Milton Keynes Songs of Praise

This week I'm in Milton Keynes celebrating the 50th anniversary

of Britain's most famous new town, which is also home

to a Christian community with a pioneering past.

Welcome to Songs Of Praise.

On today's programme I'll be meeting the Christians at the heart

of the development of Milton Keynes.

Reverend Kate Bottley visits a Christian project which is restoring

broken bicycles whilst turning around young lives.

-Do you know what I think the best bit of the bike is, Ben?

-Which one?

HORN

And I have a kickabout with a local freestyle footballer

whose faith has inspired him to break a staggering

five world records.

As a Christian, I really believe that this was my God-given gift,

and it was something that he wanted me to do.

Founded in 1967, Milton Keynes was built to ease the pressure

of London's chronic housing shortage.

Created from Buckinghamshire farmland and surrounding villages,

this place has had a lot to celebrate over its past

five decades, being the proud home of the Aston Martin,

with some cars taking two years to make.

And it's the base of the legendary Marshall amplifier company.

Milton Keynes has also forged a close-knit Christian community,

and our first hymn comes from the Church of Christ the Cornerstone,

led by the multi-award-winning songwriter and music producer

Noel Robinson and his band.

APPLAUSE

Created 50 years ago in 1967, Milton Keynes has a track record

for innovation, being first in the country

to trial driverless vehicles.

When it was built, Centre: MK was the largest indoor shopping mall

in Europe - fitting for a place that from the very beginning

set its sights on a pioneering future.

New job, new home, new life in Milton Keynes.

Residents were served by a network of historic churches,

but in the following years, Milton Keynes would seek to develop

new ways of serving its Christian community.

When Milton Keynes was a twinkle in the planner's eye,

the Anglicans, the Baptists, the Methodists,

the Roman Catholics and the United Reformed Church,

they came to the decision that they would build churches together.

That's incredibly forward-thinking.

We've got Roman Catholics and Protestants coming together,

where in other parts of the country that certainly wasn't happening.

Well, I think that there was a great excitement,

a new excitement about this ecumenical movement.

It was a great adventure for everybody here,

and people felt that they were just on the cusp of building

something really new and being able to contribute as Christians together

into the building of a new city.

Milton Keynes' ecumenical movement needed a focal point.

Work began to build a space in the town centre where everyone could

worship together. The result was the Church of Christ the Cornerstone.

Officially opened in 1992, it became the UK's first purpose-built

ecumenical church, serving five denominations under one roof.

That same year, Her Majesty the Queen attended a special

dedication ceremony to celebrate and bless this new building.

Cheryl Montgomery was in the choir on the big day.

The morning, we were all inside the church already

for the Queen to arrive.

And it was such a big occasion for Milton Keynes.

So the heads of the churches were there, and it was just like saying,

"Right, Milton Keynes, you are really important today."

And the first notes of the music started.

That was it, and off we went.

That's my daughter...

..and that's me.

It was really a special occasion.

For the last 50 years, 25 years,

you are absolutely welcome.

A quarter of a century later,

and Cheryl is still singing with the Cornerstone Choir.

We were always looking ahead

and looking forward to being in a special place to be that

special group of people who promised to work together.

# Brother, sister Let me serve you... #

Look at this.

Freestyle football takes years of practice

and has become a global phenomenon.

-Really impressive.

-Thanks, man.

Christian Daniel Cutting is one of the world's leading experts,

and hails from right here in Milton Keynes.

How long have you been doing freestyling for?

-It's been my full-time job for about eight years...

-Yeah.

..and I've been practising for probably nearer to 20 years.

-So since you were a little kid?

-Yeah.

You have must have some records.

I have got a couple of world records, yeah.

Various different freestyle skills that you can do.

Once I'd learned to kind of juggle the ball and do all the easy stuff,

-the stuff you learnt when you were young...

-I didn't even learn that!

-..I learned to kind of balance the ball on my head like this.

-Yeah.

And then once I'd learnt to get it there, I learnt to tilt

-my head to the side and balance it in my temple.

-Yeah.

And then you roll it over and catch it. Roll it back.

And basically over and back counts as a face roll,

and I did 1,810 in a row.

Wow, your neck must have been really aching after that!

I didn't have anything to do for a spare hour that day,

so I thought, why not go for it?

At what stage do you get to that and think,

"I'm just going to roll the ball on the top of my head"?

No, it's really hard.

Even balancing it there is difficult enough,

and then it's that balance and trying to get it there, but then

for ages I was up to here again, and then back to this side and then up.

But it's trying to make it smooth, and make it look flawless.

-Like rolling it around your head.

-That's really impressive.

Daniel holds a total of five world records,

but didn't consider becoming a professional freestyler

until he graduated in sport and PE from university,

choosing a career in football over teaching.

I just decided... Even from a young age

I knew I had this gift and this ability to play football,

and that wasn't even the tricks and skills.

As a Christian, you know, I really believe

that this was my God-given gift,

and it was something that he wanted me to do.

I can't say I ever had the voice of God saying,

"Daniel, you will be a freestyler,"

but I just had that sense in my spirit,

and when I prayed through it with Mum and Dad and other friends

and family, I just thought, you know, I'd be silly not to try this

and to really go for something that I'm so passionate about.

You've been a body double, as well, haven't you,

for some famous footballers?

I've done loads of body doubling over the years.

It's always good to be in the adverts. My mum would prefer

that my face was in them - she always says that.

If you've got to body double for the pros and make them look good,

I'm happy to do it. Even David Beckham, I've done things where it

looks like he's doing the trick with

-his feet, but it's actually me doing it.

-That's incredible.

David Beckham must have amazing skills, but yours are even better?

Yeah, I am better than David Beckham at football skills, yeah, for sure.

He's very good at football, obviously, but I'm better at skills.

CHEERING

Daniel now has one million followers on social media

and travels the world showcasing his extraordinary talents.

So I think people always think of God-given skills

and abilities as the gift of leadership,

or the gift of discernment, or the gift of encouragement.

But God has given us so many different gifts, you know,

physical gifts that you can actually use.

He's given you the gift of tricks of football.

-He's given me the gift of freestyle.

-Not me.

-Well, you're OK.

You weren't too bad.

-Yes!

-Ooh!

-Wow.

Maybe a few more years' practice.

But that's the amazing thing, isn't it?

He's given me this gift and ability, and I really believe that.

But it was still, you know, hours and hours of practice every day.

Just because I had that God-given ability and skill,

it didn't mean that I just woke up one day and went,

"Whoa! Mum, look what I can do! I went to bed, woke up

"and the ball was spinning on my finger."

It was the hours of practice and the discipline, the perseverance

which God's given me in order to actually get to this level.

# Everybody do the...

# Oh, yeah

# Oh, yeah

# Everybody say...

# Everybody say...

# Oh, yeah... #

Shout freedom!

-ALL:

-Freedom!

# Say...

# Everybody say

# Everybody say... #

Freedom, yeah!

Milton Keynes may be a relatively young town,

but its Christian origins date back centuries.

The Reverend John Newton moved to the village of Olney

in what is now the borough of Milton Keynes in 1746.

The religious writings of the former slave trader-turned-abolitionist

would become world-famous,

seeing his words turned into the lyrics of many loved hymns,

including, of course, Amazing Grace.

# Amazing Grace... #

Noel Robinson is not your ordinary worship leader.

Launching his studio recording career back in 1996,

Noel has managed successfully to work in both the Christian

and secular music worlds. And as well as winning awards,

he's also toured with the likes of Gloria Gaynor and Chaka Khan.

# Outrageous love You poor outrageous love on me... #

So tell me about your love of music. Tell me about your inspirations.

My dad, he loved music. He played guitar.

And my mum played piano but she died when I was five.

It would be me and my dad in the room,

and he'd be playing his guitar, so I'd sit there watching him,

and, you know, I think it was the thing that kept me quiet.

And I'm just interested in how you write songs.

I'm quite spontaneous, so it's quite possible for me to sit here

and just create a song in a few seconds, in a few minutes.

You know, I can do something...

# Here I am, sitting down with you... #

Can we call this Kate's Song?

# Kate's song, singing

# Kate's song, singing

# Great songs With Kate

# Songs... #

-KATE LAUGHS

-You know?

# Freedom, yes... #

Noel has been nominated four times for Mobo awards,

and has worked with giants of the music industry.

But his Christian faith led him

to question pursuing a mainstream career.

You had some pretty tough choices to make, didn't you,

about what to chase after? Because you're really good...

..and it could have been a whole different story for you.

Very early on I recognised something that God was doing to me, and

it was the choice to chase the music or the choice to chase the calling.

You know, the Scripture in Romans 11, that says the gift and the call

of God are without repentance, there's two things at stake here.

If I chase the music, what I'm doing technically is chasing

a dream of just playing with no content, often times.

But if I chase the calling, it doesn't stop me from playing,

but actually I find the content to play.

And it's this content that shapes people.

Music is beautiful in itself,

it's the most amazing gift that God ever gave us.

I say to people, there's only two gifts that came out of Heaven,

and that's Jesus and music.

-Any regrets?

-No.

I've not lost out in playing in venues.

I've not lost out in meeting amazing people in the Christian world.

I've played for some of the major Christian artists

around the world, you know?

I've got to know them as friends and toured the world,

all because I followed my call.

And I'm still doing it.

If I can give hope to someone who's lost hope and get them to believe

once again, even in themselves, then I feel that I'm achieving.

The gift is measured by how good you are, how many hours

you put to practise.

But the call is discovered and you walk it by faith.

That is the most exciting thing, wow, to walk my faith.

With 170 miles of cycle lanes,

Milton Keynes is certainly bike-friendly.

This is my first time riding a bike since I was 15 years old,

and a local Christian initiative is trying to persuade people like me

to ditch four wheels in favour of two.

Here we go... Whoa!

Cycle Saviours is a church-backed project breathing new life

into neglected bikes.

It rose out of the fact that we recognise that about a million bikes

were being thrown out nationally a year, and cycling is a really

healthy thing, so we thought it would be really great.

And where does faith fit into this?

For me, this is part of expressing what I believe is God's concern

for our communities and neighbourhoods,

and it's really nice to be able to show

that we're concerned about a whole range of things.

Would you like this?

-VOICEOVER:

-Locals donate their old bikes...

Look at that, look at that!

..so they can be put to good use.

-This has got cobwebs on the back wheel.

-They're free.

You don't have to charge for those. Or the bell.

-How long has that been in your shed?

-Two years.

-Two years?

-Yes.

But there's more to this Christian initiative than just getting

old bikes back on the road.

This workshop is staffed by young trainees.

Ben's 19 years old and struggled at school,

but since coming here he's been able to develop his practical skills.

What's the best thing about working here?

It makes me happy and talk to people.

And, yeah, have fun.

And then just test the gears and brakes to see if it's all fine.

Jack is 15 and admits to having behavioural issues.

He's released from school to visit the project twice a week.

What do you think it would have been like if you hadn't been able to come

here two days a week and you'd had to stay in school full-time?

I'd probably be kicked out right now.

-So this has sort of saved you, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

It's helped me a lot.

-You've saved the bikes, and the bikes have saved you.

-Yeah.

-Do you know what I think the best bit of the bike is, Ben?

-Which one?

This bit.

HORN

I like that bit!

Cycle Saviours also maintain bikes for community groups

like BucksVision. The charity for the visually impaired helped Elaine

after she lost much of her sight five years ago.

The day that I had to sell my bike,

I'll admit I was actually in tears, cos it was like...

I felt that my legs had been cut off

because I couldn't get out there and enjoy the outdoors.

But with the help of Cycle Saviours

and co-rider Marcel, Elaine's back on the road doing what she loves.

The first time I got on a tandem, it almost felt like I'd got

something back that I'd lost, because I could hear the birds,

I could hear, you know, the wind and everything.

And for me it was like being back in the Lord's creation again.

# I will sing the wondrous story... #

Now, the Songs Of Praise Young Choir of the Year competition

is open to all choirs whose members are school age.

You can enter by going to our website...

..where you'll find full details and terms and conditions.

The closing date is December 1st, so no time to lose.

Next week, in a special programme for remembrance,

Claire McCollum is in Enniskillen where, 30 years ago,

an IRA bomb exploded during a Remembrance Day ceremony.

Our final piece of music is a wonderful hymn of thanks

to lift the spirit and warm the heart.

Until next time, goodbye.

Sing it out, church!