Original version

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

Songs of Praise

Music

Religion & Ethics

Inspiring hymns and songs, together with stories of faith from around the UK and beyond.

Inspiring hymns and songs, together with uplifting stories of faith from around the UK and beyond.

Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

BBC One HD

BBC One London

London

The BBC North East & Cumbria region started in 1959 (tbc) as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One North East & Cumbria.

BBC One North East & Cumbria

The BBC East region started on 1st May 1959 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One East.

BBC One East

Formerly part of a wider BBC One South East region that included London and part of the South region. Separated from BBC One London 2001-09-03 following reorganisation of the South East region.

BBC One South East

BBC One West Midlands

BBC Northern Ireland region started on 19th April 1955 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One Northern Ireland.

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Cambridgeshire

The BBC South region started on 5th January 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South.

BBC One South

The BBC South West region started on 20th April 1961 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One South West.

BBC One South West

BBC One Yorkshire

Simulcast of BBC One Northern Ireland in high definition. From 24/10/2012

BBC One Northern Ireland HD

Simulcast of BBC One Scotland in high definition. From 14/01/2013

BBC One Scotland HD

BBC One Scotland

Scotland

BBC One Wales

Wales

BBC One Oxfordshire

BBC One region covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

BBC One East Midlands

The BBC West region started on 1st September 1957 as part of the BBC Television Service, before becoming BBC One West.

BBC One West

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

BBC One North West

BBC One Channel Islands

Kate Bottley

Cat Lewis

Emyr Afan

Matthew Napier

David Waters

Avanti Media

Songs of Praise: New Year Promises

New Year Promises

BBC One - Songs of Praise, New Year Promises

Kate Bottley is in Bristol exploring a special Methodist service that marks the new year.

Kate Bottley is in Bristol to explore how John Wesley, the radical founder of the Methodist Church, devised a service that still helps many Christians mark the new year.

The Rev Kate Bottley visits the New Room in Bristol, which, despite its name, is the oldest Methodist Chapel in the world. It is where John Wesley began the Methodist movement over 250 years ago. 

Kate speaks to historian Gary Best and learns about Wesley’s radical preaching and passion for social justice. She finds out about how he devised a special ‘covenant’ service that is still used by millions of Christians to mark each new year. Kate also meets 19-year-old Thelma Commey, the current Youth President of the Methodist Church, to hear what the covenant service means to young Methodists today.

The determination to help the poor and marginalised was continued by many of John Wesley’s Methodist clergy, and Sean Fletcher goes to London to discover a story that began exactly 150 years ago. Methodist minister Rev Thomas Bowman Stephenson was so moved by the plight of poor children in Victorian London that he set up a home for them. It quickly grew to become the National Children’s Home and is now the charity Action for Children. Sean visits the spot in east London where the first major home stood and meets the current trustee, Daleep Mukarji.  He also chats to Antiques Roadshow expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan to hear about the huge and positive impact he believes living in a Christian children’s home had on his childhood.

For Epiphany Sunday, we visit a remarkable project on Teesside. Using the imagery of Epiphany – stars and light in the darkness – One More Light is a community initiative that brings people together through music to raise awareness about mental health and suicide. 

And back in Bristol, Kate meets four teenage Christians who have just been confirmed as members of their local Methodist church. She finds out what that special step meant to them and why they wanted to join. 

Music
O for a Thousand Tongues - Albert Hall, Nottingham
The Creed - Christ Church, Downend, Bristol
His Eye Is on the Sparrow - Jermain Jackman 
I Am the Gentle Light - Anglesey Youth Choir
O Jesus I Have Promised  -  Reading Town Hall
And Can It Be - Leicester De Montford Hall


Accessibility links

Programme Index

Songs of Praise

New Year Promises

Contributors

Genres

Brand

BBC One Yorks & Lincs

About BBC One