Illustration: Collage: United Folk

I would say that all three of our children developed a very good ear for music, it was inevitable!

Every Wednesday evening, they were sung off to sleep by a group of singers and musicians who met downstairs in our home, every single week, for nigh on twenty years!

This was the group ‘United Folk’, and the early years of this group is what this chapter is all about, explaining how we all got together in the first place and what was so special and unique about being part of it.

I’d love you to capture some of the joy, and feel the ‘buzz’ that we felt then, as you read this, and what it was like when such a variety of talented Christians came together, to create new and amazing music for worship and outreach.

The creativity, the atmosphere, the harmonies, the love and the unity we felt for one another, despite our different  denominations, was something none of us had experienced before in our individual churches.

We had that sense of being pioneers, of breaking new ground.

The prophet Isaiah puts it like this:

“Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43. 18-19

I’d been singing with the Jesmond Parish church music group for a while, when two friends of ours who attended St Luke’s Church in Wallsend, Brian and Carol, visited our house one day. They had been delegated to pass on a request for our Jesmond Pariah Church music group to sing at a ‘Pentecost Picnic’, which was being organised by churches in Wallsend. This was an outdoor event being held in the Burn Closes, not far from where we lived.

As it turned out, the musicians and singers were delighted to be asked, as was I.

There was a really good turnout that day in May 1975, and we all really enjoyed singing in the open air. Many people turned up, most of them were parents and grandparents, as over a hundred children had been instructed to dash across the stream or  burn at a given signal, to the hill opposite to form the words ‘THE LORD IS RISEN’ with their bodies, by crouching down on the grass there.

I wonder if you were one of those children who took part in this? (I've found out since writing this, that not only Brian but also his friend Peter organised this event.)

Not long after this event, our car fan belt gave up the ghost, and was making a terrible noise as we drove along, and we couldn’t get to church in Jesmond anymore. This was such a shame, as Stephen our son had been baptised there, and facilities for babies and children, and also prospects of future family services were really good.

It so happened that the vicar of our local C of E. church, St Luke’s, passed by our house and stopped to chat, and hearing that our car was ‘caput’, he invited us to attend his church. (This was the same priest who had come to visit us, when we were a newly-wed couple and found dust on my mantelpiece!)

So we went along to see what St Luke’s church was like, as our friends Carol and Brian worshipped there, and we received such a warm welcome from everyone.

I was soon informed by the vicar however, that I was not allowed to take Holy Communion here, as I was still technically a Methodist! Jesmond Parish church had not minded this at all! They had merely stipulated that anyone one who was right with God and their neighbour could receive. So, as I understood it now, unless I became an ‘Anglican’, a member of the Church of England, I was told receiving bread and wine was not possible!

I wasn’t too pleased, until a trusted friend of ours from Jesmond church, said to me, that if I wanted to be truly one with the church congregation, then I ought to  become one of them.

So I did, but I felt rather miffed at having to be confirmed, when I had already been baptised in the Methodist church as a child; and had also received the fullness of the Holy Spirit at Durham Elvet Methodist church.

Surrendering my will on this matter took me a while, but I agreed.

But still this wasn’t enough. It was suggested to me by the same vicar, that I then went to confession first!

Pardon me?

(I wonder how many people, in churches outside of the Roman Catholic church, have ever had to do that?)

So I agreed to go along with this too, but stipulated it would most definitely have to be with a different priest, from another parish, and not him!

I made an appointment with the vicar of St Paul’s Howdon, Fr Richard, and he was lovely, and very understanding. I made my confession, which wasn’t an easy thing to do, believe me, but he then said in a quiet voice,

“And please pray for me; a sinner also!”

This set response was said so humbly, I was quite moved. 

I left that church walking on air! They say that confession is good for the soul!  Well I must admit it actually felt good; I was free from sin, guiltless!

So in 1975 we settled in at St Luke’s, and got to know folks really well.

I sang at another outdoor Pentecost Praise event the following year, this time in Wallsend’s ‘Richardson Dees Park’.

I was invited to accompany two musicians from the Roman Catholic church near where we lived, and was asked if I’d take my guitar along. Margaret Scott, and Margaret Bell, (now Maggie Feeney) had, and still have, such beautiful singing voices; voices which pack real power, so I really enjoyed singing with them. It was effortless.

After we’d sung at this event, someone from the Salvation Army came over to ask if we would sing at a celebration evening at their church the following month.

Our initial reaction was to laugh at this suggestion, and we explained that it just wasn’t possible, as we weren't from the same church denomination; but then we asked ourselves, “Why not? Who says we can’t do this?” So we agreed to do it.

You see at the time, to unite like this in worship and to witness together across the great divide of the Christian denominations was a really revolutionary idea! It was unheard of!

Of course, there had been ecumenical schemes before In Wallsend, such as the ‘People Next Door’ scheme and other prayer initiatives in the area, but such moves to encourage unity had only taken place for a limited number of weeks each year, usually during Lent.

So, with this ‘gig’ in mind, I invited the two Margarets around to my house to rehearse, and try one or two songs out.

We sang at the Salvation Army citadel, and yet another person invited us to sing at their church, and this went on and on . . . ad infinitum! Not only that, each time we sang in different places, singers and musicians, all from different denominations, who had come to listen, asked if they could join us too!

First a Methodist, then one or two local Pentecostals, then some folks from St Luke's Wallsend, then a Baptist, URC and so on, all came along to our practice evenings.

Then from a local charismatic fellowship, came a highly gifted musician, Rose Nixon, who could play a whole plethora of instruments, over thirty in total, and she certainly added depth to the quality of our music, especially when she brought along Bertha, her double bass! How we all, and Bertha, fitted into our front room, I’ll never know!

Pete Scott, a renowned singer and songwriter, then joined us. He produced many solo albums of his own in time; my favourite will always be 'Why Sing Goodbye Songs' which is an excellent collection of hilarious songs. He was a genius when it came to song writing and guitar playing.

Yet another singer/songwriter Ken Hawker turned up. He was once ‘world famous’ and known as Ken Lewis, his name associated with groups like The Ivy League and The Flowerpot Men. In the sixties, he co-wrote famous songs such as ‘Let’s go to San Francisco’ ‘Funny how love can be’ and ‘Tossing and Turning’, with his friend John Carter.

I remember sitting with Ken at the piano one evening, before the others arrived, and he began playing the tune of a song he was trying to write for the Gibraltar Folk Festival. From his chorus: ‘I’m gonna be like the rock of Gibraltar’, came our words, ‘Light of Christ come shine in us’ which can be found in the middle of my Christmas medley;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5x6w4q-7QE

We also composed together ‘Jesus came alive in me’, it became one of our favourites then! These were probably my first experience of writing Christian songs. The lyrics told of my testimony. He composed the tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8KKXMU85Zk...

Into my life came a light,

 making the darkness seem bright,

gone is the emptiness surrounding me,

 now I see!

Spirit came down like a dove, 

came like a fire from above,

resting me in His glory, 

telling me of His love.

Chorus:

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus came alive in me,

 now I see him clearly

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus truly set me free!

Now I can open my heart, 

His word within me can start,

doing the work He wants me to each day,

 so I say, “Thank you!”

Letting Him into my will, 

moving within me until,

everything in me praises, 

truth has so much to tell. Chorus:

His peace will never leave you, 

if you but trust in Him.

Jesus is ever near you, 

just let Him come on in . . . Chorus:

If you would follow him too, 

seeing just what he can do,

what he has done for others,

 He now can do for you. . .  Chorus

Ken’s faith story was quite dramatic, I won’t go into it all, but from the dizzying heights of being a rock star, travelling the world, everything suddenly came crashing down around him. He then became a Christian, and found love and support among Christian friends; and now he just loved coming each week to be with us in ‘United Folk’, (which was the name we chose for ourselves.)

We met every Wednesday evening, for fellowship, Bible study, discussion and prayer; then we would sing, and share any songs any of us had ‘discovered’ or even written ourselves.

I must add that Bob played his part too each week, by carrying our large TV through into the breakfast room, and returning it at the end of the evening! He also helped me set the room out.

I distinctly remember during one time of prayer, one of the quietest members of the group at that time, Janet, left her seat and came over to pray for me, as I had a really sore throat. As she laid her hand on my shoulder, and prayed, the pain just vanished.

“Woa, I thought, this is really something!”

Such was the freedom to move and be and say and do.

In no time at all, quite a few of us were writing songs!

I came to write dramas in time too, some with Jennie, a dear friend of mine, who shares a similar sense of humour.

Here’s an example of one we wrote based upon the ‘Love is’ sayings in 1 Corinthians 13:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/...

We even had our very own liturgical dancers. Jennie was one of them, along with Avril, Liz, Angie and Margi. Even I would spring into action, and dance on my own at events, if a song or hymn moved me enough! To be absolutely free in movement like this in worship, was so liberating; you simply forgot about everyone, and everything else. We found that the movements made with our hands seemed to mime a language of ‘prayer’. I say this because once, when I was dancing to some music in our front room on my own, I kept repeating a certain movement with my hands, crossing them over from tall to medium to small, and I suddenly understood, that this was a prayer for my three young children. My hand movements were doing the praying for me.

So gifts of dance, drama and song writing, poetry and composition, healing, preaching and teaching were given to us all in abundance, and we just loved singing together. God was blessing our unity:

Psalm 133. 1 says:

Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers (& sisters) live together in unity! 

It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,

 running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.

And so the Lord 'added, not only to our number, but to our skills and our creativity.

Many former members of United Folk looking back on our time together, say even now, that being part of this ecumenical singing group deepened their faith, enlivened their spirituality, and drew them closer to God.

At first, we sang about unity, but that soon began to speak for itself, so instead we reached out with whichever gospel theme came to us, as we worshipped and rehearsed together. There was always a clear emphasis on ‘knowing Jesus’ and having a relationship with him, and we always chose our list of songs prayerfully whenever we were asked to sing.

We sang at many venues across the North-East; at ‘Days of Renewal’, and at numerous churches; historic places of interest and spirituality, such as Alnmouth Friary, Tynemouth Priory, Lindisfarne Priory; and outdoor venues too, and later we began visiting prisons in Northumberland and Durham.

Not only were we from different denominations, we were also from different styles of backgrounds and churchmanship i.e. traditional, charismatic, evangelical, liberal...and one of our members was fired up with a social conscience, and concern for the environment, who aired world views we all needed to hear. Her input was invaluable. This was Chris, Avril's sister, who wrote beautiful songs later on about faith, and one about our home, being a ‘House of Love’.

For each one of us to co-exist week after week, and remain united, during all those years, seems incredible, unbelievable even. In truth, it was nothing short of a miracle.

We sang one day in Wallsend Forum, in terrible weather conditions, and it began to snow, but we sang on. One passer-by, a man, came up to us at the end of one song, and asked us, “Which church do you all go to, I’d like to go to it?”

We explained our background and our situation, and he nodded quietly, looked sad, and walked on!

Obviously, we didn’t agree ‘theologically’ on everything over the years, we interpreted the Bible differently, our priorities were slightly different, our beliefs were a mixture  of tradition and scripture, our past experiences and our upbringing; but what kept us going was that we loved each other. We had become close friends, and we shared our beliefs, our insights and our thoughts freely, and any minor upsets were dealt with in the loving atmosphere of prayer.

United Folk (Part two) is our next chapter.