Douglas Galbraith – författare

1915. Neutral America is debating the proper response to the war: Henry Ford - inventor, industrialist, billionaire - decides it's bad for business. When he announces he will give up everything to stop it, the papers go to work and he agrees to fund a peace ship to sail to Europe with the promise: 'Out of the trenches by Christmas, never to return'.Struggling to persuade any serious political figures to join his quest, Ford leaves New York with the bombastic peace activist, Rosika Schwimmer, and her entourage, along with a sodden, cynical pack of journalists. Ford initially embraces the press, but he soon finds himself menaced by invisible U-boats in the mid-Atlantic, surrounded by eccentrics, idealists and parasites, while their reports to the papers back home turn the entire venture into a laughing stock. The resulting novel is a captivating and virtuosic tale based on one of the most extraordinary episodes of the early twentieth century.

What do you do when your wife abducts your children? This was the question facing Douglas Galbraith when, in 2003, he returned home to Scotland from a few days' work in London. The house was silent, empty and locked; his four and six-year-old sons' pyjamas lay on the bedroom floor. And on the doormat, confirmation from the Post Office of a forwarding address - in Japan. He has not seen them since.This book goes to the very heart of relations between parents and children, men and women, and between races and nations - to the heart of what it is to be alive.

Assist Our Song combines accessible teaching about the theology and shape of worship with essential information about the forms of music used, including congregational hymns, songs, canticles and psalm chant, and music performed by choirs and musicians. It explores the range of resources available, how to extend repertoire, blending the old with the new, changing patterns of church life, and other practical issues. Its aims are the heightening of the profile of music within the church, increasing the skills and understanding on the part of musicians and choirs, assisting leaders of worship and empowering congregations to see themselves also as ‘ministers of music’It offers practical assistance for the ‘delivery’ of music – choosing music, making the most of choirs and working with musicians. It will be welcomed by all who lead, provide or curate music in worship, as well as clergy and ordinands who lack musical expertise or confidence.

If ever a book was written about Leith Fisher’s life, it would need numerous chapters to cover his many gifts, interests and life experiences. Leith was a parish minister in the Church of Scotland in Glasgow and Falkirk, a member of the Iona Community, a broadcaster, contributing to BBC’s Thought for The Day; he served on presbytery committees, and was Convener of the General Assembly’s Panel on Worship. He was a gifted speaker (and also a gifted listener) and his pastoral abilities were legendary. In a tribute to him following his death in 2009 Leith was described as ‘one of the ablest ministers of his generation’. For all his activity, Leith was also at his desk, sometimes late into the night, writing poems, articles, reports, life-changing letters, gospel commentaries, prayers – and hymns. Seven of these were included in the fourth edition of the Church Hymnary (2005), and hymns like ‘For your generous providing’ and ‘Christ is our light’ are now established in the song of the church.At his death Leith left a number of unpublished songs and hymns, the best of which editor Douglas Galbraith has had the privilege of bringing together here, with Leith’s pieces from CH4, in this collection.Like most good hymns, these started life in a local parish or situation, and explore themes not easily found in the standard repertoire. They are set not only to known hymn tunes but to traditional Scottish melodies, including from the Hebridean tradition, which was a much-loved part of the author’s musical landscape.It is hoped that these songs will add to the quality and breadth of the praise and prayer of the church.Douglas Galbraith has edited several publications, including Leap, My Soul, hymns from Africa gathered by Tom Colvin; Worship in the Wide Red Land; The Church of Scotland Year Book; the church music magazine Different Voices, and was on the editorial committees of Common Ground and the Church Hymnary (CH4). He is a retired minister of the Church of Scotland and of the Uniting Church in Australia, and is a member of the Iona Community.