John L. Bell

John Lamberton Bell (born in 1949) is a hymn-writer. A Church of Scotland minister, he is a member of the Iona Community, a broadcaster, and former student activist.

He first emerged as a significant figure in 1974 when he was elected as president of Glasgow University Students' Representative Council. His election represented a significant development as it was the start of a few years' control by the left wing of GU SRC. Bell was quite open about his Christian religious beliefs, wearing a wooden cross-shaped pendant.

In 1977 he was elected as Rector of the University of Glasgow, while he was still a student. This was part of a trend for student rectors in Scotland at that time (which included e.g. Gordon Brown at the University of Edinburgh) but the rules were later changed to prevent students from standing for this post.

After a period in the Netherlands and two posts in church youth work, he became employed full time in the areas of music and worship with the Wild Goose Resource Group. He is a past convener of the Church of Scotland’s Panel on Worship and also convened the Committee to revise the Church Hymnary.

In 1999 he was honoured by the Presbyterian Church in Canada and the Royal School of Church Music which bestowed a Fellowship on him, and in 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Glasgow.

John has produced (some in collaboration with Graham Maule) many collections of original hymns and songs and two collections of songs of the World Church. These are published by the Iona Community in Scotland and by G.I.A. Publications (Chicago) in North America.

He is an occasional broadcaster, and has presented a programme "Songs of God's People" on BBC, which included religious songs from various parts of the world. In 2005 the BBC apologized for a broadcast by Bell in which he suggested that a Muslim corporal conscripted into the Israeli army had been jailed for refusing to shoot Palestinian children. Neither the BBC nor the Israeli military were able to find any evidence supporting the story, or the existence of a soldier fitting the description. Israeli Arabs are not subject to conscription. Bell acknowledged that parts of his story were incorrect and that the broadcast could have been interpreted as "furtive racism". [" [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1483775/BBC-apologies-for-Thought-for-the-Day's-soldier-story.html BBC apologies for Thought for the Day's soldier story] ", "Daily Telegraph", February 18, 2005.]

Bell lectures in theological colleges in Britain and U.S., but is primarily concerned with the renewal of congregational worship at grass roots level.

Church Hymnary (Fourth Edition)

John Bell was the Convener (and music editor) of the committee which drafted the Church of Scotland's Church Hymnary (Fourth Edition). The committee first met in 1994; the Fourth Edition was finally published in 2005. Music edition: ISBN 1-85311-613-0

Partial bibliography

*"And the Crowd Is Still Hungry" (1978), ISBN 0-85261-154-4
*"Songs of the Incarnation" (1984), ISBN 0-9501351-8-6
*"Poverty, Chastity and Obedience: A Vocation for Today" (1985), ISBN 0-947988-00-9
*"Eh... Jesus... Yes, Peter...?" (1987-90)
**Vol. 1 (1987), ISBN 0-947988-20-3
**Vol. 2 (1988), ISBN 0-947988-31-9
**Vol. 3 (1990), ISBN 0-947988-43-2
*"Wild Goose Prints" (1990), ISBN 0-947988-41-6
*"Innkeepers and Light Sleepers: Seventeen New Songs for Christmas" (1992), ISBN 0-947988-47-5
*"Psalms of Patience, Protest and Praise" (1993), ISBN 0-947988-56-4
*"Wrestle and Fight and Pray" (1993), ISBN 0-7152-0681-8
*"Come All You People: Shorter Songs for Worship from the Iona Community" (1994), ISBN 0-947988-68-8
*"He Was in the World: Meditations for Public Worship" (1995), ISBN 0-947988-70-X
*"The Courage to Say No: Twenty-three Songs for Lent and Easter" (1996), ISBN 0-947988-78-5
*"States of Bliss and Yearning: The Marks and Means of Authentic Christian Spirituality" (1998), ISBN 1-901557-07-3
*"There Is One Among Us: Shorter Songs for Worship" (1998), ISBN 1-901557-10-3
*"Jesus and Peter: A Book of Unrecorded Dialogues" (1999), ISBN 1-901557-17-0
*"The Singing Thing: A Case for Congregational Song" (2000), ISBN 1-901557-28-6
*"One Is the Body: Songs of Unity and Diversity" (2002), ISBN 1-901557-35-9
*"Hard Words for Interesting Times: Biblical Texts in Contemporary Contexts" (2003), ISBN 1-901557-75-8

Notes

External links

* [http://www.iona.org.uk Iona Community]
* [http://www.iona.org.uk/wgrg/wild.htm Wild Goose Resource Group]
* [http://www.ionabooks.com Wild Goose Publications]
* [http://www.giamusic.com/ G.I.A. Publications]

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