My song ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ has been voted the no.1 assembly banger. This is how it became an anthem

When James B. Partridge’s School Assembly ‘Bangers’ went national, reaching the dizzy heights of the Glastonbury Festival, it was evident this phenomenon had gone viral. In recent months, thousands of people have joined James in singing songs they likely haven’t heard since they were in primary school. And many of those classics - such as ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’, ‘All things bright and beautiful’ and ‘Lord of the dance’ - are of course Christian in origin.  

What’s this got to do with me? Well, only that the number one ‘Banger’ was a song I wrote called ‘Shine Jesus Shine’.

When asked by the BBC to explain a jam-packed field in Glastonbury, James retorted: “Why go to watch The Killers when you can sing along to ‘Shine Jesus Shine’?” Then came BBC Songs of Praise who most recently devised The Big School Assembly Singalong to find the Nation’s favourite school hymn. ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ was top again.  

Why does this song have such longevity? As a singable song it ticks several of the right boxes – a fresh and original title (at the time of writing, 1987), which served also as the melodic ‘hook’, and a strong melody with plenty of tension and release that upper and lower voices can sing in unison. It has scriptural substance yet is equally accessible for children waiting for those claps or a prayer room interceding for revival. However, the ‘soil’ it emerged from was significant. 

The song burns brightest when it is received and activated as a prayer-anthem for Christ to be known

I first wrote the three verses (no chorus) at my then home church in London, the Ichthus Christian Fellowship, who, under the leadership of Roger and Faith Forster, were pioneering a heady mixture of church-planting, social action, global mission and prayer and worship on the streets. Praise marches and prayer-walking were gaining momentum, and there was hunger for more of God’s presence and power. Like many experiencing spiritual renewal we embraced the hope that the Gospel could once again make an international impact as in the days of Wesley, Whitfield, and the Welsh revivals. Yet we knew that to live in such a God-soaked atmosphere required holiness - hence the line: “Search me, try me, consume all my darkness”.

The three-verse version seemed incomplete but many weeks later, in my front room, the chorus came together and when I road tested it in church, we found we had a song that gave language to hope.

Since then, in gatherings great and small, across many nations, through nearly four decades, the song has not just been sung, but prayed. Perhaps the investment of that generation and the accumulation of such prayers since, now multigenerational, has sustained its life.  

Inevitably, after around ten years as the UK Church’s most sung contemporary worship song, many gave it a well-earned rest, but it had already migrated to schools. It also began to appear in traditional hymnals and rites of passage settings such as weddings, funerals, even occasions of national mourning and memorial around the world. As to its popular appeal in our present moment, I think Songs of Praise presenter Aled Jones got it right when he introduced it on The Big School Assembly Singalong as “A hymn of hope with the wonderful message that however dark the world may seem, light will always shine through.”

It may be indicative of our ‘feelings over facts’ culture, that ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ can be sung nostalgically by those with no faith, despite its strong Jesus-centred focus. For many, it may be the only ‘Jesus’ song they know, and for those unacquainted with prayer, singing it might become their first experience of a spiritual encounter. In our cultural zeitgeist of spiritual hunger for hope, truth and meaning, the lyrics present Jesus as the very source.  

We should celebrate when Christian songs find their way into popular culture, nevertheless there can be risks too. When Christians songs move outside the walls of the Church, there’s always the possibility they might be misused to promote a version of Jesus that appears to endorse attitudes and behaviours he died to save us from. It helps that the lyrics of ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ are explicit enough to point to the real Jesus and his nature, and I would hope that “Flood the nations with grace and mercy” conveys the peaceful means through which his kingdom spreads. Our best safeguard against the lure of worldly motives and the madness of crowds, is to know the real Jesus and his teachings, to the extent that other agendas won’t fool us for a second. 

Overall, I love how ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ works on so many levels and has become a cross-generational, cross-cultural anthem.

For me, it burns brightest when it is received and activated as a prayer-anthem for Christ to be known and worshipped everywhere, and equally when I hear of someone encountering Jesus for the first time while singing it.

As for school assembly bangers, nostalgia can appear to not have much substance, but neither does a dormant seed in the soil. I say, come sun, come rain, come heaven’s Spring time!