Member Showcase: Howard Webber

Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the monthly showcase. I’m going to start with the quick fire round, so buckle up and off we go.

What’s your favourite fruit?

Banana

What’s your favourite song and why?

'Help' by the Beatles, because it is both a beautiful song and could so easily be a cry out to God.

Have you met anyone famous? If so, in what context

Donal MacIntyre – TV investigative reporter. I was searching for a gangster/drug dealer I once got to know in prison and discovered that Donal had made a documentary about him. Contact led to me being invited to take part in another documentary Donal was making. The story appears in my first book, Meeting Jesus; inspiring stories of modern-day evangelism.

If you could travel to just one country in the world, where would it be?

Australia

Where is your favourite place to write?

My study

Pen or keyboard?

Keyboard. It's easier to correct and rearrange sentences etc.

Now for a few more in depth questions.

How did you get started writing?

I was concerned about the issues that ministers met and the loneliness of church leadership and so started to regularly write articles for The Officer, a periodical published by The Salvation Army for its officers(ministers).

I know you have just brought out a new book. Can you give our readers a flavour of what it is about?

On leaving the first church that my wife and I had been responsible for, I was told by a senior member that I was the worst officer(minister), they had ever had in heir 100 year history. No Longer I? begins with stories as I recount my stay there and search for how anyone could come to such a conclusion and how, after many months, God was able to free my much troubled heart. 

Why did you write this book?

Many people, not just ministers, experience some terrible unjust things said or done to them by church members/leaders. The wounds inflicted can be deep and painful, but Christ provides a key that can release the troubled victim/struggler from their torment. The book is born out of my desire to help fellow strugglers as they seek the key to finding peace of heart again.

What else have you written during your career?

For many years I have written for a number of Salvation Army periodicals, and each week I write a 400 word  exposition of a verse of scripture on my Facebook page, which I then allow to be shared in two blogs. My first book, Meeting Jesus; inspiring stories of modern-day evangelism won Premier Christianity magazine's Book of the Year award.

Have you got a favourite genre you read? If so why?

Biographies of Christians, because their inspirational lives, successes and failures, are a great source of encouragement.

How would you describe your writing regime?

S

ome of my writing is in response to requests, other, as a result of a desire to share a discover that has deeply affected me. I tend to shut myself away in my study and write early in the morning for a few hours, when all is quiet.

Thank you Howard. It has been a pleasure chatting with you. 

You can find out more about Howard and his books on Amazon