Summer Worship Songs of Praise

Today, we're in Hastings, a place famous for a battle

that changed our history and for being a thriving seaside resort.

Welcome to Songs Of Praise.

On the programme this week, I visit Battle Abbey

and discover why William the Conqueror had built it.

He had committed acts of great violence,

so William had to make good for this,

and that involved the foundation of Battle Abbey.

Claire McCollum travels to Malaga to meet a young Christian,

whose faith has helped him make it all the way

to the World Transplant Games.

I visit a church who are filling Moses baskets for new mums.

Peepo!

And we have performances and hymns from all around the country.

Hastings' famous pier has recently been totally renovated

at a cost of over ?14 million.

When it was first opened in 1872,

24,000 people walked these very planks,

taking in the sea air and the sunshine -

sentiments echoed in our opening hymn.

# Summer suns are glowing

BATTLEGROUND HUBBUB

Hastings is synonymous, of course, with the battle of 1066,

when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold

and went on to become the new King of England.

Several thousand soldiers lost their lives in the battle,

which happened on these very fields.

Battle Abbey was built here a few years later.

Dr Michael Carter is an historian for English Heritage,

and has offered to show me around.

So, why did William build Battle Abbey?

He had committed acts of great violence,

actually an act of sacrilege, in killing an anointed king,

so William had to make good for this,

and penances or a series of good works

were imposed on William and his henchmen,

and that involved the foundation of Battle Abbey,

where the monks here, every day, would sing services

for the salvation of the souls of all those who'd died

at the Battle of Hastings, Norman and Saxon alike.

And the intention of the abbey was to pay back,

in a never-ending round of good works,

for the blood that had been shed here by William and his supporters.

So, I can see the remains of the abbey over there,

but what is the significance of this plaque?

We're standing in the ruins of the great abbey church.

This particular spot here was the site of the abbey's high altar,

where high mass was celebrated every day.

And sources, written within living memory

of the Battle of Hastings, 1066 -

one of the most famous dates in British history -

mention that King William, William the Conqueror,

called for the abbey's high altar to be built

on the very spot where Harold's body was recovered.

The construction of this abbey by William was the starting point

for changes to Christianity across the country.

There's a great wave of reform that comes with the Norman conquest,

including the building of some great cathedrals that survive to this day,

such as Durham Cathedral,

instantly recognisable as Norman architecture -

the heaviness of it, the round, circular-topped arches.

It's a great time of rebuilding and we also get churchmen

of enormous significance and talent coming from France

and as far away as Italy to key positions within the English church.

How and when did this beautiful abbey become a ruin?

Battle Abbey, like every single monastery in England and Wales,

fell victim to Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.

And the end for Battle came in 1538,

when the monks were cast out with pensions

and the site is given to a courtier of Henry VIII.

And he rapidly levels the monastic church.

Battle Abbey was at the centre of British Christian history

and now, to celebrate our heritage,

here's William Blake's classic hymn, set to music by Hubert Parry.

# And did those feet in ancient time

# Walk upon England's mountains green?

# And was the holy Lamb of God

# On England's pleasant pastures seen?

# And did the countenance divine

# Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

# And was Jerusalem builded here

# Among these dark Satanic mills?

# Bring me my bow of burning gold

# Bring me my arrows of desire

# Bring me my spear Oh, clouds, unfold

# Bring me my chariot of fire

# I will not cease from mental fight

# Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand

# Till we have built Jerusalem

# In England's green and pleasant land. #

Another reminder of our history is Hastings Castle,

built by William the Conqueror, here on the south coast,

to strengthen England's defences.

1,000 miles across the sea is Malaga,

where Claire McCollum has been cheering on

an extraordinary young man

who has overcome the odds to represent Great Britain

in a sporting event with a real difference.

These are the 21st World Transplant Games.

There are over 2,000 athletes

from 50 different countries competing here,

and every single one of them has undergone

some form of organ transplant.

16-year-old Luke Alexander is representing

Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

His faith is at the centre of his family life

and he's an altar server in his local church.

What does it mean to you to be taking part here?

It means so much to me. I'm really honoured to be here

and I feel this is the best way to honour my donor family,

just represent my country and, hopefully, getting a gold for them.

Luke's competing in the 5K time trials today,

but he's been on a long journey to get here.

I was born with a rare liver condition called biliary atresia

and it causes irreversible damage within the liver.

When I was 12, I became very ill and it soon became apparent

that I needed a liver transplant and, on 19th November, 2012,

we received a call for an organ donation

and we raced into hospital in blue lights into King's College.

The next thing I knew, I was awake and up in ICU.

It was very scary.

For my family, it was, um, a rough period,

but they found strength and support within the Church.

The community in the parish that we have is a very good one

and they helped my family out a lot.

When he was undergoing the surgery, obviously, there was huge concern,

but we are Catholics and we prayed and we prayed

and we prayed and God listened.

After my transplant, my energy levels just shot out the roof.

It was really good to get back out and start exercising again

and it was only when I went to Liverpool, last year,

for the British Transplant Games, I realised I can do a lot more,

I can push myself further, I can become a better athlete.

I won four bronze medals and one silver and that was a highlight.

I wasn't expecting any medals.

Reflecting back on it now,

it definitely does make you think that God has a path for everyone.

Luke has been training six days a week

for the last year, in preparation for this day.

ANNOUNCER STARTS THE RACE

His personal best for the 5km distance was just over 12 minutes.

This time, he crossed the line in under ten

and won gold in his category.

To be here and compete, how thankful are you, Luke?

I'm so glad, so thankful.

Words can't even describe how thankful I am.

It's just an amazing opportunity.

And your donor - what words would you have to say?

Thank you. Everything I've done now, I owe it to you.

Um... Yeah, just thank you very much for saying yes.

It's a miracle, isn't it? I think it's a miracle of life.

Um... It's something, I think, we just prayed and prayed,

and we've prayed so much through the journey,

and to see the difference in him.

And just thankful to the donor family

for having made that decision. Yeah.

And in their grief, they made such a powerful decision

which has just changed our life for the better.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We're back in the UK for our next hymn,

celebrating the summer on the sandy beach of Tenby.

On September 10th, Songs Of Praise hosts singing on a grand scale,

with our annual Big Sing.

If you'd like to buy tickets for this event

at the Royal Albert Hall, then please go to our website

for all the details you need.

And Big Sing regulars the Adventist Vocal Ensemble

lead the congregation in our next hymn.

# Every time I feel the spirit

Behind the newly renovated Victorian splendour,

Hastings is not without its problems.

It was recently ranked as one of the most deprived towns in the UK.

But one church here is making a difference to people's lives,

by helping some mums care for their newborn babies.

King's Church takes part in a national charitable scheme

called Baby Basics, which delivers a Moses basket of essentials

to help mothers with newborn babies.

So far, the main women we've been helping

are victims of domestic violence,

women who are homeless and women who've been trafficked

and basically been enslaved and have now been set free,

but they're pregnant and in desperate need of help -

women who just wouldn't really know how to support their newborn baby

and, actually, the idea of giving birth is something that's terrifying

because they're wondering,

"How am I going to support this life that I'm responsible for?"

So, anything we can do to help, we're absolutely thrilled to do.

Are you getting a lot of support from the community for this?

Yeah, we're getting fantastic support,

where people are really rallying around,

donating items such as nappies, wipes, bottles, clothing,

a whole load of things, and really rallying to support mums in crisis.

And how does your Christian faith play a part?

Well, we believe, as Christians, that we have been shown

such great mercy and compassion and generosity from God

that it's our responsibility to show that to anyone we can

and everyone we can at any opportunity,

so this project and many others are just ways

that we get to show the love of God, his compassion, his mercy,

to others, in the same way that we've experienced it.

In the church, volunteers Davina and Rose are packing up

a crib for their next delivery.

And what are we putting inside? Well, we start off with the nappies.

The nappies, sure. In the middle.

And then we have at least 40 essential items for baby. Oh, wow!

And I'm also seeing that there are some for mum as well,

which is a lovely idea, because...

Oh, yeah, we like to treat mum, especially after having a baby.

And how many of these are you making, would you say, in a month?

We're looking at doing about four to six a month,

but we've just been over to the hospital

and talked to the community midwives

and we're hoping that the demand will increase from there.

That's lovely. And these are all from donations from people.

They are, yes.

They're from the parent and toddler group here

and we've also linked up with other churches,

who are helping us as well.

Right, I have a donation for you.

Just a little something. Got some wipes. Thank you.

Some baby shampoo. Thank you.

And a little onesie there with a little hat.

Ah, that is so sweet. That's brilliant. I'm very happy to help.

This is such a great idea. Thank you. Thank you.

Peepo!

KATHERINE LAUGHS

So, Lou, you donate to the Baby Basics here. Why do you do that?

Um, I donate because I've got two girls of my own,

another one on the way, and I just know how many things you need,

whether it's a sippy cup or shampoo, and all of it tots up, really.

You're a member of the church here.

Do you feel like your faith plays a part in this? Yeah, definitely.

I mean, being part of a church, it's just such an amazing...

You just feel part of a family

and I can't imagine life without having that support and family.

So, to be able to bless someone and think,

"Let's show God's love to others, as we know that God shows to us,"

and just make them feel like they're part of the family, really.

Growing up as a chorister,

I know the importance of choral singing

and one group who are keen to fly the flag are Voces8,

who've been taking their inspiring music to the inner cities,

as another former chorister, Sean Fletcher, has been finding out.

# And where was I?

# And where was I before the day...? #

Classical chart-topping choir Voces8 are used to playing

concerts all over the world.

But today, they're helping 180 boys

from ten schools across Leicestershire

to find their singing voices for the first time.

Lads ranging in age from 8 to 14 have come here, to De Montfort Hall,

to rehearse for a gala performance tonight.

Just have a listen to the first part of this melody.

Could you sing it for us? Part number one goes like this.

# Thula, thula bamba, thula... #

Let's have a go. All together. Three and...

# Thula, thula bamba, thula. #

Very nice. Next part.

Voces8 founder Paul Smith wants to pass on his passion for singing.

We were pretty much as lucky as you could possibly imagine to be,

in terms of the education we had.

Many of us were choristers in cathedral choirs around the UK

and so, we see it as our responsibility, I suppose,

to try and share what we have learned

and pass it on to the next generation.

When you see me do this, this means keep going.

When you see me do that, what does that mean? BOYS: Stop. Very good.

A couple of things that struck me when I was watching the rehearsals

is it was all boys and there's a real mix, in terms of ethnicity.

Using singing as a vehicle for pulling people together

from all walks of life is incredibly important to us.

This is one of our projects which is really focusing

on trying to get young boys singing, to get across the difficult boundary

between primary school and secondary school.

Often, it's those early teenage years,

where boys, for a number of different reasons,

will lose their love of making music and the freedom of singing.

Last time.

# Thula, thula bamba, thula

# Thula bamba, thula

# Thula, bamba, thula. #

The music is mainly secular, isn't it?

Well, in Voces8, we sing a really wide spectrum of music

and, in a project we've just done in France,

we had secular music alongside sacred music.

I think if you can open music up

and say it's not about being sacred or secular,

it's about saying it's great music.

In and of itself, it has a great message

and it's incredibly beautiful to sing.

I sort of sense that, maybe,

if there were two or three kids in the future

who go on to get into music or love music,

does that feel like the job is done?

Actually, there are some students we've worked with,

we've sort of kept track of them,

and those that started off as young singers, as part of our programme,

are now beginning to start a professional life

as a young singer, and that is, for us, where it all counts.

Hey, high five.

Paul certainly loves singing, but what about has new recruits?

It's almost like proving to other people

that singing isn't just a girl thing.

It's to do with everyone as well.

Boys can sing just as well as other people.

So, who is nervous about tonight?

I'm very nervous. You're really nervous, are you?

Do you know how many people are going to be there? Um, 1,200 people.

Well, it sounds great, so just go out there and sing your heart out.

# Thula, thula, bamba, thula

# Thula bamba... #

A few hours later, Paul's latest proteges put their nerves aside

and take to the stage to perform for their families and friends.

# Thula, thula bamba, thula

# Thula bamba, thula

# Thula bamba, thula... #

Can choral music change their lives? Absolutely.

It is a life-changing thing, to be in a choir.

I cannot emphasise that enough.

# Thula bamba, thula. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Perhaps there will be a future chorister there, on the stage,

who will go on to be in a group such as Voces8.

Here they are now, performing Lux Aeterna.

THEY SING IN LATIN IN MULTI-PART HARMONY

THEY SING IN LATIN IN MULTI-PART HARMONY

THEY SING IN LATIN IN MULTI-PART HARMONY

THEY SING IN LATIN IN MULTI-PART HARMONY

THEY SING IN LATIN IN MULTI-PART HARMONY

Next week, Aled is in London to reflect on signs of hope,

following recent difficult events.

We need to clear this road so that the fire engine can get through.

Josie d'Arby is at a training session

with the emergency services and the Salvation Army.

And there are uplifting hymns from Southwark Cathedral.

Our final hymn, Praise My Soul, is older than this 19th-century pier,

but still remains a favourite today.

Until next time, goodbye.

# Praise my soul the King of Heaven