Greenwich Songs of Praise


Greenwich

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Hello. This is a community that's having a very busy year,

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becoming a Royal Borough during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations

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and some Olympic events have been held here.

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But you know, it's always busy with tourists for its maritime history

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and for having given its name to the Greenwich Meridian.

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But what is Greenwich in London really like?

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Time for Songs of Praise to find out.

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Coming up, the Archbishop of Canterbury

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reveals one of his personal heroes.

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A son finds a new way to phone home.

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And glorious hymns sung at the Old Royal Naval Chapel.

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Greenwich. Busy and full of life.

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Home to the famous Cutty Sark...

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..and the Royal Observatory.

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The Greenwich Meridian line is the centre of world time.

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Without it, international travel would be in turmoil

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and calling friends in far away places at the right time would be nigh on impossible.

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Every place on Earth is measured by its distance East or West from it,

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making Greenwich the starting point of each new day.

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Our first hymn, rather appropriately,

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is Morning Has Broken, sung by the local community here,

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from the glorious surroundings of the Old Royal Naval Chapel.

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"A false balance is abomination to the Lord

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"but a just weight is his delight," which is from the Book of Proverbs.

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That is the sign that welcomes you here to Greenwich Market.

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Let's go and see if we can find some delights.

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-How's business? Good?

-Good.

-I see you've got my daughter's name.

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Can I get this? It's for me, really.

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'I'm looking for Barbara Ray's stall. I've got a surprise for her.'

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-It's Barbara, isn't it?

-Oh!

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They said I'd find you just here and they were right. How are you?

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-Fine, thanks.

-Very nice to see you. So what time did you set up this stall this morning?

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-You've been here for quite a while, have you?

-We have to get here about eight o'clock.

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That manages to give us a good position.

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-Is it part of a community, would you say?

-It is.

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I mean, people look out for each other here.

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And certainly, there is a camaraderie.

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-And sort of a touch of heaven, I suppose, really.

-Really?

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Yes, yes. I think it's changed over the years,

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but I do think that to have the arts and crafts,

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for people to be making things in the week

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and then coming here and having the opportunity to sell it, is wonderful.

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Because I think we are meant to be creative, aren't we?

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Yeah, absolutely. And this isn't your stuff, is it?

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No, unfortunately not. And it is really beautiful, isn't it?

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Yeah, gorgeous.

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But it is my daughter-in-law.

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She did a textiles degree

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and worked so hard, and then her and my son have gone off

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to run a craft project in Iringa, Tanzania.

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Right. Just like that?

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It must be strange for you, selling your daughter-in-law's wares

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while she's out in Africa.

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They didn't ask me to do it, I have to say that.

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I don't think they expected me to do it,

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but it sort of made them feel closer,

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cos they used to run the stall here,

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and when they first went, it was a big hole in my life.

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-It brought them closer to me.

-Shall we try and catch up with them?

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-Really?

-Yeah, why not? The wonders of modern technology, and all that.

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-That would be good.

-OK.

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-So, Barbara, look who I found!

-Oh!

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So they're in Africa, we're in Greenwich, selling your gear, Katy.

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So, guys, how's it going out there in Africa?

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Yeah, it's really good. Yeah.

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There are lots of challenges that we're facing every day,

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but we're really enjoying working with the guys

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that we work with, the disabled guys we work with.

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So take us through a normal day,

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if there is such a thing.

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There really is no such thing.

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We are doing all sorts of things, from fixing toilets,

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to distributing work, to teaching new skills to our disabled staff.

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So it really does change every day.

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Right. The line was, Ben, you were supposed to say,

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"And I miss you too, Mum."

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THEY LAUGH

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-Yeah. Lots of love, Mum.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-See you, guys.

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Nice to meet you and nice to talk to you.

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Nice to see you too.

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See you again.

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It must make you so proud,

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knowing your son and daughter-in-law are doing such good there.

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I am proud of them both. Yes, yes.

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They are certainly doing what they want to do

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and they feel God is calling them to do.

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The parish church of St Alfege stands in the centre of Greenwich.

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It's dedicated to the 29th Archbishop of Canterbury.

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In 1012, Alfege was martyred by Vikings close to the site

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of the church, and now, a millennium later,

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he continues to be remembered.

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Well, we wanted to make our 1,000th year

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celebration of his death

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into a celebration as much of his life

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and also, the connections between Scandinavia and this country

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and how enemies can eventually become friends.

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And he, in his own life, epitomised the spirit of reconciliation.

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And so we use that, really, as our theme.

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Pilgrims gathered close to Southwark Cathedral

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to begin their journey to Greenwich.

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APPLAUSE

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Many travelled by boat and were joined by Dr Rowan Williams,

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the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.

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During the voyage, he explained why Alfege is still relevant today.

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It's not often that you get to celebrate

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the 1,000th anniversary of an event and, in this case,

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an event that we know quite a bit about from contemporary records.

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So we're celebrating one of the great watershed moments

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of the 11th Century,

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when the Vikings were overrunning the South of England,

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great tension and stress with the local people,

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with the local kingdoms,

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and St Alfege, the Archbishop of Canterbury,

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is caught up in the middle of this.

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Taken prisoner by the Vikings and held hostage, held to ransom.

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And the inspiring thing about Alfege is that in a society

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where everybody's value is calculated -

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and some people's lives were obviously more valuable than others -

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he just refused to play that game.

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He said, "I'm not going to be ransomed."

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They were asking some massive sum to ransom. Because, he said,

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"The burden is going to be carried by the poorest people.

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"I'm not having that."

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All through his ministry, he served the poorest of his own people.

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He sold church property to feed the poor and the hungry

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and he died as he lived, really.

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'The most special guest that we had for the celebration

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'was the Archbishop of Canterbury himself.

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'When he got to the church, he spent about half an hour outside'

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the church and then we had the service itself,

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which had a lot of visitors from Scandinavia,

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as well as this country.

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..Give you the joy of his kingdom, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

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CONGREGATION: Amen.

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# Living in the love of God

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# We are living in the love of God

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# We are living in the love of God... #

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Now you, madam.

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Come on. Pop it on there.

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The Living History Organisation set up an encampment on the green

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behind the church, to give a flavour of the way we lived 1,000 years ago.

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When you're ready, you nod your head and we make a big noise.

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It's always an inspiration to look at your great predecessors

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and there are some amazing characters among them.

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Alfege is one of the most inspiring to me

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and I think it's marvellous that today,

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we are not only celebrating his memory,

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we've got people here from the churches in Denmark

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and Sweden and Norway - the Viking countries -

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not just to say sorry, but to remind us

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that we are part of the same Christian family today as well.

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Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich, the now Royal Borough.

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Other famous Greenwich residents have included Dr Johnson,

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compiler of the first English dictionary

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and great church music composer Thomas Tallis.

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Thomas Tallis, the father of English church music,

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lived in Greenwich for the last years of his life,

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until his death in 1585.

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He's commemorated here in St Alfege's church.

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We're going to hear one of his best-loved anthems now.

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This takes me back to being a chorister.

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If Ye Love Me, sung by the Old Royal Naval Chapel Choir.

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# If ye love me

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# Keep my commandments

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# And I will pray

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# The Father

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# And I will pray

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# The Father

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# And he shall give you

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# Another comforter

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# That he may bide with you

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# That he may bide with you

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# That he may bide with you

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# Forever

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# Ev'n the spirit of truth

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# Ev'n the spirit of truth

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# Ev'n the spirit of truth

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# Ev'n the spirit...

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# Of truth

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# That he may bide with you

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# That he may bide with you

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# That he may bide with you

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# Forever

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# Ev'n the spirit of truth

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# Ev'n the spirit of truth

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# Ev'n the spirit of truth

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# Ev'n the spirit of...

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# Truth. #

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One of the regeneration projects under way in Greenwich

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is in Kidbrooke,

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on an estate typical of those built in the 1950s and '60s.

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Residents are now moving into new homes

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and the Rev Margaret Cave has been helping them through the transition.

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-Hello, Margaret.

-Really nice to see you. How are you doing?

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William's old house has been knocked down. Now he has a new one in Kidbrooke Village.

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How are things going here? Are you feeling settled now?

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-Well, everything seems to be getting into shape.

-Yeah.

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-And I think we've settled in well since I've been here.

-Yeah.

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We enjoy being with St James' as well.

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Yeah, and we hope there will be a new

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Christian community within Kidbrooke Village.

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Hopefully, hopefully, yes.

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-Hopefully, you'll be able to be part of that as well.

-Yes, I agree.

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Margaret is also chaplain of the youth club in Kidbrooke

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that's about to get a new home.

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I think faith has been

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really important to people here.

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There's been a real sense of continuity, of what's been going on,

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especially with all these Christian organisations that had a role here.

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We joined together, and it's together,

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as a group of Christian organisations in partnership,

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that we've been able to take on this project

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and set up this new youth and community centre. And we really hope

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that this will not just be a place of welcome and a place of hospitality

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and a place of encounter, but a place where something might emerge

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for the future that will really be at the heart of this new community.

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Alexander Boyd is a youth worker here

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and is also studying for his degree in Youth Ministry and Theology.

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The drop-in centre that we're in now is going to be knocked down

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in probably September, October.

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By then, we'll be moved in to our new premises, the one space.

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So all of our work is going to transfer there,

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which is going to make life a lot easier for us

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and it's going to be...

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it's just going to be a great way we can do our youth work

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and really improve the services that we offer the young people.

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'A lot of the young people lived on the estate.

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'They've been moved out over the years

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'and now, a lot of them are starting to come back,

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'so it's kind of full-circle for a lot of them.'

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For everyone, faith has been an important part of this move.

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Throughout this period of time,

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there've been a lot of changes and I think

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for a lot of the residents and ex-residents, that's been the case,

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that faith has really grounded them

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and just kind of kept them together.

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I think there's a really exciting future.

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There's a real sense of new hope, new life, as this new community emerges.

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And, of course, that really does chime with the Christian story,

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which is all about new life, new hope, resurrection.

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There's that sort of feel about being here at the moment, which is really exciting. Yeah.

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JAZZ MUSIC

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Local residents enjoy an evening of jazz music by the Sam James Trio.

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But by day, 21-year-old Sam is a diligent music student

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at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

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here in Greenwich.

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It's housed in Sir Christopher Wren's

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glorious King Charles Court at the Old Royal Naval College,

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which is filled with students.

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Musically talented ones, not the Naval variety.

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That was a beautiful standard called In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning...

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-It can be quite a lonely existence, being a pianist, can't it?

-'Yeah.'

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You know, it's part of the commitment, isn't it?

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I wouldn't have probably got in unless I was dedicated to practising.

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So your Christianity comes through in your music?

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Yes...

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I mean, yes, it does. I guess mainly because of the motive I have,

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I mean, to glorify God.

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It's a blessing to be able to play this amazing art form

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and I love playing jazz.

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How does that sort of correspond with the work you're doing here?

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You know, some people think that jazz is the Devil's work.

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I don't agree with them, I have to say. What's your view of all that?

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Inevitably, the culture we're in, there's going to be pressures

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and temptations of being a student and a Christian.

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I think I got looked at quite severely and strangely

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when I had my first pint in the student bar,

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you know, being a singing Christian at college.

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'It's not as difficult as I thought it would be when I moved here,

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'because I've got such a great church,

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'and by the grace of God, I'm still here fighting, I suppose.'

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You say fighting, is it tricky, then? Is it that tricky?

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Yeah, it's difficult because some of my best friends are non-Christians,

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so a lot of the time, I'll perhaps deliberately not do certain things

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or go certain places with them

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because of what I think, what I believe.

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The hymn we're going to hear next is All People That on Earth Do Dwell.

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-Do you know that one?

-Yeah.

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So if you were going to put the Sam jazz stamp on it,

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what would it sound like?

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-Sorry to throw this at you like this.

-Fine. Well, erm...

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Loving God, thank you for our friends and neighbours.

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Help us to build strong communities wherever we live.

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And may the steadfast courage of St Alfege inspire our actions

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and deepen our faith.

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Amen.

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One of the world's fastest clippers, the Cutty Sark here,

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was given a new lease of life this year.

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It's great to know that this iconic ship

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can now voyage towards a certain future.

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Unfortunately, our time here in Greenwich has come to an end.

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We'll leave you with a hymn - The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended.

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Until next time, goodbye.

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Next week, Granny Pam will be celebrating grandparents.

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She meets the granddaughter of "Call the Midwife" author

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Jennifer Worth, who's been inspired by her grandmother's example,

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and meets other grannies and granddads with stories to tell.

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The hymn singing comes from Coventry Cathedral,

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and there's a new version of The Lord Is My Shepherd

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by Peter Howarth, of The Hollies.

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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