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Reclaiming Praise: Hymns from a Spiritual Journey – Andrew Pratt (Published Stainer and Bell Ltd 2006) ISBN: 978 0 85249 891 0 £14.99
Andrew Pratt, in this anthology of hymns, gives us a deep insight into his spiritual pilgrimage. They take us on a personal journey of faith as the hymn-writer/poet comes to terms with the tragic loss of his artist son in a road accident in 1999. The hymns were written against the background of preparing for ministry at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham and his present work as a tutor in contextual theology at Hartley Victoria College, (part of the Partnership for Theological education in Manchester). His scientific background colours many of the texts, but there is immense variety in Andrew Pratt’s brilliant poetry.
Following on from his two previous collections, Blinded by the Dazzle and Whatever Name or Creed, the 150 new texts gathered here bring a personal and 21st-century perspective to a range of themes including covenant, creativity, faith and science, justice, lament and persecution, enfolding time past and time future in a pertinent message for the present.
Andrew Pratt’s hymns are a powerful mix of deeply moving lyrics that convey the wrestling of faith and doubt, elation and melancholy. The texts are rooted in biblical imagery, but are refreshing in language. Most of the hymns are in a regular metre and can be sung to recommended tunes. This is where they may lose some of their effectiveness, as modern words need modern music. The mix and match can be difficult to achieve. As poetry, the texts on their own would provide the worship leader with a wonderful liturgical resource. For personal and corporate devotion each text has the bonus of a paragraph of explanation and theological reflection. In addition this gives the context in which the hymn was written.
27 of the hymns have printed tunes written by various composers. The indexing is very well done, under first lines and themes and Biblical references. Each text stands on its own and there is no orderly pattern to the hymnbook. This does not lessen the impact as each page comes as a delightful surprise and encourages the searcher to more discoveries. With first-liners like “Children stagger into language”, “Subtle, enigmatic God”, “With no excess baggage, the Christ travelled light”, “We’re dancing through salvation”, you get a flavour of what is in store.
As a worship leader this book of hymns/poetry/music is a worthy contribution to the many-faceted liturgies available today. Andrew Pratt’s words bring worship alive and sharpen the listener’s ear. In Reclaiming Praise, the author has charted a spiritual journey of hope and renewal that will inspire all those who sing and read his hymns to re-examine and celebrate their faith.
Glyn Jenkins
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