If you saw Songs of Praise on October 29^th you may just have caught a glimpse of me, with Darren from the choir, in the audience at the Songs of Praise Big Sing.  It was actually filmed at The Royal Albert Hall in September and meant a very late night home.

 

Was it worth it?  Yes definitely  - to be among a 6000 strong congregation all wanting to be there and singing their hearts out was a very moving and uplifting occasion.   I cannot describe the atmosphere and of course the music with the BBC Songs of Praise Orchestra and various choirs to lead us, gave us a good support and lead.  It was also good to see different Songs of Praise personalities and to hear Hayley Westenra, Katherine Jenkins, G4 and Aled Jones was like being at a free concert.  Some of the hymns had to be redone, but most went through on one take so it did feel more like an Act of Worship than simply a TV programme.

 

I was very fortunate in September in that I attended the Magnificat service at Wells Cathedral with an 1100 congregation, led by Rowan Williams.  I also sang in a concert at the Colston Hall in Bristol, in a work which although probably labelled secular had very spiritual moments in it for me.  This all led me onto thinking about our formal worship here each week.  Would I like to be at the Songs of Praise Big Sing every week - the answer is No.

I enjoy the Said Service on a Wednesday morning, the quiet of the vigil on Maundy Thursday and we even had a wedding with no music.  There is a place for intimate, quiet worship and we need that space.

 

I also enjoy our Sunday morning worship with the organ at its loudest and the congregational singing.  Some weeks the hymns mean more to me than others but the regularity of the communion service is a signpost in otherwise very busy weeks.

 

These services are important to me and I’m sure to many of you, but I think we also need the big celebration occasions from time to time to really lift our spirits and give us another taste of worship.  There is something different and wonderful in worshipping with the large crowd in The Cathedral or the Albert Hall or wherever that our regular Sunday worship cannot give us.  But also there is something that the regularity of worshipping with the same people every week gives us that the big event cannot.

 

If you get a chance to taste worship in another context or setting then take it - there is something to be learnt and savoured from these different expressions of worship which we need alongside our usual patterns.

 

Worship is much bigger and broader than we sometimes let ourselves imagine.

 

We are on again on December 31^st for the New Years Eve Songs of Praise.  See you there?

 

Ruth Cook