United Reformed Churches (URCs) in and around Luton gathered together to reflect and explore songs in the 21st century, with Revd John Bell, a Scottish hymn-writer, Church of Scotland minister and a member of the Iona Community (https://iona.org.uk/). John Bell is a broadcaster and a former student activist. Throughout the world, he lectures in theological colleges and leads workshops for the renewal of congregational worship at the grassroots level. In the UK, he has been associated with the Christian Arts Festival Greenbelt for many years.
Employed full-time in the areas of music and worship with the Wild Goose Resource Group (https://www.wildgoose.scot/), John Bell has produced many collections of original hymns and songs and two collections of songs of the World Church. These are published by the Iona Community in Scotland and by G.I.A. Publications (Chicago) in North America. Several collections of his work have been published in translation in Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Dutch, Frisian, Japanese and German.
He often presents programmes on the BBC, majoring on contemporary religious songs from various parts of the world. He is quite a regular contributor to "Thought for the Day", part of Radio 4's Today programme.
Revd Heather Whyte, URC Minister in Luton said, “It has been good to encourage, enable and equip our congregations with liturgy and songs that are relevant, contextual, and representative of the world we live in. Revd John Bell certainly has a message, and he proclaims it with strength.”
When asked why other world cultures have been so important to him, Revd Bell said, “We have exported a large number of hymns to different parts of the world—especially the developing world; I feel it is important to listen to what they have to offer and therefore, whenever possible, I do think it's helpful to sing the songs from different cultures. So we can stand together in deeper intercession with one another. And through that experience, our understanding of the world and God is enlarged.”
He added, “I never started out to be a hymn writer; but many popular songs Christians sang represented only a fraction of God and a fraction of human experience. The only alternative was to write and compose new songs which speak of our contemporary world, touch our life today and speak a language that people can understand.”
Commenting on Luton’s multi-faith multicultural context, he said, “People from different racial, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds can either be seen as a gift or a threat. I see them as gifts. Over the years, they have enriched and broadened my understanding of whom I worship as the Creator God.”
Scottish Hymn Writer John Bell leading workshop at Luton’s Wigmore Community Church on 7th May’22
Scottish Hymn Writer John Bell (R) with the URC Minister in Luton & Dunstable Revd Heather Whyte (L)
Scottish Hymn Writer John Bell with Sheila Marsden (R) Trustee & David Jonathan (L) Director of GRASSROOTS Programme in Luton