BBC One’s Songs of Praise has aired its first ever gay wedding as bosses look to modernise the format and pull in a new audience.
On Sunday (18.08.19) afternoon’s episode, viewers saw Jamie Wallace and Ian McDowall tie the knot at Glasgow’s Rutherglen United Reformed Church.
The denomination, one of the few in the UK to allow same-sex marriages, has allowed individual congregations to vote on whether or not their church will host gay weddings since 2016.
Jamie & Ian have married in a United Reformed Church thanks to its approach to same-sex weddings. They know it’s not agreed by all Christians, but tell @revkatebottley their own personal reasons. See more Sunday @BBCOne at 13:00pm and https://t.co/uNWTvEBrda #songsofpraise pic.twitter.com/FA1YPT6p9q
— BBC Songs of Praise (@BBCSoP) August 16, 2019
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Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, singer and Songs of Praise presenter Katherine Jenkins said: “Today we do have our congregational moments but we show the different ways people worship. If you do that walking over mountains rather than in a cathedral, it doesn’t make you any less of a Christian.
“It’s about adapting, making faith personal. Loads of my friends watch, most of them on iPlayer. I have one who enjoys it in the gym.”
Viewers reacted with delight after watching Jamie and Ian’s wedding, with one writing on Twitter: “@BBCSoP Thank you for including a #samesex wedding on today’s #SongsofPraise. Such a welcome step forward. Best wishes to Ian and Jamie for their lives together.”
Another tweeted: “Watching a church embrace two men get married is truly joyful. Everyone should be free to love and be with whoever they want. As a gay Christian, I look forward to the day when same sex couples can get married in all churches. Hopefully I’ll be one of them!”
Someone else said: “Reflecting on the week, thank you #SongsofPraise for featuring the #wedding of our friends Jamie and Ian McDowell-Wallace at Rutherglen URC @urcmedia Faith and Love, welcome and inclusivity, hand in hand.”
A fourth put: “Thank you @BBCSoP for the section on same sex marriage. Good to see that not all Christians are anti-gay. That means a lot to me.”
Not everyone was keen on the coverage, as one viewer wrote: “Your coverage of the same sex wedding was very weak and one sided, no verbal challenge or biblical view of this issue.”
Songs of Praise switched from broadcasting a single service to a magazine format in 2014.
Last month, grime artist Stormzy allowed the Glastonbury performance of his song Blinded By Your Grace to be shown on Songs of Praise.
And Gogglebox favourite Kate Bottley, who is the show’s only ordained presenter, has reflected on the programme’s shifting appeal.
The 44-year-old reverend said she was at Glastonbury festival when a man who was sipping whisky at 4am recognised her as one of the hosts.
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She said on the programme: “I don’t expect people to fall on their knees in front of Songs Of Praise. But we do do the big stuff – life, love, death and trauma – and we are definitely not afraid of controversy.”
In another move to draw in younger viewers, Songs of Praise hired former JLS star JB Gill, who said the programme “played an integral part” in his childhood.
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