0:00:02 > 0:00:06MUSIC: "Bolero" by Maurice Ravel
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Well, this is my first time presenting Songs Of Praise
0:00:10 > 0:00:12and I'm already skating on thin ice.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15I'm here in Nottingham, home of Britain's most famous
0:00:15 > 0:00:19ice dancing duo, Torvill and Dean and I'm keen to impress...
0:00:22 > 0:00:25..and so in honour of them, my dance partner and I
0:00:25 > 0:00:28shall demonstrate the Bolero.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36This week, youth with a mission,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39the church that's getting a makeover,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42the group bringing light into the darkness,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45plus contemporary worship songs
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and special guest, Lara Martin.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I might not have presented Songs Of Praise before,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01but I'm certainly no stranger to the programme.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04You might have seen me helping to choose the winners
0:01:04 > 0:01:06of the fabulous school choirs competition.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Well, there's no judging to do today
0:01:09 > 0:01:12but we've got lots of great music from St Nic's Church
0:01:12 > 0:01:16in the city centre and, as you can see, they've got the builders in.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20And let's find out how it all looks later.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Our music recording was one of the last events
0:01:22 > 0:01:25to be held at the old church before it was handed over
0:01:25 > 0:01:28to the developers.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30And we began with a popular worship song
0:01:30 > 0:01:33led by Steve Thompson and his band.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Nottingham's a great city, full of surprises.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Football's one of my biggest passions
0:04:56 > 0:04:59and Nottingham's home to not one, but two football clubs -
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Nottingham Forest and the world's oldest professional football club,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Notts County.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10I've always wanted to do this.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14And this is a great shirt but it's not mine.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18This is mine.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Now, where's that ball?
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Sherwood Forest on the outskirts of the city is the legendary hideout
0:05:28 > 0:05:31of our most famous outlaw, Robin Hood.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Which way to the castle, mate?
0:05:35 > 0:05:37Oh, that way.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Nottingham Castle has stood firm in the city centre
0:05:42 > 0:05:45through centuries of battles and conflicts.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And the castle walls still hold many secrets
0:05:48 > 0:05:50of Nottingham's turbulent past,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54including this maze of caves used as secret passages into the castle
0:05:54 > 0:05:56for supplies and even people.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Today, the castle museum charts the history of the city.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Including its thriving trade in religious sculptures
0:06:14 > 0:06:16carved from alabaster,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19which were highly sought after in the Middle Ages.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28And these sculptures are more than just works of art.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31In an age when most people couldn't read or write,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33they told the Christian story.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08For the past six months, the congregation at St Nic's Church
0:10:08 > 0:10:11have been worshipping elsewhere
0:10:11 > 0:10:14so the building can move with the times.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17The landscape of the city's changed throughout the years
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and so the role of the church has changed too.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21If you go back to the Georgian era,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24this church was known as the "drawing room church"
0:10:24 > 0:10:27where all the wealthy people came.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30But then, of course, it became a slum area and then the slums
0:10:30 > 0:10:33were demolished and now it's a commercial area,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35and a place where people come to shop.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Congregation member, Martin Paradise,
0:10:39 > 0:10:41has played a key role in the development.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45We're taking the old, slightly tired church and rebuilding it,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48re-ordering it, they call it in the Church Of England.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Both ends of the building, interior and exterior,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52bringing it up to the 21st century.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57The big thing at that end of the building is a new balcony.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01A very thin, floating balcony that's going to curve right across
0:11:01 > 0:11:04the west end of the church.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07This end, we're sitting in it. This is the new baptistery.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09We didn't have a baptistery before,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12we had a portable thing that we put together and took apart,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15so this one is much more shallow and it does take a seven foot person
0:11:15 > 0:11:18because we tried it with the builders and laid them down.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21So, basically, it's a shallow pool for baptising people.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24As well as providing better facilities for its congregation,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27the hope is the new church will draw more people in.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It's a way that you can dovetail into modern society
0:11:31 > 0:11:36and I think you've got have something that is attractive to people who've never been to church.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38There are people who never went to church or Sunday school.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41They have no idea who Jesus was.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44You've only got to look at the number of people who sit out on the grass
0:11:44 > 0:11:46having their sandwiches.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49We're hoping to be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so, hopefully,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52the people will wander in, have a cup of coffee,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56just somewhere on this side of the city that's a nice place to go.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00This is virtually funded by the members of the congregation
0:12:00 > 0:12:04to hundreds of thousands of pounds so that's fantastic so quite rightly,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08they have an interest in the way it's hopefully going to turn out.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Although it's not finished yet, some members of the congregation
0:12:12 > 0:12:15have been taking a first look at the building.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19The key impression is light, openness, space
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and it's going to be a really flexible space
0:12:22 > 0:12:25where you can use it for all sorts.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29It will lift our spirits quite a lot.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31That's the phrase that came to my mind as well.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34I think people are excited at the openness of it.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37I mean, we could see it on the plans beforehand, obviously,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41and you get an idea in your head about what it's going to look like
0:12:41 > 0:12:45but things change between plan and build,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48particularly with the balcony and such like,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51it's been really good.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55You know, you could have asked what modern cities are for.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Is it just a playground? Or is it just a place to come and work?
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Or a place to go and buy loads of stuff?
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Or does it have a spiritual heart?
0:13:05 > 0:13:08So it's to be a place of prayer, a place of community,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11a place of mission and outreach and it's hoping to be a place
0:13:11 > 0:13:15of equipping Christian disciples to live today.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01We're going to just be gardening this morning, OK?
0:17:01 > 0:17:04'When you tell someone you're Christian,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07'they have this vision of you sitting in your high tower,'
0:17:07 > 0:17:09or in your church kind of going,
0:17:09 > 0:17:11"Look at the world, isn't it a bad place?
0:17:11 > 0:17:12"We're safe in our church."
0:17:12 > 0:17:15But that's not what Christianity is about.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19That's not what my faith is about or what these people's faith is about.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22Richard Dawson is passionate about getting young people
0:17:22 > 0:17:26out of their churches and into the community.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28We aim to take a group of young people from churches
0:17:28 > 0:17:31and local schools that maybe don't have a faith
0:17:31 > 0:17:33and we take them across the country.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36They don't know where they're going. It's a mystery.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39We head to another Youth for Christ centre,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41working with the local church to bless a community.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44But today's group are closer to home, in Nottingham,
0:17:44 > 0:17:49where they're gardening for people unable to do it for themselves.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53We want to show that young people aren't just
0:17:53 > 0:17:55mischievous and horrible.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59We want to show them that we care, we're not just about ourselves,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02that we care about other people as well.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08When I was chopping the hedges, I really enjoyed it.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11When I went on to chopping the little trees,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13I really enjoyed it as well.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16You're, like, helping the community and people who can't,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19like, help themselves.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22One of the things we're really passionate about is saying,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25"Hey, how as a Christian are we making a difference
0:18:25 > 0:18:30"in this world and bringing God's kingdom into a real community?"
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Being a Christian means trying to be Christ-like.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Jesus loved the people he was around,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Jesus made the biggest impact on society that history has ever seen.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42So surely, as his followers, we should do the same.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Without Richard and Youth for Christ,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48I probably wouldn't be out here doing this.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Nottingham's a big city. We can only do the little bit that we are.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57I think one of the things I'm really passionate about is just letting
0:18:57 > 0:18:59every young person in the city
0:18:59 > 0:19:01know their potential and know of their worth.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03That would be awesome.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07I think I could sit back in my rocking chair with a flat cap
0:19:07 > 0:19:09if that happened and just go, "I've done it."
0:21:51 > 0:21:55In the Bible, Jesus tells the story of a man on a journey
0:21:55 > 0:21:57to Jericho who is ambushed and left battered,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00bloodied and injured by the roadside.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02People passed by, ignoring him,
0:22:02 > 0:22:07until one man has compassion on him and stops to help him.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10'The story of the good Samaritan has inspired a group
0:22:10 > 0:22:15'here in Nottingham to try to help prostitutes to get off the streets.'
0:22:15 > 0:22:19We are a project that really seeks to demonstrate the love of Jesus
0:22:19 > 0:22:22to women working in the sex industry in Nottingham.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Our desire is really to be showing love to them
0:22:25 > 0:22:29and we would like to see them moving forward,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32not being on the street, but in a really positive way.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38We go out two or three times a week
0:22:38 > 0:22:41and drive around the main red light area
0:22:41 > 0:22:43and just stop when we see someone,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45offer them something to eat and drink
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and allow them to get into our van
0:22:48 > 0:22:51and maybe just have a kind of safe space amidst the night.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57'One woman, who we'll call Ruth, was helped off the streets
0:22:57 > 0:23:02'with the support of Jericho Road and has now become a Christian.'
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Just met them on the street one day.
0:23:06 > 0:23:07I was, I don't know where I was going.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Probably to score drugs or something like that.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14They were an outreach project. They just stopped and chatted to me.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16How did you feel when they approached?
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Very scared. Wondered what they were up to, what they were about,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21what they wanted me for.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24- Did it bother you that they were Christians?- Yeah, it did.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Yeah, it did, really.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I've never known any religion or anything like that.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32It was just a load of God squad people to me, Bible bashers.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34I didn't know nothing about it.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38- I was just very naive and very ignorant.- How did they help you?
0:23:38 > 0:23:41In every way you could think possible, really.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44They helped me with finding new accommodation
0:23:44 > 0:23:48when I came out of prison, they've helped me spiritually.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53Erm, everything, really.
0:23:53 > 0:23:58It really challenges your faith and it inspires it.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03Yeah, it really kind of grows it and I think
0:24:03 > 0:24:07it's because of a faith in a God that gives life in abundance
0:24:07 > 0:24:13and a God that can really do amazing things and change and restore lives.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17That's why we do what we do, that's what the project is about.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24- What's your life like now? - Erm, a million times better.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Erm, when I was in Nottingham it was just all about me.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30What I wanted what I could get for myself.
0:24:30 > 0:24:35Now I work with churches, I volunteer to work with homeless people.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41Now I look at life as what I can do for other people.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44Now I've become a Christian,
0:24:44 > 0:24:49it's only a year and a half ago but, yeah, it's a lot, lot different now.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06# God sees you
0:25:08 > 0:25:11# He knows where you are
0:25:11 > 0:25:17# You are not forgotten, no
0:25:17 > 0:25:21# God knows you
0:25:21 > 0:25:25# He chose you
0:25:25 > 0:25:28# He's spoken of in heaven
0:25:32 > 0:25:35# Only God
0:25:35 > 0:25:40# Only God can see
0:25:42 > 0:25:45# Inside every human heart
0:25:45 > 0:25:49# Only God
0:25:49 > 0:25:53# Really knows you
0:25:59 > 0:26:02# And God made you
0:26:03 > 0:26:05# He loves you as you are
0:26:06 > 0:26:12# You are not just a face in a crowd
0:26:12 > 0:26:15# God hears you
0:26:16 > 0:26:20# He's near you
0:26:20 > 0:26:25# And he's closer than you think
0:26:27 > 0:26:30# Only God
0:26:30 > 0:26:34# Only God can see
0:26:37 > 0:26:41# Inside every human heart
0:26:41 > 0:26:44# Only God
0:26:44 > 0:26:48# Really knows you
0:26:50 > 0:26:55# You, you, you, you, you
0:26:55 > 0:26:57# And only God
0:26:57 > 0:27:02# Truly understands
0:27:04 > 0:27:07# The issues of the heart
0:27:08 > 0:27:12# Only God
0:27:12 > 0:27:16# Only God
0:27:22 > 0:27:26# You are God's masterpiece
0:27:28 > 0:27:34# When will you realise that it's true?
0:27:36 > 0:27:41# There is a God who cares
0:27:41 > 0:27:44# A God who loves
0:27:44 > 0:27:49# A God who sees
0:27:55 > 0:27:59# God hears you
0:27:59 > 0:28:02# He's near you
0:28:02 > 0:28:09# And he's closer than you think. #
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Lord, we praise you for what you've given us
0:28:20 > 0:28:23and for what you've promised us.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Give us the courage to come out from all our churches into the world.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29That our lives may proclaim your glory
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and your whole creation may reveal your love.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35We give ourselves to you
0:28:35 > 0:28:39and ask that our daily work may be part of the life of your kingdom
0:28:39 > 0:28:41and that our love may be your love
0:28:41 > 0:28:44reaching out into the life of the world.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51I've come to the end of my visit to Nottingham
0:28:51 > 0:28:52and I've really enjoyed it.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56It's great to see a city that's thriving in both body and spirit.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59We're going back to the old St Nic's for our final song,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02which I'm sure the congregation are going to sing again with gusto
0:29:02 > 0:29:06when the building work is complete. Happy Day!
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Next week is Bible Sunday and Aled will be marking
0:32:35 > 0:32:38the 400th anniversary of the King James version
0:32:38 > 0:32:40with a visit to Oxford.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43Congregations from all over Britain
0:32:43 > 0:32:46and the King Singers will be celebrating how the good book
0:32:46 > 0:32:49continues to inspire today.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53Time is running out for entries
0:32:53 > 0:32:55to our prestigious School Choir of the Year.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58It'll be the 10th year of the competition
0:32:58 > 0:33:00as it goes from strength to strength.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03If you think your school choir's got what it takes
0:33:03 > 0:33:07then go to our website, where you'll find all the information you need.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Schools need to send in their entries by October 28th,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13so you need to be quick to avoid missing the boat.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Let's see if your school could be crowned champions.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18There's nothing quite like it -
0:33:18 > 0:33:21the Songs of Praise School Choir of the Year competition.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:33:28 > 0:33:30E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk