Easter Sunday Songs of Praise

Happy Easter Sunday and welcome to Songs Of Praise

on the most important day of the year for Christians,

the celebration of Christ's resurrection.

I'm in Manchester,

where final preparations are underway for an ambitious

one-off performance of the story of Christ's life,

and they're all volunteers.

I'll be finding out how the story is being made relevant

for a modern audience.

I haven't had a decent meal in weeks.

Also in this Easter Day programme, Claire McCollum discovers

an ancient carol found among the doodlings of a medieval monk.

And I'm in East Sussex to meet an inspirational bell-ringer

who's raised millions of pounds for charity.

We've got some favourite Easter hymns both old and new

and we'll begin with this modern, triumphant hymn

announcing the good news that Christ is risen.

The kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed.

Here in Manchester, the performance of Christ's Passion is underway.

You must be salt and light to the world.

Blessed are the poor.

It tells the greatest of all stories about Jesus' teachings,

his betrayal, his trial,

his journey to the cross, known as the passion,

and followed, of course, by the resurrection.

For the past few months, amateur and professional actors,

all unpaid, have been rehearsing for their one-off performance.

We've become such, like, a family.

It's such a community, like, spirit, and it's just,

yeah, it's just really fun.

You realise the suffering that Jesus went through

and the sacrifice which he gave.

That is the real message about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ

and him coming back again to life.

Hopefully, all the love that will be around the place

will cascade to everybody.

The production has been written and directed by company owner

Geoff Millard and the process had a profound effect on him.

I had to start reading the Bible and Jesus became relevant,

God became relevant. I learned more how to pray.

Geoff hopes the play will attract those unfamiliar

with the Easter story.

And he's added a few contemporary characters to the script.

We've got a homeless guy and we've got those elements.

And it seems to work quite well, actually,

and they approach, they heckle Jesus.

Blessed are those who are hungry and thirst for righteousness.

What about just plain hungry?

I haven't had a decent meal in weeks.

I feel persecuted wherever I go because of this headscarf.

Where does gentle get you?

Nah.

I tell you, the gentle will inherit the earth.

While it's been given some modern references,

the Manchester Passion follows the traditional story

of the Last Supper.

I am the living bread.

And then the betrayal and the arrest of Jesus.

Your day's done, teacher.

Are you not scared of me, Jesus?

At his trial, Jesus' fate is sealed by the judge Pontius Pilate,

who is swayed by public opinion.

Barabbas! We want Barabbas!

Pilate is played by Nakib Narat, who is fascinated by the role.

It's just a wonderful man to portray because he is so complex.

No more!

I feel personally that he saw Jesus as possibly God.

With my interpretation he started off quite arrogantly,

and yet, when he washed his hands of this,

he was genuinely sorry.

His blood is not on my hands.

WOMAN SOBS

Salesman Rob Slater plays the part of Jesus.

To be able to act this out

when you've got a faith

is everybody's dream, I suppose.

Is there a better role?

I have prayed about this and asked for help,

because how could anybody know how Jesus felt?

You know, I mean, he had these people putting him to death,

but at the same time love them.

Emotion will take over, I'm sure,

and it's going to be quite a poignant moment, I think.

And a connection, if you like, for me, with God.

Father...

..it is finished.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

WEEPING

Leading the music at the Manchester Passion

are Manchester Inspirational Voices,

the current Songs Of Praise Gospel Choir of the Year.

Their musical director, Wayne Ellington,

had the idea of giving solo lines to some of the actors.

# I worshipped him

# In his eyes... #

One of them is Ben Rigby, who plays Judas.

I mean, I'm singing in this

and I don't come from a singing background,

so we've spent a lot of time developing on song.

That's absolutely petrifying.

# Every night... #

It's totally outside of my comfort zone,

performing in the middle of Manchester.

# Who was friends with the rich... #

Dealing with the singers who have never sung before,

trying to get people to watch me for timing and also to help out

with pitching and so on, that was a challenge.

We also have the Manchester Inspirational Voices here as well,

who won the Gospel Choir of the Year last year.

And they're really excited. They're very excited.

And here are Wayne and his choir with an uplifting gospel song.

# I will be with you

# I will be with you

# I will be with you

# If you will only trust me

# Trust me

# Trust me

# I'll never leave you

# I'll never leave you

# I'll never leave you

# If you will only trust me

# Trust me

# Trust me

# Oh

# I am

# That I am

# Oh

# I have all the power

# Oh

# I will deliver

# If you will only trust me

# I'll be there, yes, I will

# Trust me

# I'll be there

# Trust me

# Whenever you call

# If you will only

# I'll answer your prayer

# Trust me

# Yes, I will, yeah

# Trust me

# Oh, yeah, yeah

# Trust me

# If you will only

# If you will only

# Trust me

# Trust me

# Oh, I'll answer your call

# Trust me

# Trust me. #

Here in Manchester,

the Easter story is being told in a contemporary setting,

but of course it's been told

in lots of different ways over the centuries.

Claire McCollum has been to Battle Abbey in Sussex,

where the Battle of Hastings took place, and where they've

discovered an ancient carol telling the story of Christ's life.

For the best part of 500 years, this abbey was home to

a thriving community of Benedictine monks

founded by William the Conqueror to atone for the bloodshed

at the Battle of Hastings.

Very little survives from those times thanks to Henry VIII

and his Reformation.

But one book, complete with a monk's doodles,

has brought to life a very special piece of music.

MEDIEVAL HYMN IS PERFORMED

The carol's found in a Latin service book and it's doodled,

jotted down on the end pages of the manuscript.

A couple of pages later,

there's a little poem about the deaths of three of late medieval

Abbots of Battle, and a couple of recipes for gastric complaints.

And for me, it provides an insight into the wider religious life

of the monks who lived here.

And when would it have been sung?

Well, in the Middle Ages, carols were never sung in church.

They were sung in secular spaces.

They could be sung throughout the year.

We have carols on the Trinity and any number of saints -

this one is on Christ himself

and Christ's suffering and the example that Christ sets

for all of humanity.

And we're here at Eastertide,

and I think a focus on Christ's suffering

would be an appropriate time to be singing at this,

the great relief that comes on Easter Sunday.

You can break your fast again.

It would have been a great time to be singing this carol

in somewhere like the abbot's hall.

'To preserve the book for future generations,

'it has now been safely archived.'

You're one of the very few to have actually held this book.

For somebody like you, what is that like, that experience?

It's always fantastic to have

an original medieval manuscript in front of you.

And so few of these survive from Battle Abbey.

The abbey would have had over 1,000 books in its library.

27 survive today.

And to be able to look through it and see not the formal text,

the formal Latin text but the things which were individual to the monk

who was using this book, who was making these little jottings

and thinking these are important things to be writing down.

And tell me about its relevance today.

It talks basically about not being too materialistic,

and also thinking about being charitable.

The chorus changes from being a follower of Christ's word

to being a doer of Christ's word.

So after singing this carol, after even dancing to it, perhaps,

in the abbot's great hall here, your life has been improved

and you're being kinder, both to yourself and to your fellow man.

The story of Christ's life is also told in our next song,

a contemporary setting of the Christian creed.

You may have heard your local church bells ringing out today for Easter.

But for the past year the bells in

St George's Church in the East Sussex village of Brede,

along with churches and cathedrals in the world, have been ringing out

a special tune, as the Reverend Kate Bottley has been finding out.

CHURCH BELLS RING

These bells are ringing a new tune.

This conversation was created for

and named after bell ringer Julie McDonnell.

And whenever it's rung, it raises money for her cancer charity.

An incredible £7.2 million

in less than 12 months.

An achievement made all the more remarkable

because Julie herself is fighting an ongoing battle with the disease.

When you are first diagnosed with cancer,

first of all you're very shocked.

Then you get numb.

Then you get really angry and quite annoying, I think,

because you want to hit out at somebody

so you hit out at those closest to yourself.

And then you get that kind of strength

and I think that's the strength I actually got through my faith.

And then you get the determination to do something

and not just sit there

and wonder what's going to happen to me.

It strikes me, Julie, that this is your mission.

-This is your calling.

-It's pretty crazy, isn't it?

Bells ringing across the world,

but it's just a unique thing to do.

I think bells do call people to worship

but I think I wanted those bells to support people with blood cancer,

to actually say you're not on your own.

Because every time I hear those bells ring

I don't feel like I'm on my own.

You say, is this your mission?

People have been put on Earth for different reasons.

It could be all part of a plan, I don't know.

But without it I don't think it would have given me

the strength to get this point when I am now,

and I'm very, very grateful. I feel loved.

Now I know that your campaign has had a massive boost recently.

-Tell me about that.

-Oh, absolutely.

I actually wrote the Dean, Dr John Hall, at Westminster,

and I asked him like I asked many people, including yourself...

I remember you writing to my church.

..asking them to ring out in support of blood cancer.

CHURCH BELLS RING

Usually the bells at Westminster Abbey are reserved for royalty

and state occasions.

But today Julie is here to enjoy the sound of bells

ringing out in her name

as a guest of the Dean.

How many towers have you grabbed?

-What, for Julie McDonnell?

-Yes.

There's been 569 quarter peals rung for Julie McDonnell.

But for cathedrals and abbeys and minsters,

this will be the 31st that's rung for Julie McDonnell.

-Wow, and you've been to each one of these?

-No.

SHE LAUGHS

I'd like to think that people that maybe don't have faith,

but to hear bells rung out for them,

for people with blood cancer is incredible.

And actually it gives me a huge boost.

# There is a redeemer

# Jesus, God's own son

# Precious lamb of God, Messiah

# Holy one

# Thank you, oh, my father

# For giving us your son

# And leaving your spirit till

# The work on Earth is done

# Jesus, my redeemer

# Name above all names

# Precious lamb of God, Messiah

# Hope for sinners slain

# Thank you, oh, my father

# For giving us your son

# And leaving your spirit till

# The work on Earth is done

# Thank you, Lord

# And thank you, oh, my father

# For giving us your son

# And leaving your spirit till

# The work on Earth is done

# And leaving your spirit till

# The work on Earth is done. #

I can't get over the fact that I'm not going to see him again.

At the Manchester Passion we've reached the moments

that follow the Crucifixion.

It's the women who are first to discover the empty tomb

as the Resurrection becomes clear to them.

No!

Mary Magdalene is played by Gillian Freeman,

who feels a strong connection to the role.

My take, really, is she was just a really broken and lost woman.

Because she was just seeking love in all the wrong places,

when really what she really needed was the love of Christ.

Why do you connect with her personally?

Because I lived a similar life to Mary

before I came to know Jesus.

I lived a life of promiscuity and alcoholism

and I sought love and fulfilment in all the wrong places.

Woman, why are you crying?

Who is it that you are looking for?

It doesn't matter how far down you've been.

Jesus can forgive anybody and he loves every single person.

Mary?

Teacher!

You can't touch me yet.

I believe that Jesus is real

and alive and he transforms lives.

And I'm hoping that other people will be able to see that it's real.

Go now, out into the world.

And tell everyone the good news.

APPLAUSE

The Manchester Passion performance is coming to an end

and it's clearly moved the audience.

It was fantastic, it was moving.

-Oh, it was so good.

-Really good.

It had just the most incredible raw power,

I think perhaps because it was not simply a professional performance.

This was really people being passionate about the Passion.

It's great to see so many people come together,

diverse backgrounds, to hear it today.

APPLAUSE

That's it from the Manchester Passion.

It went very well.

And we leave you with a glorious Easter hymn.