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Andrew Pratt

Biographical Details

Andrew Pratt was born in Paignton, Devon in 1948. For his first degree he studied Zoology (B.Sc. Hons., London) before going to the University College of North Wales in Bangor. Andrew obtained a M.Sc. in Marine Biology which was partly dependent on a thesis on the Effects of sympatho-mimetic drugs on the rectum of Pleuronectes platessa (effects of drugs on the guts of the plaice). From here he went to St Luke’s College, Exeter, since absorbed into Exeter University, to study for a PGCE.

Andrew has taught in Essex, Wrexham, and Liverpool together with some brief spells of supply teaching since entering the ministry. Subjects have ranged through biology, chemistry, religious studies, swimming, personal and social education, and health education.

During his M.Sc., he began to foster a belief in God. He became a member of the Methodist Church in Exeter. Moving to Essex he saw little of the church as both his parents died in a space of a year and he was away seeing them at weekends. In Wrexham (Gresford) he sensed a call to the ministry and in 1979 went for theological training at the Queen’s Ecumenical College in Birmingham. He was there for three years, partly doing a post graduate Diploma in Theology at Birmingham University and partly doing ministerial training. It was here that Andrew began to write hymns as a means of exploring theology. He had already written poems (mainly for rivate consumption!) one of which was published in a college magazine at St Luke’s in 1972.

Since leaving Birmingham, Andrew has been stationed in Northwich, Nantwich, Leigh and Hindley, and Orrell and Lamberhead Green (near Wigan). While in Nantwich he began to achieve publication of his texts, firstly in Hymns of the City and then, under the guidance and constructive criticism of Bernard Braley, with some regularity in Hymns and Congregational Songs. Andrew was asked to be part of the group that edited Story Song, Big Blue Planet and most recently Sound Bytes. He contributes regularly to Worship Live and has had articles, hymns and reviews published in The Bulletin of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland (of which he is now the Editor), the Theological Book Review, Writers News, Writing Magazine, the Methodist Recorder, Reform and Crucible. His first collection of hymns, Blinded by the Dazzle, was published in 1997. During 2002 Whatever Name or Creed was published. He is a Non-Executive Director of Stainer & Bell Ltd., and was instrumental in their establishing a web site (www.hymns.uk.com) carrying contemporary hymn texts which could be downloaded for local use. He is a Deputy Chair of the Pratt Green Trust.

On two consecutive years Andrew entered the Pratt Green Essay Competition, achieving second and joint first prizes. This work acted as a springboard for his research in hymnody. In 1997 he gained a M.A in English from the University of Durham for his research into Frederick Faber’s Hymns on the Four Last Things. He has researched the origins of the Methodist Hymn Book (1933) for a Ph.D., at Liverpool Hope University College. A book based on this research, O for a thousand tongues – the Methodist Hymn Book (1933) in context was published by the Methodist Publishing House.

Andrew continues to write. He now lectures at Hartley Victoria College (part of the Partnership for Theological Education in Manchester). His latest collection of hymns is Reclaiming Praise (Stainer & Bell Ltd). He is involved in writing and contributing to other books relating to hymns and worship including a series of reflections on selected hymns of Charles Wesley (Inextinguishable Blaze) and has co-written with Marjorie Dobson a book of resources for times of bereavement, Poppies and Snowdrops (Methodist Publishing House).

He was one time Chair of the Methodist Peace Fellowship.

Publications

Blinded by the Dazzle Hymns and Lyrical Poems ISBN 0 85249 840 3 [Online Shop] This is the first collection of the work by an author whose tough, realistic view of our world today is tempered by his search for poetry and spiritual truth. Several of the texts have already found their way into anthologies and collections, including Pratt's controversial contributions to the under 7s songbook, Big Blue Planet. Topics selected at random from the book's Index of Themes includes AIDS/HIV, computer disks, deception, genocide, nurture and perfection. For supply to the USA or Canada, please contact Hope Publishing.

Reclaiming Praise Hymns from a Spiritual Journey ISBN 978-0-85249-891-0 [Online Shop] In Reclaiming Praise, Andrew Pratt has charted a spiritual journey of hope and renewal that will inspire all those who sing his hymns to re-examine the roots of their faith or doubt. Following on from his two previous collections, Blinded by the Dazzle and Whatever Name or Creed, the 150 new texts gathered here bring a personal and 21st-century perspective to a range of themes including covenant, creativity, faith and science, justice, lament and persecution, enfolding time past and time future in a pertinent message for the present.

Whatever Name or Creed Hymns and Songs ISBN 0 85249 874 8 [Online Shop] The 135 hymns and songs in Whatever Name or Creed are texts for today, reflections by Andrew Pratt on a variety of contemporary topics, illuminated in the searchlight of his insistent and uncompromising questioning. A major theme, regarded from the author's own Christian viewpoint, is the relationship between faiths, especially as witnessed in their heritage of shared insights. The introduction is by Geoffrey Duncan. New musical settings by composers including Peter Cutts, Hal H. Hopson, John R. Kleinheksel Sr and Ian Sharp complement many of the texts, while others are indexed with tunes suggested from a number of standard British and American hymnals.