Isla and I were discussing "All things bright and beautiful". It was great to hear the children sing it on Sunday, but to be honest, we weren't sure how many of them know it. The truth is, it's not sung much these days on occasions when children are present. It's not sung in schools and it's not sung in all age worship. It tends to be sung at weddings and baptisms by people in their thirties and forties - and also gets chosen by older people who want a song that children will know(!) There are various other hymns and songs that have a similar place.
There is no canon of "children's songs" in twenty-first century britain. This includes Christmas songs on the whole. Every school (and church) sings a different selection of contemporary songs. I suspect that by 2020, we are really going to struggle to find widely known hymns for baptisms and weddings...
This isn't a moan, just an observation.
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