Christ Church Huntingdon Blog

  It’s been described as the “spiritual national anthem of America” [1] , the hymn Amazing Grace is probably one of the most beloved religious songs ever written, and this year marks the 250 th anniversary of origin of the song back in 1773. The song actually nearly disappeared into obscurity. It was one of a number of hymns written by church of England minister, John Newton with a friend of his, William Cowper when they lived in Olney in Northamptonshire. (William Cowper by the way once lived in Huntingdon and after which Cowper Road is named). But after slow beginnings the hymn grew in popularity in the US and indeed around the world, and has been sung at weddings, funerals, and special occasions ever since, including at memorials for the NASA astronauts in 1986 and at Ground Zero in New York in 2001. It is one of only a few Christian songs to have made it into the UK singles charts, and has been sung by artists as diverse as Rod Stewart, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha F...

  I was very moved by the documentary last week on Channel 4 showing Bear Grylls, the scout ambassador, survival expert and TV presenter going into Ukraine to meet with and interview President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was a striking interview for a whole number of reasons: the courage of the individuals he met, many of whom had lost loved ones. The perseverance of the Ukrainian people through the challenges of winter and winter, and the resilience and leadership of Zelenskyy himself. At one point in the programme Bear Grylls met a Ukrainian family. The mother and young son had returned to Kiev from exile to live with the dad, seeking to carry on with normal life despite the considerable risks and threat of shelling. They gave Bear a pack of tea. They called it Victory tea, and they said that he needed to keep it until the war was over. At that point he could drink it to celebrate the victory. I found that very moving. Here was a normal family, like the ones known t...