Come and Praise

Come and Praise[1] is a hymnal published by the BBC and widely used in collective worship in British schools. The hymnal was compiled by Geoffrey Marshall-Taylor with musical arrangements by Douglas Coombes, and includes well-known hymns such as “Oil in My Lamp”, “Kum Ba Yah” and “Water of Life” as well as Christmas carols and Easter hymns.[2]

Volumes

Two volumes were published: Come and Praise in 1978,[3] and Come and Praise 2 in 1988.[4][5] The hymns from both volumes were published together in The Complete Come and Praise in 1990 alongside a words-only edition.[6] Both volumes were published in connection with BBC School Radio in order to support teachers in leading group singing, particularly in schools without a dedicated music specialist or accompanist. Their use coincided with the continuing practice of collective worship in maintained schools in England and Wales, which was later reinforced in legislation including the Education Reform Act 1988.[7]

Popularity and reception

The first volume of Come and Praise sold over two million copies and was described by the editor Geoffrey Marshall-Taylor as being "music for the people". Because of its extensive use in school assemblies from the late 1970s onwards, the collection became familiar to several generations of pupils in the United Kingdom.[8]

Cultural legacy

Songs from Come and Praise have remained widely associated with school assemblies in the United Kingdom, and several have been retrospectively described in media commentary and online discussions with the phrase ‘assembly bangers’. This informal expression refers to particularly memorable assembly songs and these were celebrated in a special episode of BBC Songs of Praise called The Big School Assembly Singalong.[9] A revived interest was led in the early 2020s by British music teacher James B Partridge,[10] who recorded a series of videos across social media platforms from 2021 charting his personal favourite ‘Assembly Bangers’ as part of his wider efforts to provide material for his pupils during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to a viral performance of many Come and Praise hymns at Glastonbury Festival 2025.[11]

CDs

CD 1

  1. Morning has broken
  2. Water of life
  3. All things bright and beautiful
  4. Autumn days
  5. Somebody greater
  6. The earth is yours, O God
  7. Let us with a gladsome mind
  8. Who put the colours in the rainbow?
  9. Song of Caedmon
  10. All nations of the earth
  11. God knows me
  12. When God made the garden of creation
  13. Think of a world without any flowers
  14. He made me
  15. He's got the whole world
  16. Come my brothers, praise the Lord
  17. Come and praise the Lord our King
  18. Lord of the dance
  19. Go tell it on the mountain
  20. When Jesus walked in Galilee
  21. Jesus Christ is here
  22. A man for all people
  23. Judas and Mary
  24. From the darkness came light
  25. Join with us
  26. God has promised
  27. Thank you Lord
  28. Praise the Lord in everything
  29. God is love

CD 2

  1. Praise Him
  2. Fill thou my life
  3. Travel on
  4. Give me oil in my lamp
  5. He who would valiant be
  6. The journey of life
  7. One more step
  8. Father, hear the prayer we offer
  9. We are climbing
  10. When a knight won his spurs
  11. Lord of all hopefulness
  12. Peace, perfect peace
  13. The King of love
  14. Colours of day
  15. The Lord's my shepherd
  16. Lost and found
  17. The best gift
  18. I listen and I listen
  19. The building song
  20. Spirit of God
  21. The wise may bring their learning
  22. When I needed a neighbour
  23. In Christ there is no east or west
  24. Black and White
  25. Kum ba yah
  26. The family of Man
  27. Cross over the road
  28. If I had a hammer
  29. A living song[12][13]

References

  1. ^ The Complete Come and Praise. BBC Active. ISBN 978-0563345800.
  2. ^ "SPCK Assemblies - Leading Assemblies - Music".
  3. ^ Since reissued as Come and Praise 1, ISBN 0563320672
  4. ^ Come and Praise. 1988. ISBN 0563342471.
  5. ^ Strhan, Anna; Parker, Stephen G.; Ridgely, Susan (2017-01-26). The Bloomsbury Reader in Religion and Childhood. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4742-5111-2.
  6. ^ The Complete come and praise : words edition. Internet Archive. London : BBC Books. 1990. ISBN 978-0-563-34580-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  7. ^ "Hymnology". hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  8. ^ "Treasure No 60: Childhood and the Christian hymn | The Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland". hymnsocietygbi.org.uk/. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  9. ^ "BBC One - Songs of Praise, The Big School Assembly Singalong". BBC. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  10. ^ "Hymnology". hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  11. ^ Kinney, Fergal (2026-03-05). "Bright and beautiful? The man causing millennial rapture with his school hymn singalongs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-10.
  12. ^ "The Complete "Come And Praise" (Music and Words Edition) BBC - Opus 13". www.opus13.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-04.
  13. ^ "The Complete Come and Praise". Retrieved 2020-09-04.
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