Jesus is King

In 1980 Tony Morton was leading a series of studies in Hebrews, at the Community Church in Southampton. Wendy Churchill was one of a small group of musicians who were encouraged to write new texts and tunes for worship, arising from this epistle. She soon set to work, with her new baby ‘chuckling beside her, and the tune came fairly quickly’. She worked at the words over the next 6 weeks, and in 1981 the completed song was used at Bible weeks such as the ‘South and West’ (at the Royal Bath and Wells Showground) and elsewhere. It has a more regular pattern of stzs than is usual in songs of this genre, with a metre of 10 10 10 10 with variations. By 1987 it had entered the MP series of books. A parallel ‘Jubilate’ sequence of at least 3 collections 1988–93 has the first line as ‘… we will extol him’, with music variously arranged by David Peacock. The words have invariably been set to the author’s own tune, JESUS IS KING. No earlier ones would match all the lines, and (like most tunes!) it is most effective when played and sung with the rhythm as printed; eg at the end of lines 2, 3 and 6. Here the original arrangement is used.

b Broxton, Cheshire 1957. Moving house several times as her father was a Methodist minister, she began to write songs at the age of 10, and attended Roundhay High Sch W Yorks; Plympton Grammar Sch, Devon; Southampton Univ (Music and English, 1975–78; and LSU Coll of Education (PGCE for Middle Sch teaching, specialising in Music). In 1975 she produced and performed in the popular Christian musical Come Together. After marriage and family arrivals she taught piano and became involved with music at her church, writing and producing 2 short musicals with Marianne Le Boutillier. In 1989 she resumed music teaching at the King’s Sch, Southampton, and then in a job-share at St Anne’s (Convent) School for Girls. At that time she belonged to the Community Church, and wrote several songs and another musical, mainly for the St Anne’s Junior Choir. Some songs are recorded, including ‘O Lord, most holy God’ (in MP from 1997) and (with Sue Hutchinson) ‘I will extol you’. In Sept 2005 she moved with husband Peter to SE London to join a church plant from the Synagogue Ch of All Nations, whose HQ is in Lagos, Nigeria. One of their daughters has been training as a pastor, and they ‘have been deeply influenced by the church’s teaching and life’; so have Wendy’s more recent songs, written for the church where she leads the music group. She has also led music at conferences and other wider gatherings; Peter and Wendy’s son David has made a CD of his own songs written for Southampton Community Ch. No.490.