricting our customers opportunities to find what they need. There are also too many Christian bookshops competing in a dwindling market. If SPCK is to survive then it must be because it is offering what is really needed.

I take issue with those who see us as just stocking populist titles on spiritual warfare. I’ve never stocked anything like that (we have a WO on the same street we can refer people to), but promote the likes of Robert Beckford, Gordon Lynch, Callum Brown, Timothy Radcliffe, Leonard Sweet, Hans Urs von Balthasar, John Shelby Spong, Tina Beattie and Elizabeth Stuart. The strength of a shop over the internet should be the ability to browse, to try something different and, hopefully to mix with other people with similar interests and differing views.

What worries me, as a bookseller and as a parish priest, is how much harder it is becoming to engage people in thinking about their faith, in exploring it, pushing at the boundaries, growing a deeper knowledge of Christ. Sales of good quality Biblical commentaries are minimal. Hardly anyone wants to really get to know the Bible in depth. All the stuff on ‘new ways of being church’ has stiffed as much as anything because many people aren’t prepared to accept that the world has moved on. DVD material, with the honourable exception of the Nooma series, has been risible in its content. And the trouble with Greenbelt is that is only once a year!

Finally, the problems SPCK are having reflect wider problems in the churches. Too many of us are still stuck looking inwards. Yes, we have a big responsibility to our Christian communities but if we don’t work hard on bringing the Word to the rest of the high street then we are not doing justice to the Gospel.

There is also a comment from Clive Wright, chairman of the governing body of SPCK in today’s Church Times. I can’t type it out in full as I need to do some work, but it includes… “May I make it clear that the trustee Governing Body of SPCK has taken no decisions about the future of its shops… the Society is a charity with a modest income that is insufficient to meet large operating deficits… We must therefore consider carefully the future of each shop, endeavouring to take account of our responsibilitis to our staff, or mission and the wider Christian community. Our aim will be to preserve as many outlets as possible consistent with our limited resources.”

See also Save the SPCK! and the SPCK song.

Posted by Dave at 11:37 am on May 5, 2006 and filed under Save the SPCK, One-man campaigns.

3 Comments

The ‘Save the SPCK’ campaign continues. John and (one assumes) the good folks from Sprowston have recorded the SPCK song! It is about 1mb. Fantastic.

Meanwhile at least 20 bloggers have added the SPCK cartoon to their sites, thereby indicating their support for the campaign. There has been a great debate in the comments section too. It pleases me that such a diverse bunch feel that they want to comment on this blog. I really do appreciate it.

I have added a ‘Save the SPCK‘ category to the blog, so that all posts on the subject are in one easy to find place.

So, where do we go from here? I think we need some evangelists to take the campaign to new mission fields. Post your ideas here!*

*I am using a lot of exclamation marks these days. This is not usual for me. It is to convey my enthusiasm.

Posted by Dave at 11:51 pm on May 4, 2006 and filed under Save the SPCK, One-man campaigns.

3 Comments

The SPCK bookshops are on the brink of closure. So says a report in the Church Times.

“So what?” I hear you ask. Well, I think it is a shame. SPCK shops are, in many parts of the UK the only place where Christian books of a non-evangelical nature are stocked. This has got to be bad news for anyone like myself who is producing literature of interest to the broader Christian community rather than just the evangelical sector. It is true that at the moment I don’t have a book and I’m not selling my cards though SPCK, but both of those could change (or could have changed) in the future.

I might add that it is not only SPCK who are having problems. Wesley Owen have announced they are to close their flagship store in central London. To quote their spokesman:

“Every time someone buys from Amazon, rather than from a bookshop, that is another nail in the coffin of a Christian retailer.”

So, what can we do about this?

• Somebody could record a song.
• If you know a benevolent benefactor see whether you can persuade them to buy the SPCK.
• Support your local SPCK (though it may be too late for that)
• Join my one man campaign by adding this cartoon to your blog using this code:


<img src="http://www.weblogcartoons.com/cartoons/spck.gif" alt="save the SPCK" />
<br> <a href="http://www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/2006/05/03/574/">Save the SPCK!</a>

Update:
Let’s list the bloggers supporting the campaign.
Serena
Sam of Redwelly fame
Jack the Lass
Ian of the Youthblog
Neil “I will personally miss a friendly shop that actually changed my life.”
Rosamundi
Never conforming
Urban Army
Musings, by Miffy
Dolphy
Tractorgirl
Connexions
Mad Teacher
the last burnt sienna crayon
Soprano Helen
The Days are Just Packed
Good in Parts
onmebus
Deep Thought
Librarian’s tangents
robert marshall
think bubbles
Three Chord Wonder
Christian Bookshops - News
Of course, I could be wrong…
The Complex Christ
A Curious Girl
Thoughtful Christian

Update: You can find all posts relating to the SPCK campaign by clicking the Save the SPCK category.

Posted by Dave at 9:57 am on May 3, 2006 and filed under Current events, Anglican goings-on, Save the SPCK, One-man campaigns.

39 Comments