First Flight Feathers

In 2022 Gillian Warson and Janet Wootton were delighted recipients of a grant from The Pratt Green Trust which enabled them to meet the cost of publishing First Flight Feathers: The Best of Worship Live.  The book, published by Sacristy Press in June 2023, is the result of two years work as Gillian and Janet trawled through every edition of Worship Live to bring to the fore the very best of this fine earlier publication.

For more than 20 years, Worship Live drew together the best of new writing for use in a church environment. Many poets, musicians, hymnwriters and liturgists whose work would become well known first published in its pages. Worship Live honoured and nourished the many crafts involved in writing effective resources for worship, honing skills and sharpening tools, as we have worked with worship makers over the years. The title of the collection, First Flight Feathers is taken from one of the poems in the book, “Landfall with Columba”, by Maggie Norton, which celebrates the craft of beautiful writing.  Furthermore, Worship Live gave “first flight” to many who emerged newly fledged, feeling the wind of the Spirit under their wings, but tentative in trusting to their new plumage as published writers.

Worship Live grew out of an idea by the amazing hymnological entrepreneur, Bernard Braley, of Stainer & Bell Ltd., who had been at the forefront of publishing new words and music for worship for a generation and more. Janet Wootton was approached with a view to embarking on a new worship journal, initially titled Living Liturgy. This was to become Worship Live and a small editorial group gathered to work on the idea.  Worship Live was launched at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 18 June 1995.  Publishing company Stainer & Bell helped to develop and continued to publish the journal for 17 years. We built up a wonderful working relationship with the staff there, who have continued to be supportive in preparation of the present book.  However, with changes in the way that worship resources are presented, it was felt that a paper publication was no longer viable.  With Gillian Warson as co-editor, a valiant attempt was made a keeping an on-line edition in circulation, but this ceased in 2016. 

It was then that the idea of a “Best Of” collection was suggested as there was a strong feeling that the wonderful resources in Worship Live should be honoured and celebrated.  It took a while for the project to take hold but has now arrived in the beautifully produced volume First Flight Feathers.  Gillian and Janet are delighted with this opportunity to showcase a vibrant collection of items by writers and musicians and shows how they can develop into a community.  Thanks to The Pratt Green Trust the work of this work continues to be available.