Talk:Ray Steadman-Allen

Removal of text

The following text has been removed because it does not relate to the topic, instead more describes the National College of Music:

A brief history of the college follows:

In 1894 the Moss family, with a few close musical friends, inaugurated The National College of Music. They were responsible for writing the first syllabuses, renting a property in London, and securing the agreement of a number of eminent musicians, Dukes of the Realm and church leaders of the day who were prepared for their names to be used as Founder Patrons.

Mr William J Moss, the senior member of the family, was a shrewd businessman and he was concerned for the control of the College to remain in the hands of the founders as long as possible. He therefore set up a company under the name of The Musical Reform Association to ensure that policy decisions and financial control were secured.

Many Centres were opened in the United Kingdom for the conducting of external examinations and when the college building was lost during the Second World War these Centres began to thrive and, eventually, the Board decided that external examinations would be the NCM speciality.

Harold Moss, Noel Moss, and his widow (Violet neé Hone) in turn became General Secretaries, Mrs Violet Moss holding this responsibility well into her eighties. Most of the certificates and diplomas used today were designed and signed by William J Moss. The certificates for Grades 1 to 8 are large, measuring 11” X 13”. A few years ago a move was made to reduce the size, in line with those offered by most other award-making musical institutions, but there was such a hue and cry from teachers and candidates that the larger size is still used to this day.

Today the NCM is administered by an Academical Board which meets a number of times annually to ensure that the high musical and academical traditions are upheld. It will review syllabuses, check quality control, discuss policies, approve the appointment of examiners – and so on.

1994 was a special year for The National College. It celebrated its 100th birthday with a Centenary Celebration and Service of Thanksgiving in London, when a programme of music included a string quartet, brass quintet, vocal soloist, elocutionist and organist. High musical standards were achieved and appreciated by a discerning audience. Another important milestone in the same year was recognition of its qualifications and syllabuses by the Secretary of State for Education and the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

During recent years the NCM has conducted examinations in a number of overseas centres including Norway, Germany, Australia, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malta and East Malaysia.

The National College of Music has a unique ethos which it has preserved over the years. Whilst demanding high standards it seeks to develop musicians rather than instrumentalists and encourages candidates to enjoy their studies, whether they are in musical or speech subjects. Examiners try to develop an encouraging and stimulating relationship with candidates so that they feel the examination experience has been helpful and beneficial. Gazjo 04:57, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Tone

I'd suggest that this article is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article, and requires cleanup by someone with knowledge of the subject. Mickthefish 19:11, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Promoted to Glory not dead

As Ray was a Salvationist the article should state that he was Promoted to Glory, rather than died. This is in keeping with other well known Salvation Army members, and is the term that the church use. I have changed this on the main page. Jobscomforter (talk) 01:29, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Nonsense. We use neutral language on Wikipedia, language which everyone can understand. Your change has been reverted. Squinge (talk) 01:46, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Oh, and if you can tell us which other articles use the same terms for other Salvation Army members, we can reword those too. Squinge (talk) 01:47, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Squinge: I just did a search through Wikipedia for the phrase "Promoted to Glory" and I can't find any other inappropriate use of it elsewhere on the site. (And, yes, any use of such an expression rather than a term like "died" is wholly inappropriate and incompatible with Wikipedia's style guide. If the Salvation Army decided that "given a cookie" was the new term for dying, we shouldn't use that either, even on articles about Salvationists.) —Tom Morris (talk) 15:55, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Nice work, thanks. Squinge (talk) 17:07, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

It is not nonsense I was stating a fact. The salvation army do not call the deceased 'dead' but rather 'promoted to Glory'. I haven't looked through every article but from the ones I have, there seems to be three ways that it is put across, either "promoted to glory", "died" or the way that I think looking at it objectively makes the most sense "died (Promoted to Glory)". As Promoted to Glory has it's own page which it makes sense that it is used on pages where it is relevant and it is the correct term. I believe we should come to consensus on which way is best and then we should make the change across the board so that all Salvation Army members have the same terminology along with clearing up many of the articles as a lot are poorly referenced or very biased. Jobscomforter (talk) 17:16, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

We don't care what the Salvation Army calls it, we speak plain English here and we call it "died". There's already a consensus to use plain, simple, non-religious English at Wikipedia, but please do feel free to try to get a new consensus to write Wikipedia articles in religious-speak if you want. Squinge (talk) 21:01, 27 December 2014 (UTC)