This is Ballintoy Church,
overlooking the beautiful North Antrim coast.
Today, I'm going to share with you some of the other stunning places
and extraordinary people we've featured from here
in Northern Ireland. Welcome to Songs Of Praise.
In these exceptional times,
when many of us are unable to attend church,
I hope you can find some comfort being with us
here on Songs Of Praise.
In today's programme, we look back on the time I met
a Christian geologist, to get his take on one of Northern Ireland's
most popular attractions, the Giant's Causeway.
I think that you can't look at anything in the natural environment
without being inspired that there's a creator behind it.
We revisit the Titanic Quarter in Belfast with Katherine Jenkins
to hear how faith is thriving there.
We all share the space, we all focus on what the main message is -
love thy neighbour.
And there's another chance to meet the former pro footballer
who changed his life to become a priest.
I started to pray again very regularly and I just felt this
real depth of contentment that I'd never felt before.
Across Northern Ireland,
the variety of landscape never ceases to amaze me,
and I've lived here all my life.
Our music today was recorded before the current restrictions
and it comes from right across Northern Ireland.
But we begin in Ballymena, about halfway between here and Belfast,
with a real classic - To God Be The Glory.
The Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland's only
UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies here on the North Antrim coast.
It attracts huge numbers of visitors every year,
and, in the summer of 2018, I was one of them.
There are over 40,000 interlocking columns
that make up the Giant's Causeway.
The same remarkable rock formations are found 80 miles
across the Channel on the Scottish isle of Staffa
at Fingal's Cave, giving rise to the legend
that the rocks are all that remains of a causeway built by a giant.
To take me beyond the legend is geologist Mark Patton.
Some of my earliest memories are coming here
and just enjoying being outside
with my mum and dad and my sister and visiting this place as a child.
And Northern Ireland, I mean, we are blessed with so many beautiful
and interesting geological sites, aren't we?
You can go anywhere in Northern Ireland
and just have wild beauty wherever.
And it's all related to the geology.
When you look at the surface here, do you just see geology
or do you see God's creation?
I think that you can't look at anything in the natural environment
without being inspired that there's a creator behind it.
When you look down and you see these fascinating shapes,
it's hard to wonder how they were... How were they made?
Well, what this represents is a flow of molten rock.
This part of Britain and also the west coast of Scotland
and across to Iceland all formed part of what's known as
an igneous province, 50 to 60 million years ago.
It was in that period that the rocks of the Causeway were erupted
again from a fissure type eruption,
so a crack in the Earth's surface, running lava flowing out from it.
And because it was exposed at surface
and able to cool slowly, that's what caused these columns to form.
So the reason that you get these hexagonal and pentagonal columns
is the rock is trying to actually cool to a circle,
because that's a stable shape
and that's what causes these vertical columns,
these columnar jointing, as it's called.
And you'll see these same shapes across in Scotland
at Staffa, Fingal's Cave.
And conditions have been right in other parts of the world as well.
You don't just get columnar basalts here,
it's just we've got the story that sells it.
Some people find it hard to marry science and the creation theory.
What do you think?
If you've got one God who's a creator,
then the science behind what made these stones
and all of the other geology that we see comes from one God.
So I don't have any issue with understanding the science
and still maintaining a faith in a God that created the science.
And just the majesty of what you can see
and how insignificant we are compared to what has been created,
I find that's where the inspiration comes from.
Here, as in the rest of the UK, the popularity of cycling has soared.
And no wonder, when you can explore such fabulous scenery on two wheels,
as JB Gill found out when he visited another of Northern Ireland's
beautiful places.
This is Strangford Lough, a designated conservation zone
and the largest sea loch in the British Isles,
covering nearly 60 square miles of County Down.
And it's the perfect place to explore on two wheels.
I'm just hoping that it's flat.
It is flat, right, guys?
THEY LAUGH
Cycle 4 Christ is a cycling group that is open to people
of all ages and abilities.
It was established ten years ago by George Smyth.
Me and my friend, John, funnily enough,
we were riding side-by-side down on the Antrim coast,
and we decided, well,
if we love God and we love cycling, well, we're cycling for Christ
because he's the one that lives in our hearts and in our lives.
And it's having a church without walls,
but we are a church on wheels.
So that is something that is special.
So was the purpose of the club to reach nonbelievers,
or is it to help the growth of existing Christians?
It is for people who are believers but it is an evangelistic outreach.
We have John 3:16 on our backs
and I think most people know what that verse is.
"God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that
"whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
And that is the thing that draws on the hearts of people,
to know that God is amongst us.
George even sees cycling as a metaphor for how
they care for each other as a group.
There's not one of us is ever left behind.
We cycle like professionals do, in a peloton.
Someone that struggles, we tuck them in the middle,
we take the wind off them, and they get that rest that they need,
but also they get the encouragement of everybody else around us.
Does cycling make you feel closer to God, then?
Yes. Whenever I'm out, you're close to nature,
so, therefore, with the sunshine that we have, the lough that we have
and just the beauty of the world around us,
it's like sitting on a bike
and communing with your heavenly Father as you cycle along,
you know? You're sort of taking in the presence of God into your life.
So you're relieving yourself of stress,
but, by faith, you're receiving something of the presence of
God in your heart and in your life, and you just feel one with Him.
On Songs Of Praise, I am lucky enough to meet some amazing people
with incredible faith journeys.
And that was certainly the case when I spoke to the man
who chose to change his life to follow Jesus
after doing what many people would think of as an absolute dream job.
Since the days of the iconic George Best, many
a youngster in Northern Ireland has aspired to be a football superstar.
For Philip Mulryne, from Belfast, that dream became a reality.
COMMENTATOR:Now it's Mulryne.
A key player for six seasons at Norwich City,
he began his career at Manchester United.
Walking out of the tunnel at Old Trafford in the first team is
really an amazing feeling, to walk out in front of 75,000 people,
and that was a big thing for me back then.
Also, playing my first game for Northern Ireland at such
a young age and scoring on my debut.
But as he reached the end of his 20s, Philip's life
and career took a rather unusual turn.
You're a priest now. You didn't become a priest overnight,
obviously. What was that process? What was the calling?
The idea of priesthood never, ever came into my mind.
What happened was I decided to come home for a year,
take a year out of the game.
You know, I wasn't really living my life well off the pitch
and stuff, and I was very much lost in that world
of the material way of life
and the social life that it affords you and everything.
And I found it quite empty after a while
and I started to ring my sister,
cos my sister was a woman of faith, and ask her questions about faith.
And I came home. In the space of that year, I was
working for the Legion of Mary, a homeless shelter in Belfast.
And, there, I started to pray again, very regularly.
And I just felt this real depth of contentment that
I'd never felt before.
When I was reading about the faith and about Christ and the Gospels
and so forth, it was having an impact on me for the first time.
It was like it was new.
And I really just found it hugely exciting.
And it was during those months that, from nowhere,
I just felt a strong desire to be a priest.
What was life like for you as a professional footballer?
It was a wonderful way of life.
You get a lot very early, you know?
And coming from my background, from a working-class background
and, all of a sudden, you get thrust with all this money
and relative amount of fame.
And, as a young man, you go with that and you enjoy it, you know?
And that was fine,
but it really reached a kind of peak in my late 20s at Norwich,
where I kind of grew dissatisfied with it and didn't really know why.
And what's life like now for you? What's your weekly routine?
I'm a chaplain in a college,
and I'm teaching religion as well to 5th and 6th years.
In the afternoons, I have a small soccer team that I coach,
and it's been a great way to get to know the students,
and I think important for them to see the priest doing normal things.
A lot of them, what they're aspiring to is material wealth,
to be noticed, so their self-worth
and stuff is tied up with other people's opinions of them.
Do they know about your story, and your journey through football
and the highs and lows? Very much so. Oh, they know.
They're on YouTube and... Very much so.
A great opportunity for me to speak to them about my life
as a footballer and now, and how you bring them both together.
So, as a religious, we take a vow of poverty.
You've no income.
It's about not being attached to things, where they dominate you.
And there's no doubt, as a footballer, things did dominate me.
And that's what I try to tell young people -
if you have all these wonderful things, then great.
But have your whole life in order, you know?
The most important things -
prioritise your spiritual life, your friendships, your relationships.
And then these other things are part of that package,
but secondary, you know?
Belfast is famous across the world for many things,
not least, of course, for being the place where Titanic was built.
But the Titanic Quarter in the city, as it's become known,
has more to it than memories of an industrial past,
as Katherine Jenkins found out on a beautiful day in March 2019.
The Titanic Quarter here in Belfast
attracts over a million visitors each year
and, for a growing new community, it's home.
The Dock Cafe is a Christian initiative
that does business a little differently.
I'm not sure I've ever been to a cafe that's got no menu
and doesn't have any prices.
How does this work?
Basically, we have a selection of teas,
we have two types of fresh roast coffees, we have cakes,
traybakes, and, at lunchtime, we have two soups
and, at the end, you just decide what you think is a fair price.
The thing is about a fair price -
it's not a free cafe, it's an honesty box cafe.
And, after seven years now, it works.
This is a place of faith, isn't it?
This is a place where people come together.
I call it bringing the church into the street.
We have now six different denominations
being involved in this place and we all share this space
and we all focus on what the main message is - love thy neighbour,
which are the customers and the volunteers in this place.
Every Monday evening, there's a special event here.
Known as the Globe International Cafe,
it welcomes Belfast residents from all over the world.
It was the idea of Jenny Smithson.
There's new people arriving in Northern Ireland all the time
to live, work and study here,
and it's fantastic to be able to draw those people in
and welcome them in to this wonderful city.
This place actually makes Belfast, for us, a second home.
You just start to feel like this is a place you belong
rather than just, this is where you live.
You feel warm, welcomed, safe and secure.
You feel that you're here to meet interesting people.
Everyone seems to genuinely care about you
and, sometimes, that's all you need,
like a cup of coffee and a chat, and this space is perfect for that.
And why did you want to set this up? Why did you start this?
Well, I grew up living in various countries around the world,
because of my dad's job as a civil engineer.
So I've experienced what it's like to be new somewhere
and have to build a new life from scratch.
So I really had a strong sense that it's so important
that people are drawn into the heart of the community here.
I do feel as though it's a calling.
I feel like it's a job I've been given
and my own life experience leads perfectly
into doing something like this.
And I also feel that welcome is at the very heart of who God is
and because He's reached out to me
and brought me into a relationship with Him through Jesus,
I've received the greatest welcome I can possibly receive
and that propels me to welcome others.
And I love it.
It's such a privilege to take people who have arrived here,
who are new, who don't feel that they belong,
and tell them, you do and you're welcome.
Our next piece of music was recorded in Belfast
with Northern Irish songwriter Kathryn Scott.
# How I love to the hear the voice
# That speaks my name
# You give me faith to stand and sing
# With hope again
# And when I hear your words of life
# A hunger stirs like fire inside
# Speak to me
# Call me from the darkness
# Just one word can break my heart
# With what breaks yours
# Jesus
# I hear you singing over me
# You call my name
# How sweet the sound
# The voice of God
# When God speaks
# Nations will tremble
# When God speaks
# Everything changes
# When God speaks
# We will surrender
# Oh, God, speak
# Whisper your love song
# Oh, God, speak
# Into the quiet
# Oh, God, speak
# And I will surrender
# Speak to me. #
And now a prayer from the Bishop of Dover,
the Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin.
The Lord is our shepherd.
We shall not be in any need.
He guides us along the paths of righteousness.
And we shall fear no evil
for He is with us.
And his goodness and mercy shall follow us
all the days of our lives.
Amen.
Songs Of Praise and BBC Radio 2 are joining together
to launch an exciting new competition for young singers,
the BBC Young Chorister Of The Year.
The competition is open to young people aged ten to 16
who are either members of a choir or music group,
lead worship at their church,
or who just enjoy singing sacred music.
From all the entries received, five boys and five girls will be chosen
to go forward to the radio and TV competition,
and will be coached by two famous former choristers,
Aled Jones and Katherine Jenkins.
It's easy to apply online - but, don't delay, because you only have
three weeks to get your entries to us by Monday 20th July.
For more details, go to bbc.co.uk/songsofpraise
I really hope you've enjoyed seeing again the beautiful places and
people here in Northern Ireland.
Our final hymn today, based on the words of an ancient Irish poem,
is a simple, but beautiful, prayer in song,
Be Thou My Vision.
Until next time, bye-bye.