Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Under the Big Start Assemblies banner, this compilation from the Essential Christian label pulls together 13 songs mostly taken from previous albums by a range of children's ministry artists with the aim of being used in classroom reflection times or in group worship sessions. Refreshingly, all involved refuse to dumb things down musically and the overall drums, bass and guitar approach wouldn't sound amiss on a more adult-orientated release. Admittedly, the lack of chart-centred sounds may mean that these songs won't appeal as much to the target audience but there's no denying numbers like Pete James' Motown-tinged "Giant Of Faith" and Becky Frith's song of unbridled optimism "Together We Can Change The World" sound really great. The compilers have helpfully suggested themes to go with each track and broad subjects such as "gathering", "harvest", "courage" and "generosity" are portrayed through the lens of various Bible verses. Elsewhere, Paul Field's "Roll The Stone Away" and Trevor Ranger's "Lost & Found" tackle the Easter story and the parable of the lost sheep respectively and a couple of songs for infant ears are included for good measure in Field's sprout-berating "The Vegetable Song" and Luke Aylen's "Lord's Prayer". An accompanying disc of backing tracks completes a worthwhile package that valiantly seeks to maintain a Christian focus in UK schools amidst ever-increasing marginalisation.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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