“With many in our country on lockdown, it’s important that we support those who are feeling lonely and isolated, whatever age they are."
Archbishop Justin Welby
Options available include materials also available digitally by the Church of England’s Communications team such as Prayer During the Day and Night Prayer updated daily, from Common Worship, and a recording of the Church of England weekly national online service.
A section called Hymn Line offers callers a small selection of hymns, updated daily. An option entitled ‘Hymns We Love’, provides a hymn and reflection and is based on an initiative by the Connections group.
MORE ABOUT CONNECTIONS AND HYMNS WE LOVE
One of the largest weekly gatherings for seniors in the UK, Connections welcomes over 150 guests to Holy Trinity Church in Claygate, Surrey. Started 10 years ago by Pippa Cramer, its vision is “to create a safe and welcoming community for seniors where they can connect with each other and the church and to provide the opportunity to demonstrate and share the love of Jesus”. It reaches elderly church and non-church members, many of whom are lonely and isolated, building a community of support and friendship that has also served as a bridge into church.
Hymns We Love has grown out of Connections and is a gentle, engaging and accessible way of exploring the Christian faith with older people, providing them with comfort and hope. The familiarity of these carefully selected, wonderful hymns, which this generation have grown up with, means that the words and tunes are almost part of their DNA. Music recognition is one of the last things to go as memory declines, so even those with dementia are able to connect with and enjoy Hymns We Love.
Hymns We Love explores the Christian faith through 5 carefully selected, wonderful and well-known hymns. Each day, we sing the hymn and then look at what we can learn from it and from its author. We then sing the hymn again before ending with a short prayer for ourselves and those around us in these difficult times.
The five hymns we explore are:
How Great Thout art! - Focussing on God the Holy Creator
Rock of Ages - Focussing on God our Rescuer and Redeemer
Amazing Grace - Focussing on God our Restorer and Grace-giver
The Lord's my Shepherd - Focussing on God our Guide and Comforter
And can it be? - Focusing on God our Friend forever, whom we can trust and have confidence in
DailyHOPE phone line menu options
Press * to listen to Archbishop Justin Welby’s message.
Press 1 to listen to ‘Hymns we Love’ (this is a series of short talks based on well-loved hymns) .
Press 2 to listen to our Hymn Line (these are recordings of different hymns on a daily loop).
Press 3 to listen to our Prayer Line (prayers that are specific and relevant to the Coronavirus crisis).
Otherwise, please press 4 for more options .
Press 5 to listen to the Church of England’s weekly service.
Press 6 to join in with traditional morning and evening prayers.
Press 7 to listen to the latest Government advice on the Coronavirus.
Press 0 to return to the main menu.
FAITH IN LATER LIFE
Faith in Later Life is a national Christian charity that seeks to inspire and equip Christians to reach, serve and empower older people through the local Church and to encourage older Christians in their faith. A key part of the Faith in Later Life mission is encouraging churches to reach older people of any faith or none in the wider community who may be isolated or lonely, and sharing the hope, love and good news of Jesus Christ.