St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Did you see us on "Look North"?

The lead-up to 2nd June, when England played its first World Cup match, and the official Golden Jubilee Celebrations kicked off, must rank as an outstanding publicity success for St Luke’s. And yet it had humble beginnings.

It began with Paul Walker (vicar of Wrose) e-mailing the diocesan clergy. “Does anyone have the words to that song that was written to the tune of ‘Match of the Day’?”.

“Never heard of it,” I replied, “but may I offer the following (verse 1)? How many verses would you like?”

“That’s great,” he answered, “Two more verses, with lots of references to football, goals and penalties etc, would be lovely.” And so the song was born. At first I had no idea of using it at St Luke’s. That only came later when people said they might miss the usual service to watch the match instead.

Whe we decided to change the service time, I asked Alison Bogle (Diocesan Communications Officer) to help me with writing and sending a press release, and the rest (as they say) is history. We were in the Yorkshire Post, Telegraph & Argus, The Sun, The Times, Christian Herald; Church Times, Look North (twice), Channel 5 News, ITN News, Sky Sports, Radio Leeds, Talk-Sport Radio, Radio Wales, Real Radio Yorkshire, and an American and a Canadian radio station. They even heard us in Lexington, USA!

Hymn (Tune: “Match of the Day")

How great is God, the Lord Almighty, who has made all things well!
How great is Jesus Christ the Saviour, who rescues us from hell!
How great is God, the Holy Spirit, who makes us want to tell!
We’ve a great and mighty three-in-one, his praises we will yell!

Before I met the Saviour Jesus, my life was full of holes:
I couldn’t do the good I wanted, I couldn’t score my goals,
my field was open to attackers, the enemy got through -
but when Jesus came to be my Lord, he made my life all new.

Oh, won’t you join the winning captain, and serve him with your life?
You’ll find he keeps the team in training, and helps you deal with strife.
He takes the penalties of sinning, and gives you victory,
and his pow’r will help your weakness, and you’ll win eternity!

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. July 2002, Page 2.
Home Page. Index of articles. Media Reactions: index Press Release, Bradford T&A, The Times, The Sun, Church Times, Link Article. Hymns: index World Cup, Gabriel. In this issue: (July 2002) Vicar's Letter, On TV, Wildfire, Question. Music.	Did you see us on "Look North"? The lead-up to 2nd June, when England played its first World Cup match, and the official Golden Jubilee Celebrations kicked off, must rank as an outstanding publicity success for St Luke’s. And yet it had humble beginnings. It began with Paul Walker (vicar of Wrose) e-mailing the diocesan clergy. “Does anyone have the words to that song that was written to the tune of ‘Match of the Day’?”. “Never heard of it,” I replied, “but may I offer the following (verse 1)? How many verses would you like?” “That’s great,” he answered, “Two more verses, with lots of references to football, goals and penalties etc, would be lovely.” And so the song was born. At first I had no idea of using it at St Luke’s. That only came later when people said they might miss the usual service to watch the match instead. Whe we decided to change the service time, I asked Alison Bogle (Diocesan Communications Officer) to help me with writing and sending a press release, and the rest (as they say) is history. We were in the Yorkshire Post, Telegraph & Argus, The Sun, The Times, Christian Herald; Church Times, Look North (twice), Channel 5 News, ITN News, Sky Sports, Radio Leeds, Talk-Sport Radio, Radio Wales, Real Radio Yorkshire, and an American and a Canadian radio station. They even heard us in Lexington, USA! Hymn (Tune: “Match of the Day") How great is God, the Lord Almighty, who has made all things well! How great is Jesus Christ the Saviour, who rescues us from hell! How great is God, the Holy Spirit, who makes us want to tell! We’ve a great and mighty three-in-one, his praises we will yell! Before I met the Saviour Jesus, my life was full of holes: I couldn’t do the good I wanted, I couldn’t score my goals, my field was open to attackers, the enemy got through - but when Jesus came to be my Lord, he made my life all new. Oh, won’t you join the winning captain, and serve him with your life? You’ll find he keeps the team in training, and helps you deal with strife. He takes the penalties of sinning, and gives you victory, and his pow’r will help your weakness, and you’ll win eternity! John Hartley
Top of page.	The text on this web page was created on 5th July 2002, and the music link added on 9th June 2005.