12/06/2016 Songs of Praise

This week, I'm in West Sussex for a fusion of festival and faith.

The bands are warming up,

everyone's preparing for the crowds that are going to descend

on this area very shortly because it is

the biggest Christian gathering in Europe.

This is the Big Church Day Out.

I'm going to be backstage, onstage and in amongst the crowd here,

to capture the atmosphere of this giant family get-together

of Christians from across the UK.

I'm also going to be enjoying the music

and company of some of the biggest names in global Christian music.

And from festival to festive, later in the programme,

I'll be joining our art experts to decide the ten winners

of our Christmas card competition in aid of BBC Children In Need.

-I like that!

-Yes, I like that.

-Yeah, I like that!

And to mark the Queen's official 90th birthday,

Pam celebrates with 90 of Her Majesty's peers in Gloucestershire.

Well, as the first performers here prepare to take to the stage,

it's time for our opening hymn.

And just to prove that festivals are nothing new,

this iconic tune was commissioned for a Baptist festival

of song in South Wales over a century ago.

And legend has it that its composer, John Hughes,

wrote the score using chalk and a tarpaulin.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS

Big Church Day Out is in its eighth year.

It's the brainchild of Tim Jupp from the '90s band Delirious.

It's overwhelming every year to see so many people turn up.

I think people just love being together.

We often hear a story about the church being in decline

and it feels like sometimes it's almost on its last legs.

And I think, you know, there is a different story to tell

because the church is very much alive.

I usually find it really encouraging to see this many people

in one place, all here for the same purpose,

and that's to worship our Lord.

There's just so many types of different people here.

We're all getting on the same page.

Different ages, you know, different people, groups,

different streams of the church, different expressions of the church,

-but we're all gathering in this one place in the thousands...

-Uh-huh.

..and we're becoming a big choir together. I love it.

DRUMS PLAY UPBEAT RHYTHM

I've met someone with an even better laugh than me.

HE LAUGHS It's Andy!

Andy, what is it you're doing here?

Well, essentially, we are worshipping here.

That's the main thing we're doing.

You're praying, you're in the midst of people.

-The drums are like a prayer and the flags are a declaration.

-Mm-hm.

A declaration of God's goodness, so...

-It's not a bad way to spend your day, is it?

-It's fantastic!

This stunning tree has been turned into a prayer tree this weekend.

It's always a lovely moment, isn't it, to just pause and reflect

on things in and amongst all the fun that's going on here?

I think it's just amazing to see what God's up to in the church

today and, I think, to be part of that is always a humbling thing.

It's a privilege to be in the mix of what's going on.

And so, we love the music, we love the bands,

but more than anything, we love the worship that goes on here.

# Who breaks the power of sin and darkness?

# Whose love is mighty and so much stronger?

# The King of Glory The King above all kings

# Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder?

# Who leaves us breathless in awe and wonder?

# The King of Glory The King above all kings... #

Here we go! # This is amazing grace

# This is unfailing love

# That you would take my place

# That you would bear my cross

# You lay down your life

# That I would be set free

# Oh, Jesus, I sing for All that you've done for me... #

England! CHEERING

# Worthy is the lamb who was slain

# Worthy is the king who conquered the grave

# Worthy is the lamb who was slain

# Worthy is the king who conquered the grave

# Worthy is the lamb who was slain

# Worthy is the king who conquered the grave

# Worthy is the lamb who was slain

# Worthy, worthy, worthy, oh

-# This is amazing CROWD:

-# Grace

# This is unfailing love

# That you would take my place

# That you would bear my cross

# You lay down your life

# That I would be set free

# Oh, Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. #

That was American singer-songwriter, Phil Wickham,

performing on the festival Main Stage.

Big Church Day Out has something for everyone - young, not so young,

music lovers and families - they are all here.

But recently, Pam was invited to a church celebration

in Gloucestershire that had a rather more exclusive guest list.

BAND PLAYS HAPPY BIRTHDAY

This weekend marks the culmination of three months of celebrating

the 90th birthday of the Queen, a woman who so perfectly represents

her remarkable generation,

who have seen so much change and challenge over their long lives.

So, I've come here to join the congregation of St Mary's Church

in Thornbury

as they pay tribute, not just to the achievements of the Queen,

but to 90 of their own Gloucestershire nonagenarians

during nine decades of life.

# Long to reign over us

# God save the Queen. #

The service was the idea of Dame Janet Trotter,

the Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire,

the Queen's personal representative in the county.

Well, my aims were very much to involve the local community,

so we've gone out across South Gloucestershire and invited people

from every parish, and of course, 90 90-year-olds!

And I think this year, when the Queen is 90, we can put

a particular spotlight on them and recognise all that they have done.

You know, they are a feisty generation.

Every time I see them, I think, "Crumbs!"

You know, they are just fantastic.

The light and peace of Jesus Christ be with you...

The service was devised by Thornbury Parish Church's vicar,

the Rev Dr Jan van de Lely.

Well, the service is about community service

because that's so important in Christianity.

Jesus lived a life of service and he died for us

and, in fact, one of the readings is about how

he washed his disciples' feet the night before he died,

and he was demonstrating he was there to serve them,

and that was his example to us.

So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet,

you also ought to wash one another's feet.

That picture of servant leadership is what the Queen really stands for.

She has lived that out throughout her years as our monarch.

THEY SING

In today's congregation, we've got the whole span of ages,

from the 90-year-olds right down to the youngest children,

and the children are really important in the service

because we want them to see those older people

and to recognise what they've achieved

and to learn to respect them and, of course,

to follow in their fantastic example of living lives of service as well.

Tell me about the pebbles.

So, the pebbles are a symbolic act,

so that everybody in the church, whatever age,

will contribute a pebble, and that pebble will represent

their contribution to the health of the community.

I asked a few of the 90-year-olds

what they thought of the Queen and the service today.

I think she's wonderful.

I think she's a tremendous example to all of us.

If we could only be like her, it would be wonderful.

I don't know how she does it.

To be... To be invited, as I am,

it's an honour, really.

I liked it.

The seats are a bit hard!

I should bring a cushion next time.

So, throughout long years of war and peace,

of hardship and prosperity, the Queen's generation have

worked with faith and friendship to bring up their families

and build communities, and it's those years

we remember now in a hymn from the prolific modern-day writer,

Timothy Dudley-Smith,

who, later this year, will be celebrating his own 90th birthday.

Music is often a large part of Christian worship

and it's no different here at the Big Church Day Out.

But, as well as being a lot of fun,

it does have that special power to lift the spirit,

comfort us in times of need and, of course, help us to feel connected.

At our church, we sing some of the hefty hymns - we love that

at our church - but I really love the modern praise as well.

You can see just, sort of, Jesus breaking into people's hearts,

people getting touched, you know, crying,

and it's just lovely. It's just wonderful to be here.

I think, when you go to a music festival,

you can almost worship the band, you can worship the artist,

whereas here, you're worshipping God.

For Donna Francis, Big Church Day Out's fusion of faith

and music has had a big impact.

I have a very rare condition, so I have a lot of pain,

I've had to have a lot of operations,

but I think that having faith in God has given me someone to go to,

someone to pray to and I know that God's always there,

he's always right beside me and I'm never alone.

There is a song by Matt Redman and this is a song very special

to my heart because I was about 15,

and when that music was played I really felt touched by God,

and I believe that I received some healing from God -

an overwhelming sense of peace that you just can't explain,

and it has to be God, it can't be anything else.

# When the music fades

# And all is stripped away

# And I simply come

# Longing just to bring

# Something that's of worth

# That will bless your heart, my God

# And I'll bring you more than a song

# For a song in itself

# Is not what you have required

# You search much deeper within

# Through the way things appear

# You're looking into my heart

# I'm coming back to the heart of worship

# And it's all about you

# It's all about you, Jesus

# I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

# When it's all about you

# It's all about you, Jesus

# I'm coming back to the heart of worship

# And it's all about you

# It's all about you

# It's all about you, Jesus

# I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it

# When it's all about you

# It's all about you, Jesus. #

I feel like I need to get in the mood for this next feature.

Cue the snow machine!

We have been inundated with your designs for

our Christmas card competition in aid of BBC Children In Need,

so thank you so much if you entered.

Time now to reveal the ten designs that will make up

our Songs Of Praise Christmas card pack -

hitting the shelves nationwide from September.

Over the last few weeks, Team Songs Of Praise,

under the watchful eye of Pudsey, has been shortlisting

your wonderfully varied Christmas card designs, ready for the judges.

Joining me to cast an expert eye over the entries are

BBC arts editor Will Gompertz,

and actress and accomplished water-colourist Una Stubbs.

I'm hoping to see today cards obviously that I like

and I can see some ones that really, really appeal.

Super simple and wow!

'I just like something which is,

' "Oh, my goodness, I wasn't expecting that!" '

Maybe something which is comic, or it could be serious,

but definitely unusual.

This is pretty good, isn't it?

-Josie, don't you think?

-Yeah, I do, I love that one.

To me, Christmas cards are one of the best things about Christmas.

You get a card from someone

you haven't spoken to for a year - "Aww! Aww!"

SHE CHUCKLES

-I really like this arrangement.

-Oh!

"And the greatest of these is love" -

obviously a very Christmassy sentiment.

And you've got the boxes and the gold.

But, actually, I really like the typography.

Yeah, this is one of my favourites.

I probably shouldn't say just yet, but, yeah,

I like the typography as well.

-I like that.

-Yes, I like that.

-I like that.

Because music is such a beautiful thing,

and certainly very much part of Christmas,

-and that's just a very elegant representation.

-It is.

-Good use of colour.

-Yes.

-And, again, nice arrangement.

I think this artist has done Christmas cards before.

-Very professional.

-Yeah.

Well, I think we are spoilt for choice, aren't we, really?

Absolutely.

But we do have to decide, so what I've got for you is ten pegs

-with love hearts on them, appropriately, each...

-Oh!

..and now it's time for you to just wander around in your own time

-and put these pegs on the ten that you're most fond of.

-OK.

You have to capture the spirit of Christmas in this image

and to communicate that sentiment in a single image is quite tricky.

I'm looking for cards that catch your eyes,

when you see a row of them and you think, "Why did that catch my eye?"

But it did. Or it grabs you somewhere.

It's been fantastic because the standard is so high,

the variety so wide and the messages so sincere,

I just find the whole thing rather moving, actually.

I've really, really enjoyed it.

I love looking at art anyway

and I think there's some really good art here -

better than I ever imagined - it's very good!

If we've done our job well, I think

we've curated an amazing pack of ten Christmas cards,

which should sell millions, to the benefit of Children In Need.

Later in the programme, we will reveal our final ten designs,

but if you did send one in, thank you so much.

Absolutely brilliant to see

so many different expressions of what Christmas means to you.

One image that has always been popular on Christmas cards

is the candle - for Christians, a reminder that

whatever the time of year, Jesus is the light of the world.

-MUSIC PLAYING

-..to go absolutely bonkers!

Big Church Day Out caters for all music tastes.

Mobo award-winning rap artist Guvna B is here

for the eighth year running.

-Guvna B, welcome to Songs Of Praise.

-Thank you.

-About time we had you on here, I feel!

-I know, man!

This year was amazing for me. I grew up with this programme.

-It's quite cool to be on it.

-It's cool for us, too!

Now, you use rap music to get your message across,

but as an art form, it's not always associated with positive things.

Yeah, definitely. I think it is often associated with violence,

misogyny, but there's tonnes of artists, not just me,

that are using rap as a way to really inspire people.

# What can wash away my sins? #

I think my main kind of mission is to encourage people that God

has created all these different ways to worship him

and I'm using rap music as a way to inspire everyone that God has given

them a purpose, a hope, a future, and we can share that through music.

Something I and I think a lot of people will find very encouraging

is your personal testimony of how you came to the faith.

We were on a small council estate in East London.

Home and church, it was amazing, but on the estate,

I was being pulled in a different direction.

But when I was about 15, me and a few friends were playing

football in the playground at school,

about six of us in the playground, pouring down with rain

and out of nowhere, a massive lightning bolt struck

the middle of the playground and we all kind of fell to the floor.

But in the middle of the playground

was a good friend of mine, Izzy, and he was unconscious,

and they just couldn't get him breathing,

so he got rushed to hospital and was put on an intensive care machine.

For me, I just couldn't think of anything else to do

but to run to God and, thankfully, for me and my friends

and all the people we knew, God came through and healed him,

and it just inspired me that, you know what,

I don't just want a saviour for the difficult times,

but whenever there is trouble or difficult situations,

or I need an answer to prayer, he is the first one I run to.

Well, we're going to hear one of your tunes now.

-Can you tell us about it?

-So, this is Nothing But The Blood.

As I said, I grew up as a Christian and this has always been

my favourite hymn, and I wanted loads of people to hear it, but not

everyone loves hymns as much as I do, so I thought, "You know what?

"I'm going to do a rap version". And this was the result!

# No other fount I know

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# Yo, me and Adam, man, we've really got to have words

# I'm sorry, brother, but I heard you made it all worse

# I'm stuck, I don't know what works

# I know it ain't all your fault

# You're as flawed as me

# I know what it's like when I let Satan talk to me

# And though I've read all these books

# And I've read all these verses

# Why when I progress do I get caught reversing?

# I'm keeping it moving, trying to find your grace

# I just feel like in my life, I've made so many mistakes

# What can wash away my sins?

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# What can make me whole again?

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# Oh, precious is the flow

# That makes me white as snow

# No other fount I know

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# They think I'm crazy

# And they don't understand where I've been lately

# I've been battling myself, but can he save me?

# I put my faith up on that shelf and yeah, it changed me

# You could tell that I've been lazy

# It's the world that I was craving

# But then I had a dream

# He told me life ain't even always what it seems

# Cos every test is a lesson

# Every lesson is a blessing if you choose to see the message

# What can wash away my sin?

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# What can make me whole again?

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# Oh, precious is the flow

# That makes me white as snow

# No other fount I know

# Nothing but the blood of Jesus

# And so I'm here

# And I'm still standing by his grace, it disappeared

# All of my failures, all my shame, now I see clear

# And that's because no other name has brought me near

# And I can't wait to see his face, I'm pressing on

# All my mistakes, they are erased and now I'm strong

# It's like the judge has closed the case, I can't move on

# And yeah, I've moved from place to place

# But now I've found where I belong...

# Wave your hands with me

# It was the blood, it was the blood of Jesus

# He saved us all!

# It was the blood... #

Earlier in the programme,

we selected the ten winning designs

for our Christmas card competition...

..and here they are.

They will be available in the shops from September

and, of course, all in aid of BBC Children In Need.

So, it's the perfect way to send your Christmas greetings

and raise money for a worthy cause.

Next week, cards will be flying off the shelves for Fathers' Day

and here, on Songs Of Praise,

Connie will be meeting some remarkable dads.

Well, we've had a fantastic time here at the Big Church Day Out,

and we've had some great weather,

but our final hymn is Carl Boberg's How Great Thou Art.