All heaven declares

Although some hymnals combine the themes (or seasons) of Resurrection and Ascension, there are good reasons for distinguishing them. As it happens, the section on Christ’s ‘Ascension and Reign’ opens with a short contemporary song about the ‘risen Lord’; the themes certainly overlap, but here the focus is not on the raising or appearances of Jesus but on his present position ‘upon the throne’, as in Revelation 5 which is the basis of Noel and Tricia Richards’ text. Written in 1987, it became widely known through Spring Harvest, and then following its inclusion in the MP Suppt in 1990 and in subsequent cumulative editions. They also jointly composed the tune ALL HEAVEN DECLARES.

b 1955. Brought up in Llantrisant nr Cardiff, where he attended the Pentecostal church. He became a believer as a child, making a re-commitment at the age of 15. At that time, around 1971, the new young guitar-playing minister John Glass encouraged him to play and sing in public. On leaving school he worked for 3 years in a drawing office but did not find this exciting enough; a period as a supermarket sales asst followed. But he was increasingly involved in schools evangelism, and was finally offered a full-time job with Youth for Christ. He spent a year ‘on the road’ learning fast and encouraged by Clive Calver; his songs were mainly evangelistic, and in 1979 the first of them was published. Since 1986 he has recorded several song albums; see also the following entry. Nos.477, 626, 743, 786.

b Plymouth, Devon, 1960. School in Plymouth; she met Noel, her future husband and songwriting partner, in 1975 while she was a senior schoolgirl and he was a visiting missioner with Youth for Christ. They married in 1978 and lived in Plymouth till 1980, when they joined a group of some 50 church members who moved to join a fellowship at Cobham, Surrey, later known as the Pioneer People. Among the Richards’ joint compositions, in addition to those in Praise!, is ‘Oh, let your love come down’; the Spring Harvest books have others. Nos.477, 626, 786.