{"id":141072,"date":"2025-11-05T17:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=141072"},"modified":"2025-11-05T19:23:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:23:50","slug":"church-times-new-hymn-offers-an-alternative-to-all-things-bright-and-beautiful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=141072","title":{"rendered":"(Church Times) New\u00a0hymn offers\u00a0an alternative to\u00a0\u2018All things bright and beautiful\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now in her ninth decade, Irene Onion\u00a0(right)<\/em>, a retired teacher and organist, has plenty of experience of playing\u00a0hymns<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0children<\/a>. Aged 83, she has now written her own \u2014 a celebration of God\u2019s bounty through the seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSing, sing, sing\u201d, which she co-wrote with James Dixon, the activity coordinator at the Old Vicarage Residential Home<\/a> in Bakewell, was in part inspired by a challenge to create an alternative to \u201cAll things bright and beautiful\u201d, a hymn that Mrs Onion confesses to thinking \u201cNot again!\u201d about when she was asked to play it. The new hymn, composed on Apple\u2019s Garage Band music software, comprises verses that move through the farming seasons: \u201cSing hallelujah About the summer light Whose golden rays Lengthen the days And hold back darker nights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A visit to All Saints\u2019, Bakewell, opposite the home, inspired the duo to write a joyful hymn that children would enjoy singing, Mr Dixon recalled this week. A \u201cskipping melody\u201d was chosen, and Mrs Onion found chords to match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a> and you may find the audio link there<\/a>.<\/p>

Highlight of my working week: speaking to Irene Onion about writing her first hymn aged 83. We share our taste in hymns. https:\/\/t.co\/Zz8TdxKLBD<\/a><\/p>— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 31, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>