The United Reformed Church (URC) is proud to announce the winners of its Worship Resources Competition.
Eight judges, including the celebrated composer, Bernadette Farrell, whose work includes Christ Be Our Light, judged dozens of entries from choirs, bands, individuals, songwriters, hymnwriters, organists, composers, and poets.
Starting off with ‘traditional’ and ‘contemporary’ hymn categories, along with poetry and rap, which sadly didn’t receive any entries, it became clear that the traditional/contemporary division was difficult to define, and therefore the judges renamed the categories as:
- Hymn set to an existing melody
- Hymn set to an original melody
- Poem
Three winners were chosen from the anonymised entries. They are:
Colin Thompson, whose entry ‘God of the pilgrim way’ won the hymn set to an existing melody category;
Stephen Newell and Naomi Sharp, whose entry ‘Together through the Father’s Love’ won the hymn set to an original melody category; and
Neil Thorogood, whose entry ‘Always trust the star that guides us on the way’ won the poem category.
Bernadette said: “It was a joy and a privilege to be among the judges for this competition, to celebrate the URC’s 50th anniversary.
“The standard of entries was outstanding. The panel, organised by Ann Marie Nye and convened by Ray Adams, worked together thoughtfully and thoroughly, reaching unanimous decisions in all categories.
“The winning pieces are shining examples of the breadth and depth of the URC tradition. They will enrich the entire church for years to come.”
The Revd Ray Adams, Chair of the judges, added: “We all were very impressed both by the high standard of entries and the range of submissions. Thanks are due to everyone who entered the competition, and especially to our guest judge, Bernadette.”
The winning entries were used as part of worship at General Assembly which took place 8-11 July at The Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick.
Each winner will receive an award and their entries will be included in a digital resource pack for local churches and all are encouraged to use them. Films of the hymns and the poem will also be available on the URC website and its YouTube channel within the coming week.