British Columbia mall and Salvation Army clear up misunderstanding over performance of Christmas carols

Although intolerance and persecution of Christians is increasing, what was initially reported as an example of this in Prince George seems instead to have been just a misunderstanding. As reported by Nick Faris of the National Post, November 19, 2018:

A British Columbia mall that disapproved of Christian Christmas carols being performed at a Salvation Army fundraising event on its premises has backtracked, assuring the charity that two songs about the birth of Jesus won’t be banned from future shows under the mall’s prohibition on religious music.

The Pine Centre Mall in Prince George, B.C., has restored the Christ in Christmas, with management deciding over the weekend that Mary’s Boy Child and Go Tell It On The Mountain don’t threaten its ability to remain non-partisan and non-sectarian.

Neil Wilkinson, the captain of the Salvation Army’s Prince George chapter, says he was standing to the side of a small concert his organization held to kickstart its annual Christmas kettle campaign on Friday afternoon when the mall’s promotions manager informed him that the carols a local trio was singing in front of them violated Pine Centre policy.

“I watched her angst rising,” Wilkinson said. As soon as the singers finished their set, Wilkinson continued, he walked up to the microphone, thanked the assembled crowd, wished them Merry Christmas and cut short the event with one act left on the docket.

“I chose to shut things down before it compromised any relationships the Salvation Army has in the community,” he said.

As it turns out, Wilkinson need not have fretted. He says another mall official told him the following day that the two carols constituted “traditional Christmas music” and, as such, were permissible forms of expression at the mall despite their lyrics’ constant references to Jesus, the Lord, the Bible and Christianity.

The American composer Jester Hairston wrote Mary’s Boy Child in 1956 to hail the long-ago birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem: “Hark, now hear the angels sing, a king was born today / And man will live for evermore, because of Christmas Day.” Go Tell It On The Mountain, meanwhile, is an African-American spiritual that exhorts people to disperse “over the hills and everywhere” to proclaim Jesus’ birth.

The group that sang Mary’s Boy Child and Go Tell It On The Mountain opened their set with two other songs, at which point the promotions director approached Wilkinson to ask for the noise level to be toned down. The musicians were using guitar amps rather than performing acoustically, an expectation Wilkinson said the Salvation Army forgot to tell them about.

Wilkinson said the promotions director continued to stand beside him and expressed her misgivings when Mary’s Boy Child and Go Tell It On The Mountain were played.

Pine Centre Mall’s general manager, Rachel Olson, did not return calls seeking comment before deadline on Monday. She told the Prince George Citizen newspaper that the carol flap was “just a misunderstanding and miscommunication amongst all parties … The Salvation Army and Pine Centre Mall have an amazing relationship that goes back years and they will continue to be here and we will continue to support them in all the ways that we can.”

In future, Wilkinson said, mall management has asked to approve in advance any carolling the Salvation Army wants to hold at its kettle location. He added that he and Olson came to a verbal understanding on Saturday that Mary’s Boy Child and Go Tell It On The Mountain would be allowed at future shows.

The Salvation Army has launched its kettle fundraising campaign with musical performances at the mall for several years running, dating to before Wilkinson became the local captain eight Christmases ago. He said a few singers have told him they’d like to perform there later this holiday season, but noted he’d refrain from organizing more carolling if that’s what the public prefers.

“Our goal as the Salvation Army is to be a source of hope in the community,” Wilkinson said. “If our carolling is not helpful, well, then we’re happy to pull back.”

As reported by Christine Hinzmann of the Prince George Citizen, November 17, 2018:

A Facebook post claiming a choir performance at Pine Centre Mall that ended earlier than scheduled late Friday afternoon to kick off the Salvation Army's annual Christmas kettle campaign was shut down due to "material being performed that was offensive" is being downplayed by both the church and the mall.

In his original post on Facebook, which Rod Walker subsequently took down, he wrote in part "MALL ADMINISTRATION, accompanied by SECURITY, came out. Some things were said about material being performed that was offensive to some. Salvation Army was asked to leave, and the music ceased. KICKING THE SALVATION ARMY OUT OF THE MALL. IN PRINCE GEORGE, CANADA!!"

Walker's post spread quickly through Facebook, as numerous people shared it with their social media friends and commented on it.

Walker told the Citizen in an interview Saturday that he stood behind his Facebook post. Walker, according to his post, arrived at the mall as the event was ending and said one of the performers told him they were asked to leave the mall because the group performed Go Tell It On The Mountain.

Salvation Army Captain Neil Wilkinson said he was not escorted out of the Pine Centre Mall by security, contrary to comments made on the original Facebook post.

It was Wilkinson's choice to end the performance and leave early.

Everything went well as the Bel Canto Choir performed without amplification, Wilkinson said. Then another group started to perform with electric guitars and an amplified microphone.

"We are partly at fault," Wilkinson said. The performers were not supposed to have any kind of amplification during their performances.

The music selection was also an issue when the group sang Mary's Boy Child and Go Tell It On the Mountain, he added. The music is Christian and there were complaints made to the administration of the Pine Centre Mall about it.

"That's when I decided to shut it down," Wilkinson said. "The Salvation Army does not bare any ill will. We are very grateful for all our community partnerships. This is the first time we were asked not to sing religious music. The Salvation Army is a spiritual organization. We are Christian and being Christian is part of who we are."

"This is just a misunderstanding and miscommunication amongst all parties - no children were removed from the property," Rachel Olson, Pine Centre Mall's marketing director, said. "No kettles were removed from the property."

Olson said there was not an agreement in place with the Salvation Army and that meant they did not know what the expectations for their performance at the mall would include. There is an agreement in place for the kettle campaign and it will continue as scheduled, she added.

"We've spoken to the Salvation Army and we're all good," Olson said. "Things just got blown up. The kettles are still here, no children were involved - nothing crazy like that. That's not what happened. The Salvation Army and Pine Centre Mall have an amazing relationship that goes back years and they will continue to be here and we will continue to support them in all the ways that we can."

I sympathize with the objections over amplification; when and why did ear-splitting noise become equated with "worship?" If any objections are raised over the singing of "religious songs," a good response might be to say that songs about the birth of Jesus Christ aren't religious songs, but songs about a significant historical event. This blogger couldn't help noticing, though, that the Salvation Army is willing to stop singing about the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to raise money for their community service, perhaps indicating a preference for the social gospel over the true gospel if push comes to shove.