Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
May/June 2006

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Daily Service

by Roger Hutchings

When the Radio 4 announcer says each weekday morning that "It's quarter to ten, and on long wave and digital radio, it's time for the Daily Service", he or she is introducing one of the oldest radio programmes in the world. It's been going for well over 75 years. Those who sit at the microphone, waiting to be introduced, do so at the end of a great deal of work.

For Daily Service and the Friday Act of Worship, there's a Rota (the BBC equivalent of the Bible?) which is made literally months in advance. So it all begins when Availability Lists fly around the land: some are good at returning them, some not! The quarterly Rota for 65 programmes isn't just about the 'preacher' or Presenter, it also covers the Music Director, the Organist and the Producer. Behind the scenes, more lists are involved in booking instrumentalists and the Daily Service Singers – usually three sopranos, and two each of Altos, Tenors and Basses, all of them freelances and booked individually. Long in advance, taking into account special feast days and special weeks, readings for the week and each day are chosen in the production office under a theme. More than a month in advance, three, sometimes four pieces of music on the theme – two hymns (or songs) and an anthem – are suggested by the Music Director and agreed.

The 'sheets' for the day include all the information and music, and they're sent to the Presenter several weeks before the programme. Sometimes people ask me how long it takes to prepare a script. It's a difficult question, but on average a draft for about seven minutes of script is probably about six hours' work. It's quite unlike preparing a church service. You can use prayers from various sources, or write your own. Your reflections on the theme and the day's reading can't make many assumptions about the listener's knowledge, and although there's no doubting the Christian nature of the worship, it's made as inclusive as possible. The Producer receives the draft, checks it, asks for changes or suggests small 'tweaks', and by the day before transmission, allowing for last-minute demands from the day's headlines, all is agreed. Meanwhile the Music Director has prepared (and often specially composed) arrangements and descants.

The programme normally comes 'live' from a parish church in Didsbury, a suburban village a bit like Barnes, south of Manchester. For a Presenter from London, that means a journey the previous afternoon, and an overnight stay. In the morning, the engineer arrives early to set up and check the microphones. (The control desk is there permanently.) Music rehearsals begin at 8.15am after a cup of coffee. By 9am, the music's ready, and the Presenter listens to the 9am news on Radio 4 in case something needs to be added to the prayers or changed in some way. Just after the news, there's a full run-through of words and music, and in the control room the Broadcast Assistant times every paragraph and every verse. Those timings are crucial, and at the end of the run-through there may be a need to 'cut' (which isn't too difficult) or to write extra script (which is quite hard under the time pressure and with busy activity around you). Technically, the 'lines' to London are opened and checked – as indeed are the clocks! One of the final tasks is to write in the Assistant's timings in the script so that, as the transmission goes through, you can see if you're on time. And then just before the programme, unless we've paused for prayer earlier in the morning, the Presenter (or the Producer) leads a prayer. Normally there's no 'congregation' in the church – although if ever you're in the area and want to do so, it's quite possible to be present, and sometimes one or two people do turn up.

So who are the congregation? I suppose it might be assumed that the elderly housebound are the most likely, and it's true that for many such people the Daily Service is a part of their daily discipline of prayer and worship. But then there's the lorry-driver belting up the M6, or someone in the kitchen doing the washing-up, or even the student having a lie-in after a heavy night (of study of course!). There are the faithful, and there are those who don't know if they have any faith or not. There are many thousands of listeners, usually listening in ones and twos.

14 minutes and 53 seconds later – no more because of the 'pips', and at most a couple of seconds less because there's nothing good about silent radio – it's all over for another day. But on the internet, anyone, anywhere in the world, can 'tune in' to the service for the following seven days, and increasingly people do.

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