It’s not just ParkRun that inspires enthusiasts to travel the length and breadth of the country (and beyond) for their Saturday morning fix – the BBC’s Songs of Praise has its groupies too.
I say this because last Saturday, not only did I complete the ParkRun at Clapham Common, but that afternoon we also took part in the Songs of Praise recording for Easter Day at St George’s RC Cathedral, Southwark – just down the road from where our daughter lives.
And this morning, another daughter sent me a news link about the remarkable Trevor and Christine Ransome, a Cambridgeshire couple in their 80s who have made it their mission to appear in dozens of recordings of this long-running show.
“We started because we got married in the same month that the very first Songs of Praise aired in October 1961,” Trevor explains. Now, they are aiming for their 100th broadcast, such is their devotion to the world’s longest-running religious television programme.
Jacqui is now a fan of the show, watching it regularly on BBC iPlayer. Not so much watching, though, as participating – singing along with the subtitles. And that is the beauty of hymnody, indeed of all worship music: it draws you into the experience of worshipping God.
The apostle Paul encourages us to do the same: “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:16)
For the record, Paul was quite the hymn singer. Finding himself in jail (again), this time in Philippi, we read: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”(Acts 16:25)
Clearly, singing God’s praises was at the centre of Paul’s relationship with Jesus. But notice: he was singing with Silas, while the other prisoners listened in. Hymns, by their very nature, are communal. They unite us in worship.
And let’s not forget that the Old Testament book of Psalms was essentially the hymnbook of the Jerusalem temple, rebuilt after the return from exile in Babylon.
Furthermore, the last activity Jesus shared with his disciples before heading to Gethsemane was to sing a hymn. As Matthew tells us: “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:30)
Hymn singing, then, is at the very heart of the Christian faith – something we do naturally.
Or perhaps not always naturally. After all, we are human, which means that even singing God’s praises can become a minefield.
Hymn singing, as we know it today, really began around the time of the Reformation, with such classics as my personal favourite: "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", Isaac Watts’ masterpiece published in 1707.
What you may not realise is that this was highly controversial at the time. For many Reformers, only songs that were direct quotes from the Bible were permitted, with scriptural paraphrases already pushing the limit. But young Isaac, frustrated by singing only psalms, decided to write his own hymn: “Behold the glories of the Lamb.” With that, a new era of hymn singing was born.
But the challenge isn’t just breaking free from the iron grip of tradition – it’s a far more personal challenge: Am I willing to sing hymns I actively dislike?
This was a particular trial for me at New Wine summer events. Some of the worship songs, repeated interminably, were simply not my style. It’s one thing to sing hymns and songs we enjoy; it’s altogether different when we are faced with ones we find dull, grating, or theologically questionable.
Yet, that is the challenge of Christian community: to sing with joy, even when the song is not to our taste, for the sake of our fellow believers who find it uplifting.
This is a balance I sought to achieve as vicar of a parish church, sharing Jesus with everyone in an age of increasing fragmentation. And in this, Songs of Praise does well, ensuring that all the various Christian traditions are represented over time.
That was precisely the challenge facing me last Saturday. Being a Roman Catholic cathedral, the music was mostly traditional – and for me, unfamiliar. Even the Easter hymns I recognised were sung to different tunes, taking me out of my comfort zone.
What made it even harder was that, being a recording, we were asked to sing most hymns at least three times, once even four. And each time, we had to sing heartily and with a joyful expression! I have to admire the sheer stamina of Trevor and Christine – clearly, they are made of sterner stuff.
For the record, I did my best. I tried hard not to look like one of those blokes the camera sometimes lands on – the ones who clearly would rather be somewhere else.
Instead, I resolved to sing with the heavenly choir in mind: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe praise and honour and glory and power,for ever and ever!’”(Revelation 5:13)
After all, heavenly worship won’t be about our personal preferences – it will be about the glory of God.
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